The 2005 Preakness Stakes was the 130th running of the
Preakness Stakes
The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held annually on Armed Forces Day, the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland (except in 2026 when it will move to Laurel Park (race track), Laurel Park dur ...
thoroughbred horse race. The race took place on May 21, 2005, and was televised in the United States on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...
television network
A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...
.
Afleet Alex
Afleet Alex (born May 9, 2002, in Florida) is an American thoroughbred race horse who, in 2005, won two of America's classic races, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes. He is owned by the Cash Is King Stable partnership, was trained by ...
, who was jockeyed by
Jeremy Rose, won the race by four and three quarter lengths over runner-up
Scrappy T. Approximate post time was 6:21 p.m. Eastern Time. The race was run over a fast track in a final time of 1:55.04. The Maryland Jockey Club reported total attendance of 125,687, this is recorded as second highest on the list of
American thoroughbred racing top attended events for North America in 2005.
[2010 Preakness Stakes Media Guide; page 95 (page P-7 of The Preakness section). The Maryland Jockey Club reported official Total Attendance as 125,687. This is listed as 115,318 Pimlico on-site attendance and 10,369 at Laurel on-site attendance.]
Race description
Scrappy T broke well and went to the early lead, then was overtaken by High Limit and Going Wild who set a reasonably fast pace. Afleet Alex settled behind the leaders, then started his move on the far turn, racing wide to pass other horses. Scrappy T retook the lead as they rounded into the stretch, but his jockey
Ramon Domínguez looked back and saw that Afleet Alex was gaining ground on the outside. Dominguez swung the whip left-handed and Scrappy T swerved sharply away, directly into the path of Afleet Alex. The two horses clipped heels and Afleet Alex stumbled to his knees, his nose nearly touching the ground. "I thought for sure we were going down", said
Jeremy Rose, the jockey of Afleet Alex. "The thought process was I was going to get run over. The instinct was just to hang on and try to get my balance back."
The crowd gasped,
but Afleet Alex regained his balance and was quickly back into stride. Rose, a young jockey who was riding in the Preakness for the first time, was credited for skill in staying on, but gave the credit to Afleet Alex. "He was just that athletic, and I was just that scared", he said. Scrappy T had reopened his lead after the incident but Afleet Alex soon ran him down and pulled away to win by lengths.
"Over 30 years, I've seen some horses take some bad steps in races and still win", said trainer Tim Ritchey. "I've never seen a horse stumble that badly and lose his momentum that much to come back on and win in a grade I race like this."
Veteran sportswriter
Steve Haskin wrote that it "remains arguably the single most athletic feat by a Thoroughbred seen in many years."
Payout
The 130th Preakness Stakes Payout Schedule
* $2
Exacta
Parimutuel betting, or pool betting, is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the ''house-take'', or ''vigorish'', are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among a ...
: (12–5) paid $152.60
* $1
Trifecta
Trifecta
A trifecta is a parimutuel bet placed on a horse race in which the bettor must predict which horses will finish first, second, and third, in the exact order. Known as a trifecta in the US and Australia, this is known as a tricast in ...
: (12–5–13) paid $872.00
* $1
Superfecta: (12–5–13–10) paid $10,362.30
The full chart
* Winning Breeder: John Martin Silverland; (FL)
* Final Time: 1:55.04
* Track Condition: Fast
* Total Attendance: 125,687
See also
*
2005 Kentucky Derby
*
2005 Belmont Stakes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Preakness Stakes 2005
2005
2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...
2005 in horse racing
Horse races in Maryland
2005 in American sports
2005 in sports in Maryland
2000s in Baltimore
May 2005 sports events in the United States