Afleet Alex

~ Afleet Alex ~

"Miracle on the Turn"

Pimlico Race Course, Baltimore, Maryland.  As the field reached the quarter pole in full flight of the 2005 Preakness Stakes, Afleet Alex narrowly escaped disaster.  Race leader Scrappy T reacted unexpectedly to a left handed tap by jockey Ramon Dominguez and darted right--and into the path of a circling Afleet Alex.  

In a moment that none who saw it would ever forget, the two colts clipped heels and Afleet Alex stumbled badly.  Jockey Jeremy Rose was jettisoned far up his neck as Alex had nearly gone to his knees.  

Yet in a miraculous feat of athleticism by both horse and rider, within a stride Afleet Alex had regained full balance, recovered momentum, and dashed away from Scrappy T for an amazing 5 length victory. Amazingly, Afleet Alex had not only overcome a calamitous moment, but would go on to run the fastest Preakness in 8 years!  

Three weeks later in winning the Belmont Stakes, Afleet Alex validated his greatness - and place in history - while covering the final quarter mile in :24 2/5 seconds - a final split time faster than even Secretariat had run the mile and one half Belmont Stakes.