Several pundits had made arguments against Barbaro. Some had said that
he had run too fast in the Kentucky Derby. Some others had asserted that
Barbaro likes long intervals between one start and the next and that the
two-weeks between the Derby and the Preakness was too short and would
put a dent in his training regimen. A handful kept their faith in
Brother Derek and Sweetnorthernaint in the hope that the smaller
Preakness field (nine runners) would level the playing field. These
opinions were expressed day after day and repeatedly but the fans did
not waver in their confidence reposed in Barbaro because his
contemptuous treatment of his rivals at Churchill Downs had given the
colt an aura of invincibility.
The nine sophomores were stalled and Barbaro broke through the gate.
Jockey Edgar Prado brought the favorite under control with hardly any
difficulty. The colt walked round the stalls, was examined by a vet and
was re-stalled. He broke well, was taking up a stalking position as the
field approached the first furlong pole. Barbaro seemed to take a bad
step. The next moment, Prado slowed the Derby hero down, angled him to
the outside and jumped off the saddle. The huge throng was stunned into
disbelief. The announcer made a definitive statement, "Barbaro has
pulled up and he is out of the Preakness."
Bernardini, owned by Sheikh Mohamed of the Dubai Royal Family, got away
alertly, was third, then fourth, in striking range, moved up approaching
the final turn to engage Sweetnorthernsaint who had taken charge, edged
ahead midstretch and drew clear in the final furlong to win by 5 1/4
lengths. The time was 1 54.65 for the 1 3/16 miles distance.
Sweetnorthernsaint, always prominent, prompted the pace, took the lead
as they turned for home, kept the winner at bay for a stride for two and
found himself at the losing end of an unequal struggle. Hemingway's Key
was a distant third.
Brother Derek had a trouble-filled start, moved into contention down the
backside and dropped back alarmingly before the final turn It was
reported he had bled profusely.
There is a serious injury to the right hind ankle. Accordng to the vet
who looked at Barbaro moments after the mishap, this is the common sense
explanation of what happened to Barbaro. According to the vets, jockey
Prado became aware of the injury before the horse realized that
something had gone terribly wrong. "The adrenaline rush prompts the
horse to keep running and the pain is latent," is what a vet said.
Barbaro was put in a horse van. After x-rays and a preliminary
examination, the Derby winner was taken to a clinic in Pennsylvania.
"This is my first Preakness ride. What a thrill it is to win it the
first time. I got a clean break and good early position. Half a mile to
go, I knew I had the race won When I pushed the button, it was all over
in an instant.As the race progressed, I knew that something had happened
to Barbaro." said Javier Castellano, the winning rider.
This was Castellano's first win in a Triple Crown race. For Bernardini,
this was his third win in four starts. After failing in his debut,
Bernardini has won three in a row. On April 29, he won the Grade III
Withers at Aqueduct in New York.
Thomas Albertrani, the winning trainer said," Javier gave him a
beautilful ride. After the Withers, my colt had trained well. He was
geting better and better. My boss, Sheikh Mohamed will have to decide
our next move."
The attendance at Pimlico Race Course was 118,000. A total of 87,544,368
dollars was bet on the 13-race card on Saturday.
At Belmont Park, Sunriver, a promising three year-old trained by Todd
Pletcher, won the Peter Pan, Traditionally, Peter Pan winners have done
well in the Belmont Stakes. On June 10, Belmont Park will host the
Belmont Stakes.
America's last triple crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and
Belmont Stakes) winner was Affirmed in 1978 and we will have to wait
until 2007 for a prospective winner of horse racing's toughest
challenge.
