Relive 5 Incredible Preakness Stakes Triple Crown Races

The Preakness Stakes has become the butt of many jokes as Kentucky Derby winners bypass the chance to chase a Triple Crown. That has not always been the case. Before 14 horses compete for a chance to win a share of $2 million and wear the Black-Eyed Susans, relive five thrilling finishes from previous editions of the Preakness Stakes.

Secretariat Makes History(?)

Sham did not truly test Secretariat in his historic Preakness Stakes win. What’s remarkable about this victory is the time it took for Secretariat to complete his victory.

An electronic clocker was used to create the official time of the races at Pimlico. It recorded the race at 1:55. Meanwhile, clockers in the pressbox got a much faster time, 1:53 2/5, which would have been a new Preakness record. The matter became such a controversy that CBS aired a 30-minute special comparing Secretariat’s race to Canonero’s record run. A change was not made until 2012, when Secretariat was officially given recognition for running the fastest Preakness on record.

Sunday Silence Duels Easy Goer

There are two ideal scenarios for a fantastic finish in a horse race. In the first, a closer comes out of nowhere through traffic to win at the wire. The other is what we got in 1989, an outright duel between two horses who distanced themselves from the pack.

Sunday Silence defeated Easy Goer in the Kentucky Derby, but the latter wasn’t going away in the Preakness. The two horses traded the lead multiple times down the stretch before Sunday Silence emerged by a nose. The photo finish was too close for Jim McKay to call.

Of all the horse racing legends, Sunday Silence does not get the credit he deserves. Easy Goer took a Triple Crown away from him in the Belmont, but that’s not his lasting legacy. You know how there’s a Japanese horse every year in the Kentucky Derby? Sunday Silence is responsible for that. As a sire, he essentially bred the Japanese horse racing industry into a Breeders’ Cup-winning machine.

“Scrappy T Blew the Turn!”

If you asked me to pick a horse race that I’ve rewatched the most, it’s the 2005 Preakness Stakes. Afleet Alex made the most remarkably athletic move I’ve ever seen by a horse.

The third-place finisher in the Kentucky Derby was in prime contention to take the lead as the horses entered the home stretch. That’s when the leader, Scrappy T, went too wide and clipped Afleet Alex. It could have been and should have been a catastrophic disaster, yet somehow, some way, Afleet Alex stayed on his feet. Not only did he continue running, he ran away from the competition.

Justify Races Through the Preakness Stakes Fog

The 2018 Preakness was raced in a setting made for a movie, albeit one that was a nightmare for camera operators. Soggy weather in Maryland brought dense fog over the racetrack. At eye-level, you could see the horses just fine, but from the NBC’s camera crew’s position, it was a much different story.

NBC used multiple overhead views to show the race to fans at home, yet still, when the horses turned toward home, the screen went white. All you could see was fog. How did Larry Collmus know that Justify won the race? Three horses were charging toward the finish line, but Justify did just enough to get one step closer to a Triple Crown.

Journalism Bullies his way to a Preakness Win

Journalism looked like a Triple Crown winner until Sovereignty turned on the jets down the stretch at Churchill Downs. Bill Mott’s horse skipped the second leg of the Triple Crown, creating an opportunity for Journalism to shine. That was wearing off as the horses entered the final stretch at last year’s Preakness.

I was standing in the Churchill Downs Paddock when I heard, “Congrats Sammy!” The aforementioned Sammy had bet on Gosger, who was running away from the pack at 15-1, while Journalism got squeezed in between two horses.

Journalism was cooked. There was no chance he was winning the race until he did. He was in third-place, behind four-lengths at the sixteenth pole, yet dug in to win, “a performance like you read about!”