The condition of the track was listed as muddy for the Preakness, the 13th race of the day.
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Exaggerator’s elusive victory over his nemesis came after four tough losses, including a runner-up finish to Nyquist in the Kentucky Derby.
In Charm City, the fifth time was the charm. “It’s an American classic for a reason”. I mean, this horse has gears, and I personally love horses with gears.
Jockey Kent Desormeaux saw an opening around the final turn, angled outside and Exaggerator took over. Homeboykris won the day’s first race and died shortly after, apparently of a heart attack. Yep, Exaggerator got his name from his girlfriend, Julie Clark, who is apparently an infamous storyteller.
Exaggerator persevered most of all. Until Saturday, he had never defeated Nyquist.
There won’t be a Triple Crown on the line at Belmont Park in three weeks, but the defacto 3-year-old horse racing championship could be decided – if Nyquist’s connections let the colt run in the field for the Belmont Stakes. “It was an unbelievable race and Exaggerator is an incredible horse”. Thrice-raced Stradivari finished four-lengths back in fourth.
Keith Latson, DVM, Dipl.
The leaders set a very fast pace for the first quarter and half mile of the 1 3/16 mile race.
When asked whether that was a factor, Nyquist trainer Doug O’Neill said, “I don’t know”.
“I always felt we had an exceptional talent in Exaggerator”, Desormeaux said.
The race and the weather were in Exaggerator’s favor.
He proved himself an exceptional mud horse with his win in the Santa Anita Derby, and the attribute paid off at Pimlico, where the track remained thick with glop after a steady overnight rain. Today the pace was acceptable and he still ran huge. As much, if not more so, than any other Preakness entrant. After the race, Desormeaux said it was simply “a dream trip”. “And he just blew up and felt like King Kong”. And when I pitched him out, he did what he can do.
Up in the stands, Keith Desormeaux admitted that he was initially anxious when Kent chose an early path along the rail that other riders ignored, but Kent – whose first taste of the success that brought him to the Hall of Fame began in Maryland – said his familiarity with the track was beneficial.
“Welcome to my house!” he bellowed at the postrace press conference.
“I’ll be there with bells on”, Keith said.
The 2016 Belmont Stakes will take place on June 11, three weeks after the Preakness Stakes and five weeks after the Kentucky Derby.
It may well be a long time before there is another one, because the reasons why there were 37 years between Affirmed and Pharoah will still exist next year and – presumably – for decades to come. Keith Desormeaux said. “When you have that love, you don’t need to show it outwardly”. “I’m gonna think about a beer for a little while and I might get to him later”. “That was it”, Kent Desormeaux said. Nyquist still had the lead at that point but Exaggerator pulled even as they entered the stretch. The $1.5 million purse includes $800,000 to the victor.
Matt Bryan and Ron Ortowski – who races as Rocker O Ranch – were the original partners in Exaggerator.
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O’Neill said the team will sit down, watch some replays and try to figure out what happened. American Pharoah quickly made a liar of Coburn, who also claimed that unless something was done he would not see another Triple Crown in his lifetime.
