BALTIMORE � Shackleford, who led for much of the Kentucky Derby but faded to fourth, held off a late charge by Derby winner Animal Kingdom to win Saturday's 136th running the Preakness Stakes. Animal Kingdom was second by a half-length. So for the 33rd consecutive year, Thoroughbred racing will have no Triple Crown winner.
By Richard Mackson, US Presswire
Shackleford and jockey Jesus Castanon (5) lead the field into the final stretch during the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes.
By Richard Mackson, US Presswire
Shackleford and jockey Jesus Castanon (5) lead the field into the final stretch during the 136th running of the Preakness Stakes.
Shackleford is named, according to his owners, after an island off North Carolina. Shackleford Banks is a barrier island known for its wild horses. He was wild and bucking on his way to the starting gate before Saturday's race at Pimlico, but he settled when he got to the gate.
"It's amazing. He was a little hot in the beginning," said winning jockey Jesus Castanon. " ? But he was able to calm down. He's a good horse and able to handle it."
Shackleford, trained by Dale Romans, went off at 12-1 betting odds. But he battled for the lead from the start and led as the 14-horse field started down the stretch with a big crowd roaring on a sunny day at Pimlico.
At the Derby, he was caught down the stretch in the mile-and-a-quarter race. There was no catching him over the shorter mile and 3/16th distance at Pimlico. He won in a time of 1:56.47, slowest for a Preakness winner in 17 years.
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PREAKNESS SCENE: Fans enjoy the infield party
"I felt somebody coming at the sixteenth pole," said Castanon. "I knew that Animal Kingdom was the only horse who was able to come and get me."
Animal Kingdom, ridden by John Velazquez, went off as a 3-1 favorite even though it was just his second race on dirt (the Derby was his first). He was 13th after a half mile but he closed to third at the start of the stretch.
"He ran huge," said Graham Motion, Animal Kingdom's trainer. "It's tough to close like that. I thought for an instant he might get there."
Said Velazquez: "We were just too far back. When I wanted him to go, he got dirt kicked in his face. So then I had to pull him farther back than I wanted to be. By the time I had the chance to go, he was coming, but it was too late."
Astrology took third, followed by Dialed In, who started the race at 9-2 odds behind Animal Kingdom.
Dialed In would have cashed in on a Thoroughbred racing bonanza had he won. In addition to the $600,000 top prize, he would have qualified for an extra $5.5 million in bonuses for owner Robert LaPenta and trainer Nick Zito.
MI Developments, which owns Pimlico, had offered the $5 million bonus to the owner and $500,000 to the trainer if they completed the sweep of winning the Holy Bull Stakes and the Florida Derby (both at MI Developments-owned Gulfstream Park in Florida) and the Preakness.
"They went fast enough early, but then they got slowed down," said Zito. "It didn't work out. He (Dialed In) still came with his run, like he always does. He's a gallant horse."
No 3-year-old has won the Triple Crown since Affirmed in 1978. In that span, 11 horses have won the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness only to be beaten at the Belmont Stakes.
Shackleford is co-owned by Michael Lauffer and W.D. Cubbedge, Kentucky businessmen, partners in natural gas ventures and partners in Thoroughbred racing.
Cubbedge said of the winning horse's name: "Mike (Lauffer) and I like to spent a lot of time on an island in North Carolina called Shackleford ? and they have wild horses there. It's a good story."
Lauffer is former co-owner of Rachel Alexandra, the filly who won the Preakness in 2009.
"Two years ago, even though I didn't own Rachel anymore, we came up to the Preakness to watch her," Lauffer recalled. "We were just so proud of her."
Saturday, Lauffer celebrated his own triumph. "Dale Romans and his staff and Jesus did a great job," he said. "We all stuck together with this horse."
Though he wasn't a co-owner of Rachel Alexandra when she won the Preakness, Lauffer did reap some benefits. How much did he get for his earlier sale of his share of her?
"That's a little personal," said Lauffer. "I think it's pretty well known, $10 million.
Romans, the trainer, is based in his native Louisville, home of the Derby.
"It's unbelievable. It's phenomenal," said Romans, who grew up as the son of a trainer. "It shows that anybody that gets started in the horse business can do this because, Lord knows, 25 years ago nobody thought I'd sit up here and talk about (winning) a classic race."
Shackleford paid $27.20, $10.20 and $6.80. The Preakness said the total betting handle of $76,376,689 was its seventh largest ever.
Saturday's attendance was announced at 107,398. That's the first time the race had topped 100,000 in attendance since 2008. In 2009, attendance dropped to 77,850 after the Preakness instituted a new rule preventing fans from bringing beer and other beverages into the infield.
The BYOB ban remains in effect. But this year's race brought sunny weather and followed an ad campaign featuring Kegasus, billed as half-man, half-horse and all "party manimal." The costumed centaur led the Preakness InfieldFest Saturday.
Shackleford led at the finish of the race.
Is he now off to the Belmont Stakes?
"We haven't had much time to think about that," said Lauffer. "We're so excited, but we'll see how the horse comes out of the race. But Dale's a good horseman. He'll know what to do."
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