American Pharoah did not break cleanly from the gate, but it was the only thing he and jockey Victor Espinoza did wrong in Saturday's Preakness Stakes.
Espinoza quickly straightened his horse, who was breaking from the supposedly dreaded No. 1 post, established a short lead over Mr. Z and then was able to relax American Pharoah on the lead down the backstretch.
The winner of the Kentucky and Arkansas derbies was so dominant that he might have proved he has a legitimate shot at ending the drought of Triple Crown winners. The last thoroughbred to accomplish that was Affirmed in 1978.
The Belmont Stakes now becomes the focus of the world of thoroughbred racing, and trainers like Todd Pletcher might as well wear a black hat as he will obviously try to play the spoiler by bringing fresh horses into the fight.
Pletcher did not withdraw four possible entrants for the Preakness until the day before the post position draw and said he said he was aiming Materiality and Carpe Diem at the Belmont, giving them a five-week break since the Kentucky Derby.
California Chrome, Smarty Jones and others have won the first two legs convincingly only to run into well-rested horses and come up short in the 1 1/2 mile -- a distance that is grueling enough -- and disappoint legions who are dedicated to thoroughbred racing and thousands of others who are looking to give the Sport of Kings a chance.
American Pharoah, with Espinoza rationing his speed, tricked the field when he let Mr. Z and Dortmund get close on the far turn, then opened up and easily established himself as simply amazing opening his margin with every stride the last 100 yards to win by 7 lengths.
What will be interesting is to see how many of the horses who have taken on American Pharoah twice will dare do it a third time. It would be asking a lot after the way the Bob Baffert-trained colt galloped home so easily in the slop.
When the dark clouds started to blow in Saturday there was an obvious air of concern by those broadcasting the Preakness because rain can drastically change the racing surface at Pimlico. Race tracks like Churchill Downs and Oaklawn Park can take on rains and remain fast, but usually that isn't the case at the Baltimore track.
In 1983 Baltimore got hit with days of rain and Deputed Testamony beat Sunny's Halo, the first Arkansas Derby winner to win the Kentucky Derby. The Maryland mud mixed with the dirt made the surface extremely slippery, and Sunny's Halo never got his footing but mud caulks gave Deputed Testamony the win.
There is always a little controversy surrounding the Preakness Stakes because of the facility. Television does a masterful job of hiding the slab of concrete that in person looks nothing like a jewel in the Triple Crown challenge.
The track has too little land to expand, so razing the facility isn't a wise option and apparently the current structure would not hold up to any sort of substantial remodel.
Yet, there is a move coming, Pimlico officials announced next year's race may be run on Sunday instead of Saturday, which makes almost as much sense as keeping the second leg of the Triple Crown at a place that struggles mightily with everything from water flow to electricity.
Officials did as good a job as possible for the 140th Preakness States, especially NBC, which found strategic areas, usually in front of huge Black-Eyed Susan plants, to make Pimlico look, at best, decent.
And the most important memory of the 140th Preakness was American Pharoah dominating what appeared to be a solid field of competitors until the race started.
Sports on 05/17/2015