On a gray day at Pimlico, the Sunshine Boys ruled.
Jockey Gary Stevens, who came out of a seven-year retirement in January, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas, still going strong at age 77, put added shine on their Hall of Fame careers and put an end to the Triple Crown aspirations of Orb by teaming to win the138th Preakness Stakes on Saturday at Pimlico Race Course with the 15-1 longshot Oxbow.
Oxbow ($32.80), sixth in the Kentucky Derby two weeks ago, benefited from a race shape that was vastly different from the Derby, in which Oxbow was close to a hot pace and held on best of those nearest that pace. In the Preakness, Oxbow was surprisingly left alone on the lead while setting moderate fractions, and had plenty left to lead from start to finish.
http://www.drf.com/news/preakness-stakes-oxbow-leads-throughout-under-gary-stevens-orb-fourth-3-5
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Gary Stevens is a steel jockey! For any athlete is not easy return to the activity after a seven year retirement! 😨 And Gary won again! 😊😀😄 Regards from a venezuelan citizen who emigrated to Chile searching a better way of life
What a race by Oxbow, to take the lead right away and maintain it the whole way!
Let's see how California Chrome will do here in ten days.
Thought Titletown Five or Governor Charlie were gonna pull off the upset.
Ok
Oxbow's jockey, Gary Stevens, won the BC Classic on Mucho Macho Man…
The biggest stages reveal the greatest talents.
Very niiiiize front runner.
way to go gary … jockey wins that
Oxbow is a good horse, and with a soft pace and one of the all time great jockeys on his back, he was in a great spot here. I thought his race in the Derby had been quite good all things considered.
This race really hurt Orb, with Verrazano and Palace Malice not in this race he still performed that bad.
The only reason why they won is because the time was so slow. Orb got blocked in and he never kicked into gear. Oxbow likes to run upfront with the pacesetters, because Gary said that he tried to hold the horse back and Oxbow fought him on it, so from then on, he just let him run up front, but he h the pace slow. Oxbow couldn't finish the Belmont, it was too much for him. He was tired, you could see it.
Palace Malice beats him out by alot:)
i love oxbow im so glad he won this race. I was aiming for either him or revolutionary. I feel like oxbow could have won the Belmont as well. Palice Malice just beat him. A Shame but good for both horses 🙂
Gary Stevens – Legend
gary cooper stevens & jhon wayne lukas… best of the best……….
oxbow.. better preakness better horse 1milla 4 furlons…5 furlons massimo…it's my lucky day.. one horse from belmont.. 1milla 8 furlons.. in house. já,já já…
gary stevens.. oxbow.. best of the best… better metri.. "kentucky derby"…
Smarty Jones, Funny Cide, Charismatic, and IMO the worst loss of them all Real Quiet losing the TC by a nose. These were horses that look like they could do no wrong and can get the job done but instead come up uncomfortably short like something is holding them back when they run. These back to back near misses with horses that have TC potential records……too much when they lose. I'm still recovering from I'll Have Another. I was SO SURE he was going to do it.
Well…let's start with Orb and work back: Orb before TP won his last 5 starts. He seems a shoe-in especially after TKD….ends up 4th in TP. I'll Have Another wins TKD, wins TP, injury prevents him from starting Belmont. Big Brown first in TKD, first in TP….dead last in Belmont. Barbaro was somewhat like Orb had a win streak and never lost a race….until he raced in TP a TC race and we know what happened………
cool!
He's a Bay roan <3 so gorgeous!
Oxbow is a very fine horse, Nice gaits and beautiful coat.
I'm so convinced the Triple Crown is a cursed.
Oxbow
Is it me or does Oxbow look like a bay going grey?
Of course I knew it. I do have a crystal ball for horse races. Of course I knew that Orb would not win a race that was 1/16 of a mile, in fact, SHORTER than the Derby. Yes, I knew.
Alas, Orb got gummed up in the pack, and Oxbow was on fire.
Of course you knew it. You probably have a crystal ball for horse races. OF course you "knew" that Orb would not win a race that was 1/16 of a mile, in fact, SHORTER than the Derby. Yes, you knew.
I knew it was going to be essentially a wire to wire win and that Orb was not going to make a rally down the stretch. I just thought Govenor Charlie would be the horse to go wire to wire. Baffert said he was 100%, but obviously that wasn't true.
Orb looked and ran like a tired horse. Oxbow and GS were terrific.
Orb wins the Belmont!!!
It's a little arguable that EVERY Derby winner has Triple Crown potential. Orb, in this case, at least seemed more likely with his old school connections and his pedigree. However, the crop this year is weak. I wouldn't be surprised if an entirely different horse won the Belmont.
In any case, it's obvious that nothing will save horse racing. Right now, the objective is to buy more time for the sport while the high-rankers scramble for a way to make horse racing more marketable.
orb was tired and had racing room 3 furlongs to go and aint make to attempt to challenge the field ? get out of here orb got lucky at the derby
shut up he had racing room that horse was lucky on wet ground in the derby watch and see he don't place at belmont
remember Gary riding in England, was a popular rider here for many years and remember him riding at Royal Ascot.
Bottom line here is Joel Rosario had a tired horse underneath him and the old man took the rest of the field to school. I've been a huge fan of Gary Stevens going back to when he was riding against the likes of Jerry Bailey, Chris McCarron, Pat Day, etc…He's always been a smart, savvy tactical rider. Very average at best crop of 3yo this year, IMO. Certainly no Animal Kingdom's or I'll Have Another's in this crop of 3yo. I'm 50+ also, so congrats to the jockey old enough to be an AARP member!!
It wouldn't change much if anything at all. I agree with you.
Gio Ponti GREAT turf horse. made a nice run in the Breeder's Cup Classic the year that Zenyatta won. Glad you brought up his name.