Oxbow pulls away in a win for the aged
BALTIMORE — Instead of a Triple Crown, fans of thoroughbred racing had to settle for an oldtimer’s game at the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes on Saturday.
D. Wayne Lukas, one of the sport’s all-time great trainers, and jockey Gary Stevens, one of its bestever jockeys, combined to stun 117,203 fans, the fourth-largest crowd in the history of the race at Pimlico Race Course.
They were the human connections of a 3-yearold colt named Oxbow, who got to the lead early in the 13⁄ mile race and never gave it up. Oxbow, who at 15-1 had the second longest odds in the ninehorse field, cruised to a 1¾-length win in the $1 million race.
The ageless Lukas, who still gets on horses in the morning, is 77. And he shows absolutely no sign of slowing down.
“It’s going to be a long night,” Lukas said.
Lukas said he planned on loading up Oxbow and the rest of his horses for the trip back to Churchill Downs at 4:30 a.m. Sunday. He was then going to ride along for the 13-hour trip back to Kentucky.
“What a great story,” said rival trainer Bob Baffert, who was no factor in the Preakness when his Govenor Charlie finished eighth. “Wayne is never going to retire. We’ll find him in the shed row someday, and we’ll think he’s sleeping.” Record-extending run
The Preakness win was the sixth for Lukas — the most by any trainer in history. It also was his 14th win in a Triple Crown race, also a record. Before Saturday, the last time he won a Classic race came in the 2000 Belmont with Commendable.
As Lukas has aged, he appreciates how hard it is to win the big races. He won his first Preakness in 1980 with Codex.
“After the first one, I thought I was going to win quite a few more,” Lukas said. “I told my son (Jeff), ‘This is no big deal. We’ll win a bunch of these.’ And then I went (five) years before I got another one.”
Stevens might be a more amazing story than Lukas. He retired in 2005 because of knee injuries and embarked on a career as a race analyst on NBC and HRTV, the channel dediated to horse racing. He started his comeback in January, and here he sits, on top of the game.
As soon as Oxbow’s connections received their trophies in the Preakness winner’s circle on the infield, Stevens ran across the track and up to the NBC booth, where he did post-race analysis.
He is the oldest rider to ever win the Preakness, surpassing Eldon Nelson, who was 45 when he won the 1972 Preakness aboard Bee Bee Bee.
“I’m not going to lie to you, to win a Classic at 50 years old after seven years of retirement, it doesn’t get any better than this,” he said. Quick start leads to win
Oxbow, coming off a sixth-place finish in the Kentucky Derby, got off to an easy lead, setting fractions of 23.94 seconds for the first quarter mile and 48.60 for the half. After going six furlongs in 1:13.26, Oxbow and Stevens looked strong.
The only horse that was coming was Itsmyluckyday and jockey John Velazquez, who would finish second. Mylute and jockey Rosie Napravnik finished third, and then it was 6¾ lengths back to Orb, the disappointment of the race.
The 3-5 favorite never got going and was never a factor. He had showed a solid closing in the Kentucky Derby but did not get the pace to run at Saturday. It also didn’t help that he and jockey Joel Rosario seemed to be uncomfortable starting from the rail.
“The pace was slower than I anticipated,” Orb’s trainer Shug McGaughey said. “I thought it would be quicker. I still thought he would close into it, but it just wasn’t his day.”
Oxbow, who has won three of 11 career starts, was timed in 1:57.54, well off the record of 1:53 set by Secretariat in 1973.
He paid $32.80 to win, the fifth-highest payout in the race’s history.
Next up for the sport is the Belmont Stakes on June 8, but with no Triple Crown on the line, the anticipation for the race will dwindle. Lukas doesn’t care. He expects he, Stevens and Oxbow will show up for that one, too.
twilkin@timesunion.com