STANTON, Del. -- It has been three years since jockey Jeremy Rose rode Afleet Alex to a stunning victory in the Preakness at Pimlico Race Course. But as he sat on a bench outside the jockeys' room at Delaware Park this week, he still could feel the horse under him, still sense the disaster nearly averted. And still recall it as if he had just finished the race.
"At the three-eighths pole, we were still six or seven lengths off it [the lead]," said Rose, excitement touching his voice. "The horse in front of me decided to go out, around Scappy T and another horse. It was beautiful how he went out, giving me a perfect trip on the inside.
"Turning for home, I had a lot of horse. I was cruising. I was going to win by as many as I wanted. But I saw Ramon [Dominguez on Scrappy T] swish his stick, and I yelled. Normally, it can be fine. But, in this case, Scrappy T jumped out hard in front of me and Alex stumbled and went down. All I saw was Ramon's horse's [backside] and heels. Somehow, Alex popped back up and took off again. Within 2 yards, he was back in front of Scrappy T and we went on to win the race."
Rose, who has just gotten his summer buzz-cut haircut, couldn't help smiling.
"You'll never see another horse do that in any race," said Rose, who will be back in the Preakness on Saturday riding Icabad Crane.
And you might never see another jockey stay on his horse in a situation like that, either.
"I ride long," he said. "I don't sit on top. I have more leg on the horse and my feet were all the way in the irons - and I was lucky, too, that he popped up underneath me the way he did."
It is still a glorious memory. Rose had won the race at the track he considers his own backyard.
"I grew up near there," said Rose, 29. "We wanted to win the Derby, but the Preakness was the one for me. Riding there. A lot of friends there. A lot of people backing me there. That was the race I really wanted, and [I] obviously had the horse to do it.
"Winning that race on Afleet Alex gave me the best feeling I've ever had in racing."
And he wants it again.
He chased it for a little while, going to Gulfstream Park to ride Afleet Alex in the winter, but the horse was retired. Rose stayed, finishing among the top five riders in the meet. He made new contacts and expanded his reputation.
