BALTIMORE - In deep stretch of Saturday’s 150th Preakness Stakes, trainer Michael McCarthy thought he was going to witness history repeating itself from two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby.
Journalism, the athletic horse McCarthy trains, decided to rewrite history, overcoming significant trouble in upper stretch under Umberto Rispoli to run down a seemingly home-free Gosger and win the 150th Preakness at soon-to-be-demolished Pimlico by a half-length.
The win came two weeks after Journalism fell 1 1/2 lengths short while finishing second to Sovereignty in the Kentucky Derby.
Journalism won despite getting boxed in by and bumping with Goal Oriented in upper stretch. But once clear, Journalism was able to make up five lengths in the final furlong for the improbable victory.
“What happened today is almost surreal, you don’t see that happen, it’s hard to explain,” McCarthy said. “This horse, I think he showed today he’s a gift from above.”
Journalism, the beaten Kentucky Derby favorite, was in sixth position down the backside, about five lengths off the leaders. Rispoli, remembering lessons he said were imparted to him by Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey, was saving ground into and around the far turn.
Coming to the quarter pole, Rispoli moved Journalism out from behind Clever Again and inside of Goal Oriented, who had American Promise to his outside. There wasn’t much room, and Rispoli tried to make some.
Flavien Prat, on Goal Oriented, was doing his best to keep Journalism trapped between himself and Clever Again, who was along the rail and forced to check. Journalism and Goal Oriented bumped, with Goal Oriented getting turned sideways. Journalism got room, but Gosger, who had been attending the pace set by Clever Again, had begun to open up under Luis Saez.
At the eighth pole, Gosger’s lead was officially five lengths. Rispoli looked up and saw Gosger way ahead of him.
“First time I used the crop on him he switched leads and boom, he took off,” Rispoli said. “At the sixteenth pole I thought I’m going to be late, but probably on time. I have to give credit to the horse, because I don’t see many horses [do that].
“What we saw, this horse coming back after two weeks from a tough trip in the Derby and running against the track [profile], was an amazing effort,” Rispoli added. “I wish we would have given him a softer race, but this is part of horse racing.”
Two weeks ago, in the Kentucky Derby, McCarthy felt Journalism’s trouble came in the first 100 yards, when Citizen Bull, under Martin Garcia, came out from the rail and started a chain reaction that caused Journalism to steady and be about 10 lengths off the early pace.
McCarthy felt his horse ran valiantly that day in defeat. He thought he was about to watch a rerun.
“Obviously this here was a little more drastic than losing some ground at the start and having to deal with the off-going and a muddy racetrack,” McCarthy said. “This looked a bit ugly there for a couple of jumps - just glad horses and humans are okay - but my initial thought was proud of the horse, great effort, just going to come up a little bit short.”
Journalism, a son of 2007 Preakness winner Curlin - who was third in the Kentucky Derby - covered the 1 3/16-miles in 1:55.47 and returned $4 as the even-money favorite. He was given a 98 Beyer Speed Figure.
Journalism was one of just three horses to come out of the Kentucky Derby and run back in two weeks in the Preakness, a race that lost some luster by the absence of the Derby winner Sovereignty.
“I think he has validated what we thought about him all along,” McCarthy said. "None of these Triple Crown races are easy to get to, you certainly need the vehicle and we had it with him.”
Gosger finished second by 2 1/4 lengths over Sandman, who was four lengths clear of Goal Oriented. Heart of Honor, the England import, finished fifth, followed by River Thames, Pay Billy, American Promise and Clever Again.
Though Prat credited Rispoli for having the best horse - “he had the best horse and I think the best horse won,” he said - Prat believes the bumping incident with Journalism cost his horse a chance at a better finish.
“Honestly, when I turned for home because he was inside of me and he was trapped I thought I had the horse to get the leader,” Prat said. “So, I got stopped completely, but because he got stopped, too, and made up so much ground, I don’t think I was going to beat him today, but I think I would have been second or third.
“I got completely turned sideways,” Prat added. “The problem is they pushed me from the hips, if you push him from the hips and from the inside toward the outside, obviously the head is going to go to the inside.”
Prat did not claim foul, nor did the stewards ask to speak to him, according to Prat.
Baffert, the trainer of Goal Oriented, watched the race on a television in the Pimlico paddock. When he saw Journalism get up to win, Baffert clapped a couple of times.
“He’s a remarkable horse,” said Baffert, who owns the record with eight Preakness wins. “You saw him get in trouble at Santa Anita [in the Santa Anita Derby] and come running. He’s got a nose for the wire. That’s a really good horse.”
Brendan Walsh, the trainer of Gosger, said he wasn’t surprised by the effort of his horse coming off a win in the Lexington Stakes at Keeneland.
“I knew he was a good horse in the making, and I think he’ll improve off of today again,” Walsh said. “But of course you’re gutted when a horse opens up like that. I think he just idled maybe a little bit the last sixteenth of a mile and he was there to be shot at. That happened to Journalism the last day. It was his turn today.”
Journalism became just the fourth Kentucky Derby runner-up to win the Preakness since 1961. He joined a list that includes Summer Squall (1990), Prairie Bayou (1993) and Exaggerator (2016). Journalism was the 45th Derby runner-up to run in the Preakness since 1961.
Journalism gave McCarthy his second Preakness victory with his first two starters. He won the race in 2021 with Rombauer. Others to do that include Thomas Healey (1922-23), Jimmy Jones (1947-48), Henry Forrest (1966 and 1968) and Tom Bohannan (1992-93).
Journalism is owned by a group that includes Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farms, Coolmore, Don Alberto Stable, Robert LaPenta and Elayne Stables.
Those connections, taking their cue from McCarthy, waited eight days after the Kentucky Derby to decide to run in the Preakness. Aron Wellman, managing partner of Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, said they will wait as long as possible to make a decision about running in the June 7 Belmont at Saratoga and a meeting with Sovereignty.
“We would love to go,” Wellman said. “I think this ownership group, Eclipse on down, has made it very clear we take these American classics very seriously and hold them in high regard and we want to be good ambassadors for the industry and the sport at large…. We feel very fortunate to be in the position we’re in and if Michael gives him the green light, we’ll be there.”
A showdown between the Derby and Preakness winner in the Belmont at Saratoga? What a story that could be.
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