This year’s Triple Crown horse race sequence has proven to be surprising and unusual by anyone’s standards. The second event in the prestigious series didn’t disappoint fans who were titillated by the disqualification of the first horse across the finish line in the Kentucky Derby. (See Kentucky Derby DQ.) Thousands of spectators marveled as an underdog with astounding determination literally left his jockey in the dust and completed the Preakness Stakes unencumbered—just to be disqualified at the end.
Jockey John Velazquez found himself unseated from his mount Bodexpress right out of the gate. “I had my feet out of the irons (stirrups), so I lost my balance then—I went off,” he says. Thankfully, the seasoned jockey was not harmed in the fall. But even without his rider, Bodexpress was determined to finish what they started.
Taking one of the most memorable trips in the 149-year history of Pimlico Race Course, Bodexpress followed the leaders without a rider on board. At one point he appeared to be a contender in the 13-horse race.
“Some of them try to win,” says thoroughbred trainer Bob Baffert. He saddled the race favorite Improbable. “I’ve had horses that try to win. They actually run a great race sometimes.”
And Bodexpress did just that. From the moment the frisky three-year-old bolted from the gate, ejecting his Hall of Fame jockey, craziness ensued. Running on his own in the second jewel of the Triple Crown, Bodexpress rounded the track, driven either by instinct or the desire to stick with the crowd.
An outrider tried to corral Bodexpress at the top of the stretch, but the colt didn’t let the horseplay come to an end. He sped up, even passing a few competitors near the finish line—and kept going.
Maybe he thought he won. The proud pony ran the entire track again before finally calling it a day—as if claiming a victory lap. Social media blew up with his performance, making him an instant celebrity.
But rules are rules and a horse without a rider doesn’t qualify—no matter how well he performs on his own. Bodexpress was placed last in the field. According to the officials, he was given a “did not finish” status.
Bodexpress has racing in his genes. He is the son of the 2003 Belmont Stakes winner Empire Maker.
War of Will, a horse affected by Maximum Security’s illegal maneuver in the Kentucky Derby, took first place at the Preakness. The Derby winner—Country House—did not run. It was the first time since 1996 that the Kentucky Derby champion did not go on to compete in the second event of the Triple Crown.
(Bodexpress runs in the 144th Preakness Stakes without his jockey, John Velazquez, at Pimlico race course on Saturday, May 18, 2019. AP Photo)
