By Christina Bossinakis

Baltimore, MD-Two weeks ago in the Kentucky Derby, Journalism (Curlin) endured a difficult trip and had to settle for second behind Sovereignty (Into Mischief). The colt’s connections–Eclipse Thoroughbreds, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Bob LaPenta, Elayne Stables, Mrs John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith and trainer Michael McCarthy–waited for more than a week to make the decision to pull the trigger on a start in the GI Preakness Stakes. Heading down the Pimlico stretch Saturday evening, it appeared that the GI Santa Anita Derby winner and jockey Umberto Risploi were going to have to play the bridesmaid yet again after getting brutally sandwiched between rivals, not to mention having to play catch up on the free-running leader Gosger (Nyquist) who didn’t appear to be stopping.

However, the intangibles that people often talk about but are somewhat abstract concepts–class and heart–were on full display as both the colt and rider reeled in the front-runner, ultimately nailing that rival by 3/4 of a length at the wire.

“I still can’t understand what this horse did today,” said Rispoli, who was winning his first American Classic. “I got in trouble at the quarter pole and, look, he made himself keep going. It’s all about him, It’s a privilege to ride a horse like him.”

Trainer Michael McCarthy, who had been quietly confident all week in the colt, was hoping for a cleaner trip for his colt in the second jewel in the Triple Crown. While the racing Gods would once again spin the wheel of adversity, Journalism did what few horses do in the face of challenge, dig deep and draw on their tenacity and athleticism to overcome an obstacle.

“It was basically more or less kind of what I thought coming to the 16th pole in the Kentucky Derby when I saw Sovereignty coming to us,” said McCarthy. “I thought it was just another fantastic effort. Couple things didn’t work out well for us Derby Saturday, but this here was a little bit more drastic than just losing some ground at the start and having to deal with an off going on a muddy racetrack. This looked a little bit ugly there for a couple of jumps.”

He continued, “When I saw that [mid-stretch bumping], I thought it was another solid effort and, unfortunately, he was going to come up a little short again. For sure, he got the worst of it. Hats off to Umberto and Journalism for persevering, I think today you saw what it takes to be a champion. Today was his day. He had been telling us all along he was sort of ready for an effort like that.”

After a clean start, Clever Again (American Pharoah) cleared the field and shot to the front as Gosger and the rail-starting TDN Rising Star Goal Oriented (Not This Time) settled in right behind him in second and third, respectively. Meanwhile, favored Journalism tucked in a ground-saving sixth as the front-runner cut out an opening quarter mile in modest :23.19. With little change except for River Thames (Maclean’s Music) who took over third to the outside of Gosger through a half in :46.66, the even-money choice was asked for some more gas and he started to up the tempo but was confronted by a wall of rumps approaching the quarter pole. Trying to capitalize on a gap between Goal Oriented to his outside and Clever Again to his inside, Journalism got swiped pretty good as Goal Oriented veered inward, pushing Journalism into the rail-riding Clever Again, who lost all chance and made a rapid retreat.

Meanwhile, Sandman (Tapit) began to unfurl his long grey legs from the back, and got on even terms with Journalism who almost instantly began to inch ahead of that oncoming grey. With Gosger still five lengths in front but starting to idle a hair, Journalism all of sudden made the impossible possible, closing with each stride to collar the pacesetter late and sweep past to 1/2-length victory. Gosger was 2 1/4-lengths clear of Sandman with Goal Oriented rounding out the Super. Heart of Honor (GB) was fifth while Clever Again never recovered and finished last of nine.

“On the backside, he wasn’t traveling like he did travel in the Derby, and at that point you think two things: You have no horse or just too relaxed,” explained Rispoli of his mount’s early position. “I think the second was the option, because as soon as I gave a smack on the shoulder he said, ‘okay, I know what I got to do.’”

He continued, “On the turn, I thought Clever Again would go at least at the eight pole. At the quarter pole, he gets stopped and obviously Gosger had the jump on him. We were going that fast…A little gap was opened and I said, ‘it’s now or never.’ From where I was, when I looked up, Luis [Saez on Gosger] opened up four lengths ahead of me, and it was the first time I used the crop on him. He switch his lead and, boom, he took off.”

Third in his career debut at Santa Anita in October, the $825,000 Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Select yearling purchase won his remaining two starts of the season–annexing a one-mile maiden at Del Mar Nov. 17 ahead of a 3 1/2-length score in the GII Los Alamitos Futurity Dec. 14. Sent off second choice behind the highly-regarded Barnes in the 8 1/2-furlong GII San Felipe Stakes Mar. 1, the Don Alberto-bred colt came home a 1 3/4-length winner before adding a win as the even-money choice in the Santa Anita Derby Apr. 5. Favored again for the Run for the Roses, the colt closed from well off the pace on a muddy track to finish just 1 ½ lengths behind Sovereignty.

“I think [his Preakness win] says a lot about him,” said McCarthy. “I think it’s basically he has validated what we have thought about him all along. Last summer, he was getting ready a little bit faster than your average 2-year-old. We had to stop on him for some little aches and pains. When things got rolling, he was able to go ahead, annex three races in seven weeks, culminating with the Los Alamitos Futurity. I started thinking about [the Classics]. You certainly need the vehicle and we had it with him.”

With the victory, Rispoli becomes the first Italian-born jockey to win an American Classic. And that fact was not lost on him in the aftermath of the win.

“Having Frankie as my idol, you always thought you couldn’t do anything Frankie ever done,” said Rispoli. “Zio, if you ever listen to me, I think you have to ride a couple more years to get one of the Triple Crown to equal me,” he quipped, addressing his fellow country man.

With all joking shelved for a moment, he said, “It’s a privilege. When I crossed the wire, it looked like a flash of 20 years of my career went through my head. It’s even difficult to describe the feeling when you cross the wire.”

“I’m proud of this and for my country, he said. “I wish everybody over there is proud of me.”

It’s safe to say that there are likely many more who are also proud of the Italian.

“It took guts for Umberto Rispoli to get sideswiped and threading the needle and power on through,” said Eclipse Thoroughbreds’ Aron Wellman. “And it took guts from an incredible horse to somehow will his way to victory.”

McCarthy, who did his best to stem the tide of emotion after his second Preakness win following Rombauer in 2021, explained, summed up the Triple Crown in succinct fashion.

“What happened today is almost surreal,” he said. “You don’t see that happen. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain.”

LaPenta interjected, “He’s a warrior.”

McCarthy, who is often known to play his cards close to his vest, wasn’t about to leave anything on the table.

“Yeah, I think he showed today he’s a gift from above.”

Living to Fight Another Day…
If there was anybody following the Preakness harboring a mixture of disappointment and satisfaction it might have been Brendan Walsh, trainer of the runner-up Gosger.

“We are delighted with him. He ran a super race,” said Walsh of Gosger. “I am not surprised. I knew the horse was good enough. He ran a bang-up race. Foe only his fourth ever start, it was great. Listen, it’s disappointing to get collared, but the horse ran a super race. The fractions he put up, he ran a great race.”

With only three races under his belt prior to Saturday’s Classic, Gosger won Keeneland’s GIII Lexington Stakes in his most recent start Apr. 12.

“Luis [Saez] said if he had a little company a little longer, he may have taken him to the wire. Maybe he could have gotten a little bit more from him,” he explained. “He thought he idled a little but in the final furlong. It’s just more greenness more than anything. He’s a green horse and the crowd is screaming. And he got beat by a very nice. He’s up there with these horses and he showed it today.”

Asked what might be next on the grey’s dance card, Walsh said, “No idea. We’ll look after him. he’s a very good horse and we are couple of starts away from his best race. I think we have a very good horse on our hands.”

Mark Casse, who trains third-place finisher Sandman, felt the early fractions might have worked against his late-closing colt. Sandman previously finished seventh in the Derby.

“I was upset the first quarter because they were walking, but they picked it up,” he said. “I have to watch the replay, but he ran good. He made amends for the Derby, but a good horse won.”

Fourth-place finisher Goal Oriented, who appeared to cause much of the issues in the Pimlico stretch, finished about eight lengths behind the winner.

“He didn’t get to run his race,” said Bob Baffert. “I wanted to see him on the lead, Maybe he would have stopped, I don’t know. He is lightly raced. He ran well, but he is still green. He was not used to being behind horses and he got intimidated. The best horse won.”

Even in defeat, the eight-time winner of the Preakness was complimentary of the winner.

“I have seen that horse do it all winter long and he is a remarkable horse,” he said. “I saw him at Santa Anita and get in trouble and then come running. That is a really good horse.”

Pedigree Notes:
Eighteen years ago, Curlin placed in the Kentucky Derby before winning the Preakness, and now he has a second son who has repeated the feat. In fact, both of his Preakness winners had done more in their career–up to this point–than Curlin had, as Curlin didn’t race at two and won his first Grade I in the Preakness. He, of course, made up for it as a two-time Horse of the Year. Curlin’s first Preakness winner was Exaggerator, who won the GI Santa Anita Derby in 2016, following it up with a Derby second and a Preakness win, which is precisely the same path Journalism has taken. Exaggerator closed his career as a triple Grade I winner and now stands in Louisiana. Journalism will stand at Coolmore’s Ashford Stud upon his retirement.

One of the elite stallions in the sport, Curlin is the sire of eight individual Eclipse champions, 64 graded winners, and 109 black-type winners. A perennial part of the leading sires list, he stands at Hill ‘n’ Dale near Paris, Kentucky for $225,000. Journalism is Curlin’s only stakes winner out of an Uncle Mo mare, although his top sire son, Good Magic, had MGISW and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Muth, who is also out of a mare by the late Ashford sire, and Exaggerator has GSW West Saratoga on the same cross. Uncle Mo’s 25 stakes winners out of his daughters include reigning Horse of the Year Thorpedo Anna (Fast Anna).

Journalism is the first foal for 2018 GII La Canada Stakes winner and four-time Grade I-placed Mopotism, who sold publicly as a weanling, a yearling, and a 2-year-old before going through the Fasig-Tipton November ring at the conclusion of her racing career, where she brought $1.05 million from Don Alberto Corp., who bred Journalism. Mopotism has an unraced 2-year-old colt named Nitro Tap (Tapit), who hammered for $1.5 million to Flying Dutchmen at last year’s Fasig-Tipton Saratoga sale, as well as a yearling filly by Into Mischief. –Jill William

Saturday, Pimlico
PREAKNESS S.-GI, $2,000,000, Pimlico, 5-17, 3yo, 1 3/16m, 1:55.47, ft.
1–JOURNALISM, 126, c, 3, by Curlin
     1st Dam: Mopotism (GSW & MGISP, $876,090), by Uncle Mo
     2nd Dam: Peppy Rafaela, by Bernardini
     3rd Dam: Peppy Lapeau, by French Deputy
($825,000 Ylg ’23 FTSAUG). O-Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners, Bridlewood Farm, Don Alberto Stable, Robert V. LaPenta, Elayne Stables 5 LLC, Mrs. John Magnier, Michael B. Tabor and Derrick Smith; B-Don Alberto Corporation (KY); T-Michael W. McCarthy; J-Umberto Rispoli. $1,200,000. Lifetime Record: 7-5-1-1, $2,838,880. Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree or free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Gosger, 126, c, 3, Nyquist–Gloria S, by Tapit. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O/B-Harvey A Clarke Racing Stable LLC (KY); T-Brendan P. Walsh. $400,000.
3–Sandman, 126, c, 3, Tapit–Distorted Music, by Distorted Humor. ($1,200,000 2yo ’24 OBSMAR). O-D. J. Stable LLC, St. Elias Stable, West Point Thoroughbreds and CJ Stables; B-Lothenbach Stables Inc (KY); T-Mark E. Casse. $220,000.
Margins: HF, 2 1/4, 4. Odds: 1.00, 15.50, 6.40.
Also Ran: Goal Oriented, Heart of Honor (GB), River Thames, Pay Billy, American Promise, Clever Again.