Journalism, who started both the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness as the favorite, made headlines in yesterday’s Preakness Stakes — battling heavy traffic, overcoming a hard bump and rallying with a powerful stretch run to snatch victory by half a length over 15:1 longshot Gosger. This is Journalism’s fifth career win in seven starts. He’s placed no lower than third and has won $2,838,880 to date. Gosger finished second and Sandman took third place.

The Kentucky Derby runner up had hugged the rail around the track, looking to shorten the distance. But as he turned onto the home stretch, the colt was blocked in by a wall of horses and it looked like he might be denied the win again. When Umburto Ripoli asked the colt to move through an impossibly small gap between Goal Oriented and Clever Again, the horse was bumped hard, looking for a few moments like he might lose his footing — and definitely losing momentum. While the Kentucky Derby with its larger field often resembles bumper cars, the smaller Preakness field (nine horses this year) does not typically have so much physical contact.

Despite being knocked off stride, with just 1/8th of a mile to go, Journalism regrouped and ran down Gosger, who had a four and a half length lead at the time.

“He got slammed pretty good,” Rispoli said after the race. “But he never lost focus. Once he saw daylight, he just took off.” It was Rispoli’s first Triple Crown win — and the first Triple Crown race won by an Italian Jockey — and a second Preakness for trainer Michael McCarthy.

Journalism is the first horse to win the Preakness after running in the Kentucky Derby since Mark Casse-trained War of Will in 2019. He is the first Derby runner-up to follow that up by winning the Preakness since Exaggerator in 2016.

The field was full of fresh horses. Only two others from the 19 in the Derby participated in the Preakness: Casse’s Sandman and fellow Hall of Famer D. Wayne Lukas’ American Promise. In fact, there is a lot of discussion within racing circles as to whether more time should be built in between the races. While it used to be common for horses to race more frequently, most trainers now like 5-6 weeks in between to allow horses to fully recover. There’s also been some discussion of holding the Triple Crown series for four-year olds, giving the horses more time to mature. Speed and performance typically both increase as race horses age, with a study by the NIH revealing peak performance at 4.5 years.

The Preakness Is No Stranger to Chaos

This year’s rough-and-tumble edition joins a long list of unpredictable and chaotic Preakness races.

Who can forget 2019, when War of Will threaded his way through traffic after a controversial Kentucky Derby run? Or 1980’s Codex vs. Genuine Risk—a physical duel so rough it led to an official objection and a national debate over interference? Even the infamous 2005 Preakness, where Afleet Alex clipped heels with Scrappy T and nearly fell to his knees at the top of the stretch, only to recover and surge home by daylight, comes to mind when watching Journalism’s late rally.

Weather has also added challenges to the race. In 2018, Justify triumphed in a Preakness that was blanketed by a dense white fog that left parts of the race completely obscured from the crowds.

The End of an Era — Pimlico to be Rebuilt

This year’s Preakness is the last to be held at the current version of Pimlico Race Course. The historic Baltimore track, home to the Preakness since 1873, will soon undergo a $400 million, long-overdue renovation.

The Maryland Stadium Authority has approved demolition plans, with a new facility scheduled to open in time for the 2027 running. In the meantime, the Preakness will temporarily move to Laurel Park. While Pimlico’s racing surfaces will not be altered (the track surface has always been a draw for trainers), the new grandstand/clubhouse will be considerably smaller, housing maybe 6,000-8,000 fans on a regular basis. The plan is to make the new Pimlico the home of Maryland racing and to host more than 100 races annually.

With the Belmont now running in Saratoga for the second year, it’s a time of transition for the Triple Crown races. Certainly, running the Belmont in Saratoga over 1 1/4 miles vs. 1 1/2 miles in Belmont Park has influenced trainers’ decisions about which horses to enter in the race. And the upcoming temporary change for the Preakness, may also fuel the debate over whether the Triple Crown schedule needs to be adjusted to accommodate the health and performance of modern racehorses.

As of today, Michael McCarthy is undecided over whether to run Journalism in the Belmont. While fans would appreciate another match with Sovereignty, the Kentucky Derby winner will have had five weeks of rest before the final Triple Crown race, which would put Journalism at a disadvantage.