Oxbow raced out to first place right out of the gates, and he held off a late charge down the stretch to win the 2013 Preakness Stakes. The colt won by one-and-three-quarters lengths on Saturday at Baltimore's Pimlico Race Course.
Despite maximum effort from Oxbow's closest competitors near the finish, they could never quite catch him. He also thwarted prohibitive favorite Orb's chances at capturing the Triple Crown.
The No. 6 starting post continued to be magical for Gary Stevens and Oxbow, as ESPN Stats & Info highlighted after the wire-to-wire triumph:
Trainer D. Wayne Lukas won his sixth career Preakness, and he set an all-time record with his 14th Triple Crown victory. Lukas is known for entering long shots into races, and fittingly it was the least likely of his three entries that gave him his most recent win.
Stevens set a moderate pace in the beginning, and he confidently pushed his speedy colt further when he saw no one seriously challenging.
Another Hall of Fame jockey in John Velazquez attempted a late charge down the final stretch, but it ultimately wasn't enough.
Rosie Napravnik was attempting to become the first female jockey to win the Preakness at the track she began her career at. Unfortunately, she got jumbled on the straightaway, and she needed to split too far to the outside.
There wasn't much suspense for Orb. He encountered traffic issues starting at post No. 1, and he recovered too late, ultimately finishing in fourth.
This was a thrilling showcase, and it was a dominant performance by Stevens. The 50-year-old jockey retired for seven years before saddling up with Oxbow in the Kentucky Derby, where he ran to a sixth-place effort.
Before the race, Stevens indicated to NBC's Bob Costas that he was inspired by fellow aging jockey Mike Smith's success during his hiatus from horse racing. Stevens' return was clearly worth it, as he won his third Preakness Stakes and captured the coveted Woodlawn Vase.
Stephen Panus logged a clever comment Lukas made after the race, when he clearly had no sympathy over Orb's potential bid for horse racing's ultimate honor:
While some wind may be sucked out of June 8's Belmont Stakes, Lukas and Stevens don't mind. They've simply fortified their status among the best trainers and jockeys of all time.
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