Heading into the Kentucky Derby, the betting favourite was Journalism at 3-1. The horse who was trained by Michael W. McCarthy of Youngstown, Ohio and rode by Umberto Rispoli of San Severino Marche, Italy, finished second to Sovereignty by one and a half lengths.
On Saturday at Pimlico, it was a successful victory for Journalism at the 2025 Preakness Stakes, who won the second leg of the Triple Crown in remarkable fashion. Journalism appeared to be too far back down the stretch run. Near the quarter pole, he was even bumped by Goal Oriented, and significantly back of the leader, Gosger. Then we saw a comeback for the ages, and why so many people liked Journalism to begin with. Journalism ended the Preakness like an absolute rocket on fire. He stormed past the field, and got by Gosger by half a length. One must question if Gosger’s jockey Luis Saez thought the win was in the bag, or if the horse just did not have much energy left. Either way, it was an impressive win for Journalism, who was the 8-5 favourite.
The conditions were better in Baltimore than Louisville. At the Kentucky Derby, the horses rode on a very muddy track.
Why was Sovereignty not at the Preakness?
On Saturday at the Preakness, there would be no Sovereignty. The horse was not entered by its owners. It appeared he had injured his foot at the start of the Kentucky Derby. According to Matt Higgins of Yahoo! Sports, Sovereignty will be competing at the Belmont on June 7.
History made in Italian horse racing
For the first time ever, an Italian jockey won a Triple Crown race. Rispoli had won 615 races prior to his Preakness win, but not were bigger than Saturday. It was a huge day for Italian sport as Jasmine Paolini won the Italian Open in Rome earlier in the day.
Almost an upset
Gosger entered the Preakness as a 20-1 underdog. He was tied with Pay Billy as the horse least expected to win the race.
