War of Will pulled away down the stretch to win the 144th Preakness Stakes Saturday evening, but it was another horse that stole the show.
Bodexpress threw his jockey out of the gate, but still managed to finish the race.
Here’s a replay:
War of Will, of course, was the horse fouled by Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby.
War of Will, fouled by Maximum Security in the Kentucky Derby, wins the Preakness for trainer Mark Casse. #preaknessstakes2019
— John Clay (@johnclayiv) May 18, 2019
Maximum Security’s owner, Gary West, issued a challenge to several horses, including War of Will earlier this week.
If West is going to talk the talk, he needs to get his horse entered into the field for the Belmont Stakes.
According to ESPN, Bocexpress jockey John Velazquez what not injured in the spill:
Fortunately, Velazquez quickly rose from the dirt and scooted off the track without injury.
“When the doors opened, I was off right from the start. He kind of jumped sideways,” Velazquez said. “I had my feet out of the irons, so I lost my balance then, I went off.”
There was an indication that things weren’t going right when Bodexpress veered left from the post parade instead of right, along with the other horses.
“He was just not behaving good in the gate. He was not sitting really well,” Velazquez said. “He got me against the wall and the gate.”
Coming out of the nasty spill with his health was a positive, but the 47-year-old jockey won’t soon forget this non-ride.
“When you come in here to a big race and then things like this happen with the horses, it’s disappointing,” Velazquez said.
