LIKE IT IS

Orb ambushed by old-timers Stevens, Lukas

Orb’s victory in the Kentucky Derby was so impressive that almost immediately the talk began that the 35-year wait for a Triple Crown winner was about to be over.

The talk choked in the Baltimore humidity Saturday when two Hall of Famers teamed up to basically steal the Preakness on a day when Orb didn’t start running until it was too late.

Oxbow, trained by D. Wayne Lukas and ridden brilliantly by Gary Stevens, easily won the 138th running of the Preakness and ended the talk about the drought being over for Triple Crown winners.

In the 35 years since Affirmed became racing’s last Triple Crown winner in 1978, 12 horses have won the first two legs but couldn’t win the most grueling of the races, the 1 ½ -mile Belmont Stakes.

Keep in mind, only 11 horses have won the Triple Crown since Sir Barton first accomplished the feat in 1919, but the decade of the 1970s made it seem like it was going to get much easier when Secretariat, who ran all three legs the fastest in history, won it in 1973, followed by Seattle Slew in 1977 and then Affirmed.

Some experts say breeding has changed for the sake of sales, trying to get more speed bred to the horses. Others say it is the inbreeding - and there’s enough to make the whole state of Kentucky blush - that has diminished the stamina in horses.

Then there are others who say it is the wide use of anti-bleeder medication lasix and the anti-inflammatory drug phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute, that has made champions of horses that in actuality weren’t that good.

Now, that debate will continue although all of those experts do share one opinion.

Thoroughbred racing needs a Triple Crown winner to garner some positive publicity and gain more interest.

It is the only sport that is a national headline three times a year and, no, the Breeders’ Cup still doesn’t have the interest of the world that the Triple Crown does. These days you can see more big football games in a single weekend than racing has for an entire year.

Despite the disappointment of no Triple Crown threat, which will hurt the Belmont’s TV ratings, the Preakness was a feel-good story for Lukas, who is 77 years old, and Stevens, who retired from racing and returned this year at the age of 50. He fights arthritic knees on a daily basis.

Most experts gave Oxbow, the second-longest shot on the board at 15-1, no chance, and it seemed that perhaps Lukas was running Oxbow to keep some owners happy after the horse finished fifth in the Arkansas Derby and sixth in the Kentucky Derby.

Saturday, the wily veteran Stevens owned and directed the race, taking Oxbow to the lead, setting pedestrian fractions and then never breaking stride or hitting the wall as he came home a fairly easy winner. Orb was a distant fourth, although he was running better at the end than at any other time during the race.

The victory was so surprising that the stories that immediately hit the Internet were more about Orb losing than Oxbow, owned by Calumet Farms, another legend in the horse racing world, winning.

It was a brilliant ride by Stevens, who won his third Preakness, and on an afternoon with a threat of rain, the best horse was Oxbow.

Lukas, an Oaklawn Park regular these days, said he knew when they came into the stretch in the lead that his little horse had enough fight in it to win.

Lukas has his own public relations plan for thoroughbred racing. After most victories he finds a youngster in the stands and takes them to the winner’s circle and then buys them a copy of the picture.

Saturday, the Triple Crown talk died quickly and two veterans, Lukas and Stevens, were the talk of the town.

Sports, Pages 23 on 05/19/2013