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After 10 years, memories of Afleet Alex abound

Sitting at a reserved table at Parx Racing in Bensalem, waiting for the beef brisket lunch special and a couple of races in which he had horses running, Chuck Zacney swiped his phone a few times, and the 2005 Preakness Stakes appeared, horses in the gate.

Jeremy Rose rejoices as Afleet Alex crosses the finish line ahead of the field on May 20, 2005. (Joan Fairman Kanes/Inquirer File Photo)
Jeremy Rose rejoices as Afleet Alex crosses the finish line ahead of the field on May 20, 2005. (Joan Fairman Kanes/Inquirer File Photo)Read more

Sitting at a reserved table at Parx Racing in Bensalem, waiting for the beef brisket lunch special and a couple of races in which he had horses running, Chuck Zacney swiped his phone a few times, and the 2005 Preakness Stakes appeared, horses in the gate.

"I probably still watch five or six times a year," Zacney said as the race unfolded on his phone.

It began as an idea among friends, Eagles fans, at the Super Bowl in Jacksonville in February 2005. They liked to bet horses, Zacney said, so why not throw some money together and buy a couple? Eventually, five of them - most with roots in Northeast Philadelphia and trips to Liberty Bell racetrack in their past - did it and called their little group Cash Is King. Their first horse cost them $75,000.

The horse turned out to be special, and their lives were never quite the same.

Afleet Alex, based out of Tim Ritchey's barn at Delaware Park, went on to join the history of the sport. The colt missed winning the Kentucky Derby by a length, and that length turned out to be the distance that separated Afleet Alex from the 2005 Triple Crown.

His place in horse racing lore was established at that year's Preakness. After another horse veered into his path, their heels clipped, and Afleet Alex dropped almost to his knees, his nose inches from the dirt, his jockey, Jeremy Rose, barely hanging on. It was a feat of athleticism for both horse and jockey. Instead of going down, Afleet Alex regained his footing and roared off to a 43/4-length victory. "He did something champions do," Rose said after the race.

"I've seen horses take bad steps in races and win," said Ritchey, the trainer. "I never saw horses stumble that much and come back on and win in a Grade I race like this. That's the first I've ever seen it."

Next, Afleet Alex won the Belmont Stakes by seven lengths, running the fastest final quarter in more than three and a half decades, the track announcer pointing out how Afleet Alex went by the Kentucky Derby winner, Giacomo, as if he was standing still.

The horse was one of the great ones of recent times, part of a Philly saga of the time, along with Smarty Jones the year before and Barbaro the year after. Winning 8 of 12 lifetime starts, Afleet Alex earned $2,765,800 before retiring to a Kentucky stud farm.

As a stallion, Afleet Alex has had his ups and downs - his stud fee, which started at $40,000, now is at $12,500. Lately, he has been on a roll. Last year's Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner, Texas Red, was an Afleet Alex baby. This year's Florida Derby winner, Materiality, is another and a legitimate Kentucky Derby contender on May 2 at Churchill Downs.

The owners of Afleet Alex, the group of five from Philly, also made the whole 2005 ride memorable. They treated every race as a party. Ritchey once told them: "I think you have your a.m.'s and p.m.'s reversed."

"It's hitting the lottery, but you get to live it day after day," one of the partners, Joe Lerro, said in '05. "You're actually seeing it in motion."

Asked what they spent at the Belmont Stakes, when they rented a tent for 500 people on the grounds of Belmont Park and threw a massive party that night at a top-shelf hotel, Zacney figured the group put out $100,000, including tickets and hotel rooms. They had a similar time of it after the Preakness, some staying up all night.

The owner of a medical billing company, Zacney is fully aware that lightning just doesn't hit like Afleet Alex did. Bob Brittingham, one of the other owners, used to joke that they probably caused a bunch of people to buy horses and lose their shirts.

When Afleet Alex won his first race going away, someone offered $650,000 for the horse, Zacney said. After the second race, he said, the offer was $1 million. Third race, $2 million. Fourth race, $3 million. Did they consider selling? No, Zacney said, joking that they hid "those kinds of numbers" from family members.

Between the purses won and some of the stud fees, which have varied over the years, Afleet Alex was "very good" to him, Zacney said, explaining: "As the majority owner it did afford me the opportunity to buy a beautiful house on the intercoastal in Fort Lauderdale." He bought it that year, then sold it five years later, he explained, while juggling kids' activities. They weren't using it enough.

But it was the experience of '05 that turned out to be priceless. Ritchey, the trainer, had picked out the horse at a sale in Maryland and knew what he had, immediately mapping out an ambitious course of races that had the owners raising their eyebrows. Was he for real? Completely, it turned out.

Ritchey was up to the task each step of the way and knew what he was looking at every morning. Afleet Alex was named champion North American 3-year-old of 2005, finishing second for overall horse of the year.

There was another part of the story throughout. Because of the horse's name, and the fact that children of three of the owners were named either Alex or Alexandra, Alex's Lemonade Stand, a local charity started by a girl from Wynnewood with cancer, became their charity.

Jay Scott - the father of Alex Scott, who operated her lemonade stand to raise money for pediatric cancer after her own treatments began - remembers a phone call from Zacney in the fall of 2004, several months after Alex Scott died at the age of 8.

"He said, 'Listen, we have a horse that we think is pretty good. We've been donating to you guys whenever he wins, anonymously,' " Scott said. " 'Do you mind if we went public with it?' It was as simple as that. Not knowing anything about horse racing, we said, 'Sure.' "

A breeding season with Afleet Alex's sire netted the charity $37,000 a few days before that year's Kentucky Derby.

At the Preakness, an Alex's Lemonade Stand was set up. At the winner's circle, Rose, the jockey, leaned on a rail up above the crowd until he saw Liz Scott, Alex Scott's mother.

Rose leaned down and told her about how he almost went to the ground in the race after Afleet Alex clipped heels with Scrappy T. "Alex popped me up, or little Alex popped me up," Rose told little Alex's mother. "One of the two."

On the day of the Belmont Stakes, racetracks around the country had Alex's Lemonade Stands set up where people could donate. It all got nationwide publicity.

"It certainly was a springboard for us," Jay Scott said, mentioning that the foundation is now the second largest in the country for pediatric cancer. "It took us to a whole 'nother level."

"I like the 3 horse a little bit," Zacney, who lives in Phoenixville, told his friend Joe Lerro, who lives in Newtown and North Wildwood and still has shares in five or six horses of the 13 or 14 that Zacney owns. They were looking at the races from Keeneland. Quickly, another horse caught their eye, in the third race at the Kentucky track. Fleet Bertie, a filly sired by Afleet Alex, making her first lifetime start, 6-1 on the morning line.

Lerro called in to his phone account. Zacney typed in a bet on the screen that was at the table. They reminisced before the Keeneland race, remembering how the late Joe Judge, one of their partners, initially said no when Zacney asked whether he wanted to join their little syndicate. His wife, Barbara, eventually talked him into it. It turned out to be the time of his life.

The race at Keeneland began and Fleet Bertie, up to 12-1 odds at race time, took to the rail early in the six-furlong race. Turning for home, it wasn't clear whether there was an opening to get through. "He might have horse," Zacney said.

Sure enough, the track announcer called it: "In the final furlong, it's going to be Fleet Bertie opening up and charging through on the inside."

Zacney and Lerro high-fived. "I'd ship her to the Kentucky Oaks," Lerro joked, speaking of the prestigious race for 3-year-old fillies the day before the Kentucky Derby.

The daughter of Afleet Alex paid $26.20 on a $2 bet. Both Zacney and Lerro had bet a little more than that.

"I've got ammo now," Lerro said. "That's all I need!"

Missing Jewel

Since Affirmed became the last horse to win the Triple Crown in 1978, five horses have won the Preakness and Belmont after falling short in the Kentucky Derby.

      Kentucky   

Horse   Year   Derby finish   

Afleet Alex   2005   Third

Point Given   2001   Fifth

Tabasco Cat   1994   Sixth

Hansel   1991   10th

Risen Star   1988   Third

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