Moment of the Year: Afleet Alex's Preakness Victory

Edited press release
Afleet Alex's dramatic win in the 2005 Preakness Stakes (gr. I), in which he overcame bumping incident at the top of the Pimlico stretch, has been voted the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's "Moment of the Year."

Afleet Alex's connections were to be honored at the Eclipse Awards Monday, Jan. 23, in Beverly Hills, Calif., with the "NTRA Moment of the Year" award.

Balloting was conducted at the NTRA Web site, ntra.com, and offered voters 12 different images illustrating a wide range of human emotions as well as displays of equine athleticism. The images and events that fans chose from were:

-- Bellamy Road blows away the field in the Wood Memorial (gr. I)
-- Giacomo captures the Kentucky Derby at 50-1(gr. I)
-- Afleet Alex overcomes dangerous incident to capture the Preakness
-- Afleet Alex wins the Belmont Stakes (gr. I) going away by seven lengths
-- Japanese sensation Cesario dominates her U.S. filly peers in the American Oaks (gr. I)
-- Lava Man overpowers his foes in the Hollywood Gold Cup (gr. I)
-- Nick Zito is enshrined in Thoroughbred racing's Hall of Fame
-- Powerscourt makes amends for '04, powers home in the Arlington Million (gr. IT)
-- Borrego wears down Perfect Drift and Lava Man in the Pacific Classic (gr. I)
-- Borrego unleashes devastating move to take the Jockey Club Gold Cup (gr. I)
-- Stevie Wonderboy takes the Bessemer Trust Breeders' Cup Juvenile (gr. I) for owner Merv Griffin
-- Saint Liam caps off a big year with his victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic - Powered by Dodge (gr. I)

Afleet Alex's Preakness received a whopping 82% of the vote, easily the most lopsided victory in any of the "NTRA Moment of the Year" elections. Finishing a distant second was Giacomo's Kentucky Derby victory. Afleet Alex and Giacomo are two of the three finalists, along with Flower Alley, for 2001 champion 3-Year-Old Male.

"The NTRA Moment of the Year award is an opportunity for fans to play an active role in the Eclipse Awards ceremony, and I commend them on an outstanding choice," said NTRA commissioner D.G. Van Clief, Jr. "The image of Afleet Alex nearly going down, then recovering to win the Preakness is one that I think will live forever in the minds of racing fans everywhere."