Gary Stevens rolls back the years on Oxbow

Gary Stevens shouts out in joy after winning on Oxbow. Picture: AP

The 50-year-old only returned to the saddle in January after seven years in retirement, which included acting roles in Seabiscit and alongside Dustin Hoffmann in Luck, but he demonstrated all his old magic on the winner. ”This is the reason I came back, to win races like this, the Classics,” Stevens said. “To win a Classic, at 50-years-old, after seven years of retirement, is super, super sweet.

The D Wayne Lukas-trained bay bolted to the lead under cloudy skies and never tired, finishing just under two lengths ahead of Itsmyluckyday. Rosie Napravnik guided Mylute to a third-place finish, while Kentucky Derby champion Orb finished fourth.

Oxbow finished sixth in the Derby two weeks ago on a sloppy track at Churchill Downs. On Saturday, Stevens steered clear of traffic in the opening furlong and never looked back. “When I hit the half-mile pole, I said, ‘Are you kidding me? Is this happening?’” said Stevens. “The race was over at that point. I just walked the dog to the half-mile pole.”

The victory was Lukas’ record 14th in Triple Crown races, including his sixth trip to the Preakness winner’s circle. “I got a Hall of Fame ride,” Lukas said of Stevens’ effort. “We can plan this thing, we can talk about it, we can talk about strategy. But once that gate is open, they have to make decisions. Gary made some great ones.”

Oxbow’s triumph was the first wire-to-wire victory in the Preakness since Aloma’s Ruler in 1982. The winning time for the $1 million mile-and-three-16th race was a relatively slow 1:57:54. Stevens said he thought he would see some company in the stretch. “I fully expected that Orb possibly departing and Will Take Charge would be making a run,” he said after his third Preakness triumph and his ninth victory in the Triple Crown series. “But I came into the stretch so loaded. I couldn’t believe that no one challenged me going into the far turn, but when no one did, I said, ‘I think everybody’s in trouble right now.’”

Orb’s fourth-place finish ensures that a Triple Crown champion will have to wait at least another year. The last horse to win the Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes was Affirmed in 1978.

Meanwhile. Hong Kong’s domination of Singapore’s most prestigious meeting of the year was completed when John Moore posted a magnificent one-two after Military Attack was chased home by stablemate Dan Excel in the Singapore Airlines International Cup at Kranji. In a renewal considered one of the best in its history, Military Attack and Zac Purton turned the mile-and-a-quarter Group 1 into a procession as he came home three-and-a-quarter lengths ahead of Dan Excel, who deprived Mawingo of second place by a head.

The weekend’s big race in Britain – the JLT Lockinge Stakes at Newbury – was won by Farhh, who looks set for a Royal Ascot assignment after his blistering four-length victory.

No match for the mighty Frankel on two occasions last season, this was his maiden Group 1 victory, as well as a first in Britain for jockey Silvestre De Sousa. Taking some heat off Godolphin after a testing time, Farhh (100-30) was much too good for 80-1 outsider Sovereign Debt. Aidan O’Brien’s 5-4 Declaration Of War disappointed.