At the start of the Preakness Stakes, the horse Bodexpress lost his jockey, John Velazquez, right out of the gate, leaving fans on social media stunned.
Jockey down at the #Preakness pic.twitter.com/rNtRkwkVbm
— Aaron Judge Randazzo (@JimmyRandazzo) May 18, 2019
The horse got out of the gate, and Velazquez almost instantly tumbled from the saddle. Bodexpress continued running the race without the jockey. He finished the race without Velazquez on his saddle.
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There were plenty of Twitter jokes about Bodexpress’ run.
Bodexpress in the #Preakness #Preakness2019 pic.twitter.com/NKWMRoNUJh
— Drew Da Vinci (@vinci_drew) May 18, 2019
Bodexpress is a strong independent horse who don’t need no man #preakness2019
— Ems (@_emelizabeth) May 18, 2019
Bodexpress tossed his jockey right out of the gate at Preakness. Jockey is ok. Horse kept running pic.twitter.com/n9VdWrmbim
— Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) May 18, 2019
Will of War won The Preakness. Trained by Bob Baffert, the horse was involved in the objection that changed the results of the Kentucky Derby earlier this month. Baffert initiated the objection, which led to Maximum Security’s disqualification and Country House being declared winner.
Bodexpress’ trainer is Gustavo Delgado. The horse finished 13th at the Kentucky Derby and entered the race with 20-1 odds to win, reports USA Today.
BodeExpress said who needs a jockey? I just like to run #Preakness #Preakness2019
— Warren Parker (@waparker536) May 18, 2019
So this time there was a jockey-less horse getting in the way of other horses. 🤨 #Preakness
— meresger 🍸 (@meresger1) May 18, 2019
I really wanted the horse with no jockey to win! Go #9 #Preakness
— Laura Etzel (@LauraEtzel) May 18, 2019
This year’s Preakness was notable for not including the Kentucky Derby winner for the first time since 1996. Country House was forced to sit out because of an illness, according to the horse’s trainer, Bill Mott.
“He developed a little bit of a cough this morning,” Mott told Daily Racing Form on May 7. “He appetite is good. He doesn’t have a fever. But he’s coughing. We drew blood. He’s acting like he’s going to get sick. He’s off the training list, and if he’s off the training list he’s off the Preakness list.”
“It’s probably a little viral thing,” Mott explained. “Hopefully it doesn’t develop into anything serious. Usually when something like this happens a horse misses a couple weeks of training. He’s not seriously sick right now. But he’s showing indications that something is going on.”
The Preakness is the second of three races considered part of the Triple Crown. The third leg is the Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York on June 8.
Photo credit: Rob Carr/Getty Images
