Afleet Alex jockey blames self for defeat in Derby

NEW YORK -- On the morning after the Belmont Stakes, reality set in: Preakness and Belmont winner Afleet Alex came within 8 feet of winning the Triple Crown.

Unlike the past three years, when the Belmont was the undoing of Triple Crown hopefuls Smarty Jones, Funny Cide and War Emblem, Afleet Alex was tripped up by the first race in the series, the Kentucky Derby.

After losing by a length -- about 8 feet -- to a pair of long shots, Afleet Alex won the Preakness by 4 3/4 lengths despite nearly falling, then bounced back with an overpowering seven-length victory in Saturday's final leg of the Triple Crown.

Moments after the Belmont, jockey Jeremy Rose was blaming himself for the Kentucky Derby defeat. If it weren't for him, he said, Afleet Alex would be racing's first Triple Crown champion since Affirmed in 1978.

So what happened in the stretch at Churchill Downs, where Afleet Alex looked like a winner before losing in the final strides to Giacomo and Closing Argument?

"At the top of the lane, I was out of options," Rose said Sunday. "I hit him right-handed, then left-handed. It was such a tough race, his legs were getting weary."

Rose went back to a right-handed whip.

"He drifted down to the rail, and the rail was dead that day," Rose said. "It may have cost us second, it may have cost us the win. I can't change it now."

Afleet Alex trainer Tim Ritchey blames no one.

"Jeremy rode a great race, and the horse ran a tremendous race" in the Derby, Ritchey said. "If it was meant to be, it would have happened."