Afleet

"A horse has to be a very trainable kind of horse, and it has to respond to what you do with him in order to get through all three of these races," Tim Ritchey, who trained Afleet Alex, said in a phone interview.

Belmont Face-Off Is More Likely Mike Sielski 2011

Afleet Alex is also the latest horse to win the Preakness and the Belmont in the same year, beating Andromeda's Hero in the 2005 Belmont Stakes by seven lengths.

Belmont Face-Off Is More Likely Mike Sielski 2011

As Ritchey did with Afleet Alex, trainer John Servis put Smarty Jones through several long, slow jogs and gallops to prepare him for the Belmont.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

Getty Images Preakness winner Afleet Alex races to victory in the 2005 Belmont Stakes, becoming the last horse to win both of those Triple Crown races.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

"To the true person who is a horseman, it's a great race," said Tim Ritchey, who trained Afleet Alex.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

Once he had confirmed Afleet Alex was in good health after that scare, Ritchey jogged the horse 12 to 16 miles a week and worked him out at race speed occasionally.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

Though 21 horses have won the Derby and the Preakness, just 13 have pulled off the Preakness-Belmont double—Afleet Alex was the last to do it, in 2005—and a mere 11 have won the Derby and the Belmont.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

As it turned out, Afleet Alex won the Preakness despite a near-catastrophe: He clipped heels with another horse and stumbled before regaining his footing.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

Ritchey, for instance, didn't work out Afleet Alex at race speed in the two weeks before the '05 Preakness because, he said, he didn't want to "squeeze the lemon dry."

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011

The goal of these workouts was to train the horse to settle into a more rhythmic running pace, and they worked: Afleet Alex won the Belmont by seven lengths.

The Race for the 'Double Crown' Mike Sielski 2011