For racing, a 'Cloud' in your coffee

The average racing fan's interest in the Belmont Stakes waned considerably when the Kentucky Derby winner faltered against the Arkansas Derby winner in the Preakness.

Classic Empire, in other words, got the jump on Always Dreaming as the field turned for home at Pimlico on Saturday. And as the record Preakness crowd processed the information that horse racing would have no Triple Crown winner in 2017, the well-trained ear could hear shouts in the distance from Oaklawn Park.

Three lengths in front at the eighth pole, Classic Empire looked certain to become the 11th Preakness winner with Oaklawn ties. He would be the Little Current of this crop, vindicating himself at Pimlico after being wiped out early at Churchill Downs (yet still running fourth).

And then, before anyone could salivate over a Belmont Park meeting of the Derby and Preakness winners, did the script change again.

That horse in red and white silks who stalked the pace down the backstretch was second now, and he wasn't going away. Suddenly, Classic Empire began to labor in deep stretch and, like Birdstone with Smarty Jones (2004 Belmont) in what for some remains the toughest Triple Crown "beat," Cloud Computing reeled him in.

A 13-1 longshot who hadn't raced in six weeks, winning a classic race on dirt for a "turf trainer." One eligible for a "one-other-than" allowance or straight "non-winners of two" race, one who did not start as a 2-year-old but by skipping the Kentucky Derby did not run afoul of the Apollo jinx. One who can return to his trainer's New York base with his name in lights after an off-Broadway performance of star quality.

NBC Sports must make do with a possible Belmont Stakes rematch of Always Dreaming and Cloud Computing, although they passed only at Pimlico like ships in the night. The Belmont needs Classic Empire for maximum media exposure, last year's male juvenile champion getting one more chance on the big stage after a winter and spring of missed opportunities.

Mark Casse, Classic Empire's trainer, went to Pimlico to win, and almost did. In challenging the Derby winner from the start, jockey Julien Leparoux followed instructions, Casse said.

"I said to Julien, 'Second doesn't mean anything. ... Let's go and try to win this thing.' It ended up getting us in the end."

Sometimes, a Preakness duel between Derby horses unfolds like that between Sunday Silence and Easy Goer in 1989, evoking memories of Affirmed and Alydar. At other times, a Cloud Computing, like Elocutionist in 1976 with Bold Forbes and Honest Pleasure, picks up the pieces.

"We got the trip we wanted, outside Always Dreaming," said Leparoux. "The only thing is, Always Dreaming backed out of the race early, so I got to the lead early, maybe too early ... and the winner just came us at the end. He ran a big, big race. No excuses."

It was a sweet victory for 38-year-old Chad Brown, a disciple of the late Bobby Frankel, another so-called "turf trainer" but who late in his career won the 2003 Belmont Stakes with Empire Maker. Brown stabled some horses at Oaklawn several years ago, going 0 for 20, the stewards taking down his only winner of the meeting. The Cornell-educated native of Mechanicville, N.Y., has come to dominate the standings at Belmont Park and Saratoga, winning at almost a 30-percent clip at all tracks entering Saturday's races.

Brown reasoned that it was better to send out a rested horse, one who would be making only his fourth career start, at Pimlico rather than in what proved to be a demolition Derby. In the year that he enters horse racing's Hall of Fame, jockey Javier Castellano, winning his second Preakness, made the package complete.

"I think I always had a lot of confidence in this horse but I didn't have the opportunity to ride the horse," said Castellano. "Then Mr. Brown gave me the opportunity to ride the horse in the Preakness. It was a great combination and I am blessed to have the opportunity and enjoy the ride."

Brown is sure to be represented strongly on the Belmont Stakes undercard, perhaps in the main event. His mentor, Frankel, a Hall of Famer, would be exceedingly proud.

"I feel like it's been a lifetime for me, really," Brown said in the New York Times. "I've been training now for 10 years. We've run four horses in the Derby. This is our first Preakness try. But I personally put a lot of time, and my staff's put a lot of time in. When you add the time as an assistant trainer ... it feels like I've been doing it forever, really. So I don't take it for granted. I know I'm young. But you have to have an incredible team of people that share a common goal. And everyone has to have the same drive as me."

Sports on 05/22/2017

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