The 132d Preakness Stakes featured the closest finish in a decade and also tied a race record for the fastest ever, 1 minute, 53.46 seconds for the 13/16-mile course.
The race, seen by a Preakness record crowd of 121,263, drew immediate and unanimous raves.
"It is a classic," said Jess Jackson, who put together the ownership group that purchased Curlin after his first race in February. "It was almost a match race at the end, if you know what I mean. We had one champion with another potential champion challenging him."
"This is the stage this horse was meant for," said trainer Steve Asmussen, who had watched Curlin win that first race and suggested that some of his owners buy him.
Although Street Sense had been the favorite yesterday, Curlin had been the favorite at the Derby, showing up at Churchill Downs undefeated off a 101/2-length romp in the Arkansas Derby.
"Heartbreaking, that's what it was," said Street Sense's trainer, Carl Nafzger, who said he thought he had his horse better for this one than even before his Derby win.
"We only needed a nose."
Nafzger said his suggestion would be to skip the Belmont Stakes and get his horse fresh for some of the big races later in the year.
It's been a decade since the same three horses that finished on top in the Derby, did the same in the Preakness, even if the order was jumbled up. This time Hard Spun, the Chester County-bred Kentucky Derby runner-up owned by Wilmington's Rick Porter, finished third, four lengths back.
In this one, jockey Mario Pino said he started his big move earlier than he had wanted, since he saw eventual fourth-place finisher C P West coming up behind him, and the cavalry charge starting behind that.
