Preakness Stakes: Oxbow leads throughout under Gary Stevens; Orb fourth at 3-5

BALTIMORE - Oxbow dictated the terms from the start of the Grade 1, $1 million Preakness as he rolled wire-to-wire while Kentucky Derby winner Orb checked in fourth. Oxbow gave his trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, a 14th win in a Triple Crown race, which breaks a tie he had with the late trainer “Sunny” Jim Fitzsimmons. Lukas has now won six runnings of the Preakness.

Oxbow, who races for the Calumet Farm operation of Brad Kelley, won the Preakness by a length and three-quarters over Itsmyluckyday. It was another half-length back in third to Mylute. Orb finished 6 3/4 lengths behind Mylute.

Oxbow ($32.80) broke well, and under jockey Gary Stevens led through fractions of 23.94 seconds for the opening quarter, 48.60 for the half-mile, and 1:13.26 for six furlongs. Oxbow continued to lead through a mile in 1:38.14, before finishing the mile and three-sixteenths on a track rated fast in 1:57.54.

“When we hit the half-mile pole, I said, ‘Are you kidding me,’ ” Stevens said on the NBC telecast.

“I just walked the dog.”

Stevens has now won the Preakness three times.

Orb, meanwhile, rallied for fourth under jockey Joel Rosario.

“I thought we were laying in a good position,” trainer Shug McGaughey said on NBC. “The pace was slower than I really anticipated. [Rosario] said he took him down on the inside there, and he was never really comfortable when he got down in there.”

Orb was seeking to become the first horse since Affirmed in 1978 to win the Triple Crown.

* Attendance ontrack on Saturday at Pimlico was 117,203, the fourth-highest Preakness crowd in history, said track officials. Handle on the 13-race card from all sources was $81,940,233, the sixth-highest Preakness Day handle, officials said. Of the total handle amount, $50,251,542 was bet on the Preakness Stakes.