Afleet Alex was the first horse I followed all year round. I was at Saratoga for his Sanford and Hopeful, and I watched every race on his road to the Kentucky Derby, the first time I had ever watched racing in the winter. I had my birthday party on the day of his remarkable, unfathomable Preakness and I was there for his Belmont, and somewhere in my mind, he won the Triple Crown, no matter what happened at Churchill Downs.

So when his progeny hit the racetrack in 2009, I paid attention, and when it was time to start thinking about 3-year-olds, Afleet Again showed up at Aqueduct, first in the Count Fleet in January, in which he finished second, and then in the Gotham, in which he finished last at odds of 25-1. “No menace,” read the chart.

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