Most every year, there’s a local angle to the Preakness. After all, in this faded era, the Preakness stands out as the middle jewel of the Triple Crown — and, to Maryland horsemen, our middle jewel.
After all, it was just seven years ago, in 2002, that unheralded
local longshot Magic Weisner, off a second place finish in the Tesio
and dismissed at 45-1 odds, came within about six feet of stealing off
with the money and the Woodlawn Vase.
Magic Weisner was as unlikely as any Preakness contender could be, a
scion of a modest local family with modest hopes. Nancy Alberts, his
breeder, owner, trainer, and sometime exercise rider, had purchased his
dam, Jazema, for all of one dollar — that is not a typo — because of
her terrible knees. After surgery and extensive care, Jazema ended up
a useful racehorse, winning 14 races.
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