Champion Afleet Alex, 2005 Preakness and Belmont Winner, Euthanized at 24

Afleet Alex, the 2005 champion three-year-old male who rallied through one of the sport’s most dramatic Preakness moments and dominated the Belmont by seven lengths, was humanely euthanized Feb. 6 at Gainesway Farm in Lexington, Kentucky. Gainesway Farm and Cash Is King announced the stallion’s death Feb. 12 and said he will be buried at Gainesway.

The colt’s 2005 Triple Crown campaign remains defining: he won the Arkansas Derby (G2) by eight lengths to earn his Kentucky Derby berth, finished third in the Kentucky Derby behind Giacomo with Closing Argument second, then survived a near-catastrophic stumble in the Preakness Stakes before powering home. As DRF described the Pimlico incident, “Scrappy T ducked out in response to a left-handed whip. Afleet Alex clipped heels and stumbled badly, but picked himself up under jockey Jeremy Rose and drove on to a 4 3/4-length win.” He closed the year with a seven-length Belmont Stakes (G1) victory and earned the Eclipse Award as champion three-year-old male.

Afleet Alex retired to Gainesway Farm in 2006 after a brief summer setback following the Belmont in which he sustained a hairline fracture and was later found to have avascular necrosis that ended his racing career. He earned $2,765,800 on the track and stood at Gainesway for his entire stud career before being pensioned in 2022. HorseNetwork records show he sired 50 stakes winners over 15 seasons, with his offspring earning more than $54 million.

The stallion’s story began in Florida with breeder John Silvertand; DRF recounts that Afleet Alex’s dam became ill after his birth and that Silvertand and his daughter Lauren bottle-fed the colt while Silvertand himself battled cancer. The pedigree reads Northern Afleet out of Maggy Hawk by Hawkster. Afleet Alex lived his final years in the stud barn at Gainesway, greeting visitors from the same stall and paddock he occupied during his racing career.

Gainesway owner Antony Beck reflected on the Preakness moment and Afleet Alex’s legacy: “Afleet Alex's Preakness Stakes remains one of the most incredible displays of athleticism and heart I have ever seen. He passed that same determination and talent down to his offspring. A true champion in every sense and his presence at the farm will be deeply missed.” Cash Is King owner Charles Zacney added, “Afleet Alex was truly the horse of a lifetime. From his first race at Delaware Park to his triumph in the Belmont Stakes, he defined class and pure athleticism. Off the track, his affiliation with Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was transformative. His was a special era. He will be deeply missed.”

Public reaction has been robust: a Thoroughbred Daily News Facebook post announcing the death registered 573 reactions, 61 comments and 79 shares in a captured excerpt, with fans posting lines such as “We should all raise a glass of Lemonade in his honor.” Share this story or comment with your favorite Afleet Alex moment, the Preakness scramble with Jeremy Rose, his Belmont demolition, or the bottle-fed foal raised by John Silvertand each speak to a stallion who left a measurable mark on racing, breeding and charitable work.