Viewers of the 2019 Preakness Stakes may have noticed something odd about the race's 144th running.
War of Will won Saturday at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, but it was Bodexpress who stole the show after tossing Hall of Fame jockey John Velazquez as soon as the gates swung open.
Still, the 3-year-old ran riderless throughout the race before placing last and officially getting a did-not-finish.
Bodexpress tossed his jockey right out of the gate at Preakness. Jockey is ok. Horse kept running pic.twitter.com/n9VdWrmbim
— Jayne Miller (@jemillerwbal) May 18, 2019
Tremendous @SKIPSCAM capture of Bodexpress rearing as gates flew in @PreaknessStakes, unseating @ljlmvel.. pic.twitter.com/Tf0K4vzjga
— Steve Byk (@Steve_Byk) May 19, 2019
"When the doors opened, I was off right from the start. He kind of jumped sideways," Velazquez said, via the Associated Press. "I had my feet out of the irons so I lost my balance then, I went off."
It was clear that something was wrong when Bodexpress veered left from the post parade instead of right with the rest of the horses.
"He was just not behaving good in the gate. He was not sitting really well," Velazquez said. "He got me against the wall and the gate.
"When you come in here to a big race and then things like this happen with the horses, it's disappointing."
Fortunately, Velazquez escaped injury and had a sense of humor about the incident on Twitter.
For the reporter who asked me if I had any chance of staying on...
— John Velazquez (@ljlmvel) May 19, 2019
Thank you @ChadBHarmon for the picture pic.twitter.com/MtzXqrcWKA
Trainer Bob Baffert, who saddled race favorite Improbable, joked as Bodexpress continued around the track and evaded outriders from trying to corral him.
"You've got to be careful because some of them try to win," Baffert said. "I've had horses that try to win. They actually run a great race sometimes."
There will be no Triple Crown winner, but the three-race event will wrap up June 8 at the Belmont Stakes.