Neapolitan Way

In mid May 1974, Neapolitan Way's trainer Lawrence W. Jennings decided to take a step up in class and run him in the second jewel of the Triple Crown. The Preakness Stakes is run at a mile and three sixteenths on dirt at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. Neapolitan Way was listed as one of the longest shots on the board at 24-1 on the morning line in a field of thirteen colts. The prohibitive favorite was the Kentucky Derby winner, Cannonade, at 2-1. Neapolitan Way broke slowly in tenth place out of thirteen and was outrun early under jockey Herb Hinojosa.^[1] Going into Pimlico's famous "Clubhouse Turn," he fell further back into dead last. The fractions were moderate on the front end, with the first quarter in :231/5 and the half in :47 seconds. Going into the final turn, Neapolitan Way lugged in and collided with Hudson County, causing a severe cut high on his left rear leg. After the move inward, Hinojosa applied steady left handed whipping, straightening Neapolitan Way out at the top of the stretch. In the lane, he moved up quickly from 13th to 11th to 7th and then hit another gear. He started picking off horses, including Cannonade. In deep stretch, he moved into second place but was no threat to the winner, Little Current, who finished between seven and 21 lengths in front of the rest of the field. Cannonade finished one length behind Neapolitan Way in third with Jolly Johu three quarters of a length back in fourth. Neapolitan Way took home the 20% runner-up's share of the purse, equalling $30,000.^[2]

• Neapolitan Way's pedigree and partial racing stats