Rose Returns After Last Year’s Scare

Jeremy Rose is back at the scene of what could have been the most disastrous day of his life but turned into the most delirious.

He was in the saddle last year when Afleet Alex buckled nearly to his knees at the top of the stretch in the Preakness Stakes, then righted himself and won.

“I pulled back, but he’s the one who stayed on his feet. It was pretty close,” said Rose, whose mount stumbled when he clipped heels with Scrappy T.

Rose will ride 30-1 longshot Hemingway’s Key today.

“Barbaro’s pretty tough,” Rose said, but added: “You never know what can happen.

“Somebody might push Barbaro down on the rail and trap him; somebody might go after him early, might take him wide. You never know.”

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Jockey Ramon Dominguez won the two big stakes races at Pimlico on Friday.

Dominguez won the $250,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes, a 1 1/8 -mile race for fillies, on Regal Engagement after Smart N Pretty, the first to cross the finish line, was disqualified for interference.

Dominguez then won the biggest race of the day, the 1 3/16 -mile, $500,000 Pimlico Special, on Invasor, an Argentina-bred making his first U.S. start.

Favorite Wanderin Boy was second, 1 1/4 lengths back.

-- Robyn Norwood