BALTIMORE, MD - The peace and quiet is over for Afleet Alex trainer Tim Ritchey.
After a week of relative solitude, Ritchey rolled along Thursday, as the hectic routine of the 130th Preakness Stakes hit full stride.
"It's like a bee-hive now," he said.
Creating the buzz is Afleet Alex, the morning-line 5-2 favorite for Saturday's 13/16-mile Preakness.
Afleet Alex, who finished third in the Kentucky Derby with Jeremy Rose up, arrived at Pimlico on May 11. He spent the past week taking long walks and grazing on some grass near his stable. Ten of the 14 Preakness horses arrived Wednesday by plane and van from Florida and Kentucky, turning Afleet Alex's cozy quarters into more of a circus.
"It felt like a big race before, it was just a little more relaxed," Ritchey said. "The barn has filled up with a lot of tremendous horses and great trainers. It's a good thing."
Afleet Alex, the son of Northern Afleet, jogged 1 1/2 miles and galloped 1 1/2 miles with a pony Thursday morning. There will be no breezes or formal workouts for the Arkansas Derby champion.
"It's a little bit of a taper down," Ritchey said, "to get a bigger performance out of him on Saturday."
Longshot Kentucky Derby champion Giacomo -- one of the 10 Wednesday arrivals -- galloped on his first trip on the Pimlico track yesterday.
"He was comfortable on the rack track," trainer John Shirreffs said. "He wasn't looking at all the tents in the infield. He looked like his normal self."
Galloping Grocer, the final horse to arrive, is expected to be shipped by van from Belmont today.
Ritchey is taking time in his schedule for a planned visit to a pair of Baltimore-area hospitals. The Ross Township native will present Afleet Alex caps and T-shirts to sick children at Johns Hopkins and Sinai hospitals today.
Ritchey also said yesterday that Huckleberry Farms donated $10,000 to Alex's Lemonade Stand, which raises money for juvenile cancer research.
There will be two lemonade stands set up at Pimlico Race Course today and Saturday. A similar effort collected more than $11,000 at Churchill Downs during Derby Weekend.
"When you are in situations where you can actually do some good," Ritchey said, "you should do it."
Ritchey, based out of Delaware Park, isn't sure if arriving at Pimlico a week early will do any good. Ritchey and Rose have Maryland connections; Afleet Alex has never raced on the course.
"We'll find out after Saturday just how important it is and whether we were right," Ritchey said.
