Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

BALTIMORE - In the blink of an eye on Saturday, Afleet Alex stated in the clearest terms possible why those who love the sport of horse racing revere its shooting stars — those tremendous athletes who surpass our expectations not in pursuit of money or glory, but because they are born to greatness.

The Triple Crown races have had their share of dramatic moments in their storied histories, but Afleet Alex’s victory in the Preakness Stakes after clipping heels with Scrappy T and nearly falling at the top of the stretch was an instant classic, simultaneously breathtaking and mind-boggling.

It almost defies explanation how an animal that weighs 1,100 pounds and is running at roughly 30 mph can catch itself as it falls, somehow ignoring the law of gravity by willing a spindly leg that is only about as thick as the human wrist at its narrowest point to halt its descent and return it to flight.

To do so and then return to running moments after what must have been a deeply disturbing collision with mortality is even more remarkable.

While casual fans whose interest in the sport may have been spurred by the racing-transcending storylines of Seabiscuit and Smarty Jones might assume that what they saw on Saturday was a freak occurrence, old-timers and serious students can attest otherwise.

The great equine athletes — and Afleet Alex now deserves admission to that club even if he never wins another race — have sprung such surprises again and again over the years.

In fact, Afleet Alex’s bounce-back from near-disaster was eerily reminiscent of an incident in the 1987 Kentucky Derby.

In that race, Alysheba conquered one of the more-eventful Derby trips ever to win the Run for the Roses. After stumbling out of the gate and then running up behind a chain-reaction bumping incident that forced Chris McCarron to take him back, Alysheba unleashed a powerful move that had him bearing down on the leader, Bet Twice, at the top of the Churchill Downs stretch.

As Alysheba drew alongside, Bet Twice drifted out slightly and the two clipped heels, nearly sending Alysheba and McCarron tumbling. Only Aysheba’s refusal to go down, paired with McCarron’s near-instant response of pulling his mount’s head back, allowed the horse to recover and go on to win the race.

Other times the drama delivered by the Triple Crown has nothing to do with disaster narrowly averted.

FREE VIDEO Afleet Alex wins May 21: Watch the Preakness Stakes as jockey Jeremy Rose and Afleet Alex avoid disaster to beat Scrappy T and Giacomo. NBC Sports

To many fans who saw it, Secretariat’s 31-length victory in the 1973 Belmont Stakes was quite possibly the most sublime moment ever delivered by any sport. In setting a world record for the 1½-mile distance that stands to this day, “Big Red” appeared to run a race by himself, speeding through each furlong at top speed as if only wanting to show that he could.

Others might rate the thrilling duels staged by Affirmed and Alydar in all three Triple Crown races of 1978 as the most memorable, each a life-or-death battle won by Affirmed in becoming the 11th and last Triple Crown champions.

Historians and feminists might prefer the filly Regret’s historic victory over the colts in the 1915 Kentucky Derby, the most coveted race in the land.

The victory, which has only been duplicated twice by fillies since then, was all the more impressive because the 1-1/4 mile Derby was Regret's first race of the year and she had never competed beyond three-quarters of a mile before.

The list of improbable Triple Crown feats is far longer, but there’s no need to catalog them here.

It’s enough to know that the magic that Afleet Alex showed the world on Saturday was merely the latest installment in an old, familiar story that still resonates even though horses are, for most of us, no longer part of our everyday lives.

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