Jockey Umberto Rispoli took Journalism past the Pimlico winners’ circle, down another sixteenth of a mile.

The crowd pressed to the rail was already standing as he came, and they cheered and cheered.

Old Hilltop, whose next date is with the wrecking ball, had one last gift to give. It fell to Journalism, the beaten favorite in the Kentucky Derby, and, with an eighth of a mile to go, the hopelessly beaten favorite in the Preakness, to provide it.

Bounced around and nearly knocked over in upper stretch, Journalism regrouped, rallied, and ran down longshot leader Gosger in the shadow of the wire to win the 150^th Preakness Stakes Saturday in what must rank as one of the most thrilling editions of the Preakness to grace the northwest Baltimore oval.

Afleet Alex, meet Journalism.

“I got in trouble at the quarter pole, and, look, he make himself keep going,” Rispoli said. “It’s all about him.”

“A lot of bouncing around there, it looked like, coming to the three-sixteenths pole,” said winning trainer Michael McCarthy. “I guess when I saw that, I kind of resigned myself to the fact that it was another fantastic effort and maybe come up a little bit short.”

But no one told Journalism, a sophomore son of Curlin, that the race was over.

Closing down the middle of the track, Journalism accelerated sharply to erase a five-length deficit in the final furlong and prevail by a half-length over Gosger, with the closer Sandman along for third.

“When I cross the line, it’s all 20 years of my career that pass in front of me,” Rispoli said. “I had to wait so long to ride a champion like that.”

“It just goes to show the testament that this horse has,” McCarthy said. “Couldn’t be prouder of him.”

Clever Again, the lightly raced Steve Asmussen trainee, made the early running under jockey Jose Ortiz, carving out a quarter-mile in 23.19 seconds, a half in 46.66, and three quarters in 1:10.23. Gosger and Goal Oriented were in closest attendance early, and approaching the far turn, River Thames made a three-wide move to contention.

Approaching the far turn, Journalism remained in sixth, a couple of lengths off the lead grouping and several behind Clever Again.

But Rispoli had plenty of horse under him, and he made the tactical decision to cling to the rail and run on inside of horses. That proved wise – until it almost didn’t.

Journalism rounded the far turn inside, and when Clever Again began to tire, Rispoli angled his mount outside to go around. Flavien Prat and Goal Oriented held their ground, making a very tight space for Journalism. But then Goal Oriented began to lean in, pushing Journalism into the stopping Clever Again.

For a moment, disaster loomed.

But Prat straightened Goal Oriented, Journalism seized a lane, and the danger was past. Clever Again was eased across the wire.

In late strides, Journalism caught Gosger and Luis Saez. Sandman was third, and running time for 1 3/16 miles on a fast main track was 1:55.47.

The rest of the order of finish was: Goal Oriented, Heart of Honor, River Thames, Pay Billy, American Promise, and Clever Again.

Journalism paid $4.00 to win, and the exacta returned $16.90 for a one-dollar wager.

Owned by Eclipse Thoroughbred Partners and a bevy of others, Journalism now has five wins from seven career starts and over $2.8 million banked.

“In the back of my mind, I thought we’d be 2-for-2 here [in the Triple Crown races], but I’m just happy to get one of these,” McCarthy said. “They’re very, very difficult races to win.”

“It’s just unbelievable,” Rispoli, the first Italian rider to win a Triple Crown race, added . “I won one of the legs of the Triple Crown, and I’m crying like a kid.”