Magic Weisner, 2002 Preakness runner-up, dies
Maryland-bred gelding was 27
Frank Vespe
July 31, 2026
When the two-horse came flying late in the 2002 Preakness, rallying outside to finish second behind Kentucky Derby winner War Emblem, it sent racing fans scrambling for their programs.
Who was that longshot in red-and-white?
That horse, Magic Weisner, has died, Old Friends Equine reported July 30. He was 27.
The cause was “complications from West Nile virus,” which he had initially contracted late in his three-year-old season and which ended his racing career. Magic Weisner had resided at Old Friends since 2020.
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A gelding by Ameri Valay, the Maryland-bred Magic Weisner was a homebred for trainer Nancy Alberts, who herself passed away in 2011.
“I know one special lady who is happy to see this guy… My mom!” Nancy Alberts’ son, Will Alberts, wrote on Facebook. “He lived a great life!”
Magic Weisner concluded his racing career with seven wins from 15 starts, earning $888,830.
In addition to his runner-up finish in the Preakness, he won the Grade 2 Ohio Derby, finished second in the Grade 1 Haskell, and ran fourth in the Grade 1 Belmont Stakes.
But it’s for his Preakness near-miss that legions of Marylanders remember the horse they called Magic.
Magic Weisner ran off four consecutive stakes wins at Laurel Park bridging his two- and three-year-old seasons. But in that spring’s Federico Tesio Stakes at Pimlico, the final local Preakness prep, he was wide throughout at odds of 4-5 and finished second to Smoked Em.
Though Nancy Alberts had had the Preakness in her sights all year, most observers concluded that Magic Weisner would find those waters too deep.
“People started telling my mom [Magic Weisner] was going to embarrass Maryland,” Will Alberts told The Racing Biz in 2020. “She said, ‘Other people say I’m going to embarrass myself.’”
But Alberts, who according to her son was “a bit stubborn,” believed in her horse.
Alberts gave a leg up to veteran rider Richard Migliore in the Preakness – his first time aboard. But the betting public collectively shrugged; Magic Weisner went off the second longest shot of the 13 runners at 45-1.
Migliore gave the gelding an ideal trip, saving ground most of the way before tipping outside for running room in the lane. And, boy, did he run.
“Magic Weisner on the outside is rolling,” track announcer Dave Rodman called as Magic Weisner mounted his late charge. Magic Weisner finished just three parts of a length behind the winner and a similar margin ahead of Kentucky Derby runner-up Proud Citizen, who finished third.
It was a magical moment in what became a magical run for the modest Maryland-bred. And it changed Nancy Alberts’ life.
“Her lifelong dream was to wake up and look out her kitchen window and watch her horses,” Will Alberts said of his mother. “Magic let her buy the little farm in Sykesville.”
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