May 9 - Afleet Alex

One of the greatest athletic performances of all time is his Preakness victory. Let me use a metaphor that a college art teacher used when he talked about Franz Klammer winning the gold medal in the Olympics in the downhill. I remembered watching the race live, so as soon as he said Franz Klammer, I knew where he was going. The biggest stage in the world for skiing and Franz let's it go, skiing with reckless abandon, he literally is out of control on edges, bouncing, appearing to fall on a few occasions, but he not only keeps from going down, but he also goes faster. This was how I was told to paint - have your skills so sharp that you just "GO", no fear and let the results speak for themselves. I can still hear "Paint with reckless abandon".

Back to our birthday boy and his Preakness. Afleet Alex turns for home entering the stretch, at that same moment he collides with Scrappy T who is boring in from the outside. Alex goes to his knees at full speed. At this point, you just hope he doesn't go down, regroup, and go back to the barn but Alex did his Franz Klammer imitation and got back upright without losing a step or momentum. Instead, he went faster as he quickly shot to the front of the field and secured his first Classic victory. Less dramatically, he came back three weeks later to win the Belmont.

Watching the race at the time I said to myself that was the most amazing feat I've ever seen on four legs and maybe the most amazing thing I've seen on two or four legs.

Because of Alex, I've gotten to be friends with Bob Brittingham and his family. I think his wife, Terese, says it best when she talks about one moment fearing the worst and seconds later it's complete jubilation.

On a side note: I heard an interview with jockey Jeremy Rose who somehow held on as Alex dropped to his knees. Jeremy was tossed violently forward but didn't come out of the saddle. In the interview, he talked about the fact that he has never gotten comfortable riding his toes only in the stirrups the way most jockeys do (jockeys' boots have a thin sole like ballet slippers and they grip the stirrup with their toes and the balls of their feet.) Jeremy said that because he still rides with his heel against the stirrup, it's probably the only thing that saved him that day. As soon as I heard that story, I pulled out my old painting of Afleet Alex in the Preakness and sure enough, Jermey's heel was pushed all the way forward.

We will talk about Alex's Lemon Stand another time on a day when you have your tissues handy.

This is a horse whose contributions outside of racing may well dwarf what he accomplished on the track. Keep in mind we are talking about a horse that won the three-year-old colt Eclipse Award after winning the Arkansas Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont as well as running third in the Kentucky Derby. That's the last two jewels of the Triple Crown. Add to that his win the Hopeful at Saratoga as a 2-year- old. With career earnings of almost $3 million, his career on the track made him one of the greats of his era. It's been 15 years since his magical three-year-old campaign.

Yet, it's a cause that his ownership group tied into that played a role in something greater than sports. Raced by Cash is King Stables, Alex took his name after two of the partners children. Bob & Terese Brittingham's daughter Alex and another partner's son, Alex. The Brittinghams were into racing for many years and brought into the sport the other partners, some of which continue to race in the name Cash Is King Stables.

While Afleet Alex was becoming a rising star out of his Philadelphia base, there was another Alex from the area that was drawing attention. Alex Scott had battled cancer most of her life. She was diagnosed with a rare form of juvenile cancer. She decided that she wanted to raise money for cancer research. The 8-year-old girl began to sit by the street selling Lemonade with the proceeds going to cancer research. The story started to take on a life of its own as the local media picked up the story. Alex Scott would pass away late in 2004. However, by this time Alex's Lemonade Stand became a growing endeavor and with a horse named Afleet Alex, somebody had the good sense to give a portion of the horse's earnings to Alex's Lemonade Stand. Before long Cash Is King Stables had racetracks across the country selling lemonade with the proceeds benefiting Alex's Lemonade Stand.

When Afleet Alex's amazing racing career came to an end, the Brittinghams continued to be major supporters of Alex's Lemonade Stand. To this day, 16 years later the Brittinghams still support their grand ball fundraiser and Bob even hosts a golf tournament at his country club all to benefit the Lemonade Stand.

For a few years I would fly up to Philadelphia to paint live at their events. One year I was there to paint during their golf tournament with a banquet to follow. I think this was 2008. At the banquet, Alex Scott's mother spoke to the group. She dished out a few numbers, I think at that time she said that over $20million had been raised for cancer research by Alex's Lemonade Stand. Her next comment took everyone's breath away like a punch to the stomach when she said that through one of the research projects funded by Alex's Lemonade Stand that they had found a cure for the type of cancer that had taken Alex's life. There wasn't a dry eye left in the building.

By the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Lemonade Stand, they had raised more than $80 million and had funded more than 1,000 research projects. There are currently more than 2,500 events &/ or Alex's Lemonade Stands still raising money to fight this terrible disease. It all started with one little girl who wanted to do something.

I know this was supposed to be about a horse named Afleet Alex, but like I said at the beginning - no matter how great a career he had on the racetrack; his involvement in helping to take Alex's Lemonade Stand to a national audience and contribute to the ongoing fundraising is the greatest story I can probably tell about any horse.