Winning the Preakness Stakes can be a life-changing turn for the horse being led into the winner's circle, but running a good second can also dramatically alter a career's trajectory.
The past decade of Preakness runners-up has been a fascinating blend of favorites just missing the mark and unheralded longshots emerging from obscurity just in time to hit their peak, and the next steps from Pimlico Race Course have been just as varied.
Whether the "place" spot in the Preakness trifecta was a launching pad, an ending point, or business as usual, the story went on for each horse that occupied it.
Here is a horse-by-horse check-in with each Preakness Stakes runner-up over the past decade.
2015 – Tale of Verve
Tale of Verve finished seven lengths behind eventual Triple Crown winner American Pharoah at odds of 28-1, having entered the race after graduating in a Keeneland maiden special weight a month earlier, in his sixth try at finding his first win.
The colt came back three weeks later for the Belmont Stakes, where he finished second-to-last in a field of seven. Then, he tested the summer derby circuit across the map, running out of the money in the G2 West Virginia Derby, G1 Travers Stakes, G3 Oklahoma Derby, and Bryan Station Stakes.
Tale of Verve spent the first half of his 4-year-old campaign on the sidelines, and he earned his second and final career victory in his second start of the season, taking an allowance race at Saratoga Race Course. This returned him to stakes competition, where he ran out of the money in the G1 Woodward Stakes, G2 Marathon Stakes, and Tenacious Stakes. He raced once in January of his 5-year-old season, then spent 20 months away from the races before returning for one final start in September 2018, ending his career with two wins in 20 starts and earnings of $500,246.
Tale of Verve retired to Darby Dan Farm in Kentucky for the 2019 breeding season, and he resided there until the end of the 2023 season, when he was sold to Haras La Concordia in Uruguay.
His lone stakes winner to date has come in Poland, courtesy of Sunny Silence, and his only domestic black type earner is Accident, who finished third in the listed Global Tote Juvenile Sprint Stakes at Kentucky Downs in 2022. In total, Tale of Verve has 26 winners over his first five crops of racing age, with combined progeny earnings over $1.3 million.
2016 – Cherry Wine
Another surprise Preakness runner-up, Cherry Wine came back to earth in the Belmont Stakes, running a non-threatening seventh.
The Preakness would, in fact, be the final time Cherry Wine hit the board over his remaining 12 races from 2016 to 2018. After finishing ninth in the G2 Indiana Derby, Cherry Wine was moved to the turf for the G1 Secretariat Stakes, and he once again finished out of the money.
That would be Cherry Wine’s final attempt at graded stakes competition. He spent the bulk of his abbreviated 4-year-old campaign in the allowance optional claiming ranks at Gulfstream Park and Churchill Downs, then he spent nine months on the sidelines before kicking off his 5-year-old season at the same level at Gulfstream Park.
Cherry Wine continued to struggle at that level throughout the first half of 2018, and he dropped to the straight claiming ranks in his final start, finishing fifth in a field of six for a $50,000 tag. He was retired after that race with two wins in 21 starts for earnings of $574,271.
Shortly after the close of his racing career, Cherry Wine was adopted by Katie and Daniel Nathan of Long Island, N.Y., and he showed immediate promise as a hunter and jumper. As the Nathans got to know their new horse better, they discovered he also had a penchant for barrel racing.
Eight years later, he remains a cornerstone of the Nathans’ barn, continuing to show, fox hunt, and give lessons. His owners track the journey of Cherry Wine and his stablemates on his Instagram page, which has over 14,000 followers.
Read more about Cherry Wine’s life after the racetrack here.
2017 – Classic Empire
The Preakness was the final start for Classic Empire, who followed up his Eclipse Award-winning 2-year-old season with a win in the G1 Arkansas Derby and a fourth in the Kentucky Derby. He was being pointed toward a follow-up start in the Belmont Stakes, but the foot abscess issues that nagged him through the spring of his sophomore campaign reemerged in the days leading up to the race, forcing him to scratch.
He continued to be aimed toward the major 3-year-old races of the summer, but a series of minor setbacks, underwhelming training performances, and some rehab time at Winding Oaks Farm in Florida kept him out of the entries until he was ultimately retired in October 2017. The colt ended his career with five wins in nine starts for earnings of $2,520,220.
Classic Empire was retired to Ashford Stud in Kentucky for the 2018 breeding season, and he resided there until late 2022, when he was sold to the Korea Racing Authority and exported to that country to debut for the 2023 season.
His best runner to date is Angel of Empire, who finished third in the 2023 Kentucky Derby as the post-time favorite, having earned that status after winning the G1 Arkansas Derby. Angel of Empire currently stands at Taylor Made Stallions in Kentucky.
Other runners of note by Classic Empire include Grade 2 winners Classic Q, Interstatedaydream, and Alpine Princess, Grade 3 winners Morello and Classy Edition, Puerto Rican champion Another Maranda, and Chilean champion New Empire. In total, Classic Empire has sired 312 winners from six crops of racing age, with combined progeny earnings in excess of $29.7 million.
2018 – Bravazo
The final win of Bravazo’s career came three starts before his Preakness try, when he took the G2 Risen Star Stakes, but he remained consistently in the mix during his 12 starts after his race at Pimlico from 2018 to 2020.
That started with a turnaround for the Belmont Stakes, where he finished sixth and was never a real threat. However, he dusted off his form through the summer and fall, finishing second in the G1 Haskell Invitational Stakes and third in the G1 Travers Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, testing older competition for the first time in the latter. He then finished his 3-year-old campaign with one more try against his elders, finishing second by a neck in the G1 Clark Handicap.
This set Bravazo up for an ambitious campaign in the handicap division as a 4-year-old, which started with a fourth-place finish in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes with sights set on a follow-up in the Dubai World Cup. However, his season was cut short by a knee injury requiring surgery.
Bravazo never quite found his stride again after getting back to the races, making his comeback start in that year’s Clark, but finishing eighth. He spent the early months of 2020 in the Oaklawn Park barn of trainer D. Wayne Lukas, testing the track’s handicap division races, but top-three finishes eluded him, with the closest being a fourth in the listed Essex Handicap. Bravazo was retired after finishing 11th in the G2 Oaklawn Handicap, finishing with three wins in 22 starts for earnings of $2,033,195.
A homebred for Calumet Farm, Bravazo retired to the operation’s Lexington, Ky., stallion base for the 2021 breeding season, and he resides there to this day. He has had a modest career at stud, with 20 foals over his first three crops of racing age, featuring six winners and combined progeny earnings over $492,000. He is still seeking his first black type earner at stud.
2019 – Everfast
Like many of the other members of this fraternity, Everfast wheeled back to compete in the Belmont Stakes, where he finished a non-threatening seventh. His summer campaign featured a fourth in the G1 Haskell Invitational Stakes, then he ran last of 12 in the G1 Travers Stakes, before finishing the season facing older competition in the G2 Fayette Stakes, where he again finished last of nine.
Everfast found his footing at four at lower levels of competition, including a second in the listed Blame Stakes, then an attempted climb back up the ladder and a surface change were ineffective when he ran a well-beaten ninth in the G1 Maker’s Mark Mile Stakes. He continued to go up and down the ladder for the rest of the 2020 season, bouncing back to win an allowance race, then finishing out of the money in a trio of stakes races of varying levels before ending the season with a pair of thirds in allowance optional claiming company at Gulfstream Park.
The horse went unraced through the first half of 2021, then it was announced he had been sold to owner Kildare Stud and placed in the barn of trainer Doug Watson to race in Dubai. The move saw immediate returns, with Everfast winning his debut race, then running third in the G2 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 2 and the G1 Al Maktoum Challenge Round 3.
Though he has yet to find the winner’s circle in the U.A.E., Everfast continued to be in the mix in group stakes competition through the 2023-24 racing season, and he continued to hang around with in-the-money efforts during the 2024-25 calendar.
Everfast was retired in March 2025 near the end of the U.A.E. racing season. Watson told the Paulick Report that the horse was rehomed with a rider in Dubai, and he sent a video of Everfast from April working toward his next career.
2020 – Authentic
A one-of-a-kind Preakness run as the third leg of the Triple Crown in early October saw Authentic yield the floor to the filly Swiss Skydiver a month after he won the Kentucky Derby. That runner-up effort served as a prep for the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland, where he rebounded to stomp a crowd of fellow 3-year-olds and older foes by 2 ¼ lengths.
The Classic secured 2020 Horse of the Year honors for Authentic, along with the champion 3-year-old male honors. He retired to the farm of owner Spendthrift Farm to begin his stud career for the 2021 breeding season, and he resides there today, stepping off the track with six wins in eight starts for earnings of $7,201,200.
Authentic was North America’s third-most active stallion during his first year at stud, covering 229 mares, and he was visited by 202 mares in his second season. He has 121 winners from his first three crops of racing age, with progeny earnings over $10.4 million.
Leading the way among his runners are Grade 1 winner Iron Orchard, Grade 2 winners Rodriguez and Westwood, and Grade 3 winner Brave Deb. His Grade 3-placed son The Hell We Did is pointed toward this year’s Preakness Stakes.
2021 – Midnight Bourbon
Midnight Bourbon’s life and career was nothing short of star-crossed after his Preakness tilt, starting with his follow-up start in the G1 Haskell Stakes, where he was battling with Hot Rod Charlie and Mandaloun for supremacy in the stretch before clipping heels with Hot Rod Charlie, stumbling, and losing his rider shy of the wire.
The colt didn’t stay down for long, butting heads against top competition for the rest of the year and coming back with runner-up finishes in the G1 Travers Stakes and G1 Pennsylvania Derby before finishing third in his first try against older foes in the G1 Clark Stakes to finish his sophomore campaign.
He came back at four with ambitious goals, starting with a second in the G3 Louisiana Stakes, which served as a prep for a Middle East trip to face world-class competition. After running second in the G1 Saudi Cup, Midnight Bourbon’s final start came in the G1 Dubai World Cup, where he finished fifth.
Midnight Bourbon returned stateside with eyes on the top races in the handicap division, but he died suddenly in April 2022 after suffering acute gastrointestinal distress shortly after he returned to his stall from a workout at Churchill Downs.
2022 – Epicenter
Two weeks after victory was snatched away from Epicenter by Rich Strike in the Kentucky Derby, bad luck hit him again in the Preakness when he got stuck in traffic as the heavy favorite and was unable to unfurl his closing kick in time to catch winner Early Voting.
Despite those two disappointments, Epicenter’s talent was apparent before and during his Triple Crown run, and he put that on display over the summer in Saratoga, where he won the G2 Jim Dandy Stakes, then exacted his revenge on the two horses that beat him in the classics with a 5 ¼-length drubbing of the G1 Travers Stakes.
With his career back on track, Epicenter left the gate as the second betting choice behind overwhelming favorite Flightline in the 2022 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Keeneland, but he was pulled up and vanned off after suffering a lateral condylar fracture in his right front leg during the race. He underwent surgery at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital, ending his career with six wins in 11 starts for earnings of $2,940,639. He also earned the Eclipse Award as champion 3-year-old male of 2022.
Though the injury was serious, Epicenter was cleared to begin his stallion career at Ashford Stud for the 2023 breeding season, and the 262 mares he bred marked the second-highest total in North America that year. His first foals are 2-year-olds of 2026, including a colt who sold for $1.95 million at this year’s OBS Spring 2-Year-Olds in Training Sale.
2023 – Blazing Sevens
Blazing Sevens made one more start during his 3-year-old campaign, finishing third in the listed Curlin Stakes. Trainer Chad Brown admitted after the Curlin that the lingering effects of the colt’s Preakness effort were still hampering Blazing Sevens, and he was given time off for the rest of the season.
The colt reemerged in April of his 4-year-old season with an optional claiming score at Aqueduct, which served as a prep for the G1 Metropolitan Handicap. He finished sixth in the Met Mile, and struggled to put it all together after that race, finishing out of the money in a pair of New York optional claiming races before calling it a career, finishing with three wins in 12 starts for earnings of $998,850.
Blazing Sevens retired to Darby Dan Farms in Lexington, Ky., for the 2025 breeding season, where he is in the midst of his second year at stud, with a Southern Hemisphere season in Chile sandwiched in between. His first foals are arriving in 2026.
Coady Media
2024 – Mystik Dan
After coming up 2 ¼ lengths short in his bid to extend his Triple Crown run in the Preakness, Mystik Dan never found his spark in the Belmont Stakes and finished eighth. He was given the summer and fall off after the Triple Crown season, and he returned around one turn at the end of his 3-year-old season in the G1 Malibu Stakes, finishing sixth.
Mystik Dan ran ninth in the G1 Pegasus World Cup Invitational Stakes to kick off his 4-year-old run, then, after a four-month break, he retreated to friendly confines to finish second in the Lake Ouachita Stakes at Oaklawn Park, then win the G3 Blame Stakes at Churchill Downs. The second half of his 2025 season saw him run fourth in the G1 Stephen Foster Stakes, then switch to turf to run fourth again in the G1 Arlington Million Stakes at Colonial Downs.
The colt went out on a winning note at his home track, taking the G2 Lukas Classic Stakes at Churchill Downs. He was being pointed toward a farewell start in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile, but he was scratched the morning of the race when regulatory veterinarians identified an issue in his left front ankle. Mystik Dan ended his career with five wins in 16 starts for earnings of $4,819,160.
Mystik Dan retired to Airdrie Stud in Midway, Ky., where he is in the midst of his debut season at stud.
EquiSport Photos
2025 – Gosger
Gosger looked like a clear winner in the Preakness before getting nipped by Journalism in the final strides, which gave his connections the confidence to keep trying the colt against high-level challengers. His comeback in the G1 Haskell Invitational Stakes looked a lot like his Preakness try, with the gray colt looking set for a trip to the winner’s circle before getting caught again by Journalism.
He finished sixth in the G1 Pennsylvania Derby, then the colt was pitted against older competition in Kentucky to finish out his season, running third in the G3 Fayette Stakes and sixth in the G2 Clark Stakes.
Gosger returned to Gulfstream Park after some freshening, and he finished second in an allowance optional claiming race. He was brought to Churchill Downs to prepare for a summer campaign, but his career came to an abrupt end in late April when he broke both sesamoids in his right front leg, requiring fusion surgery. He is now on the long road to recovery before the next chapter of his life is determined.
This story was originally published by Paulick Report on May 12, 2026, where it first appeared in the Features section. Add Paulick Report as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
