1973 PREAKNESS STAKES A dramatic breakthrough-It was more than an hour after the running of the 99th Preakness, but back at the stakes barn, Lou Rondinello was still shaking; shaking with the excitement and exhilaration of the biggest victory of his life. Earlier in the afternoon he had saddled Darby Dan Farm's chestnut Little Current for an impressive victory in the richest running in the history of the event. "If I'd written the script, I couldn't have done it any better," the 46-year-old native of Harrison, New York, was saying for the third time. "I just cautioned (Miguel) Rivera: 'This is a one-run horse. Don't get excited. Wait. Wait. Wait.'" The 30-year-old Puerto Rican rider followed the script to perfection, as he waited, waited, waited with Little Current until a minuscule hole opened up along the rail coming into the stretch, then blasted through with his mount to score a seven-length victory, the most lopsided in the event since Brookmeade Stable's Bold defeated Counterpoint by the same margin in 1951. The cast of characters which ultimately paraded to post was a very good one. ... The dominant factor and ... favorite was the winner of the 100th Derby, John M. Olin's Cannonade. ... The crowd valued his chances at 2-to-1. Next in the esteem of the bettors was Sigmund Sommer's Rube the Great. On paper, Little Current showed victories in only the Flamingo and a maiden race, and evidently the crowd had not realized the amount of trouble he suffered in the Derby when he had just got up to finish fifth. They sent him off at 13-to-1. First pop out of the gate, the field was reduced from 13 to 12. Buck's Bid stumbled and unseated rider Donald MacBeth. The race among the remaining runners was won by Little Current with as nice a piece of coordination among jockey, horse, and the whimsy of Lady Luck as you are likely to see in a long, long time. From post position two, jockey Rivera took his colt back right away. By the time ... the field went past the stands the first time, Little Current was firmly fixed in last place with riderless Buck's Bid alongside to encourage him. At the three-quarter pole, Little Current was hugging the inner rail, plugging along dead last. Approaching the half-mile pole, he managed to pass one horse. ... At the quarter pole, Little Current was behind the proverbial wall of horses. There was no way he was going to get through. At the three-sixteenths pole, Heir to the Line, who was leading, and Jolly Johu, second on the inside, came out slightly and left just the tiniest opening. But it was just enough for Little Current. Rivera shot his colt right through the hole and moved up to the leaders so he was even with them at the eighth pole. At that point, Little Current drew out with authority to win going away. Rivera touched him with the whip just once. Neopolitan Way ... produced a fine sustained run from last to second, a length ahead of Cannonade who, in turn, was four lengths ahead of Jolly Johu. Little Current's time over the "good" Pimlico strip was 1:54 3/5, third fastest in the history of the race, just three-fifths of a second off Canonero II's track record set in the 1971 Preakness; just a fifth off Secretariat's controverted time of last year, and equal to Nashua's track record, which stood from 1955 until Canonero II broke it three years ago.-Arnold Kirkpatrick and Robert J. Clark The Thoroughbred Record, May 25, 1974 http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/tc99/history/hoofprints/1973/preakness/default.asp