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American Pharoah's lightning the only bolt that mattered

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Bob Ford, Inquirer Sports Columnist

BALTIMORE - The storm had been building much of the afternoon, rolling in from the west and gradually darkening the sky behind the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course. It arrived just before the start of the 140th Preakness Stakes, and the horses on the track had to shuffle around and wait a few minutes in the downpour before being loaded into the gate.

There was lightning in the area and thunder rumbling overhead, which are not optimal conditions for millions of dollars of horseflesh to stand inside a steel starting gate.