Top 5 who Ran in Preakness and Never Won

I'm cleaning my desk and uncovering some gems that I clipped but have yet to post. So bear with me if this is old news to you.

Pulled from USATODAY.com after the Preakness, a list of five best who didn't win the Preakness. Number 1: You guessed it, Barbaro, the author's pick for the best horse in the last 25 years who ran but didn't win the Preakness. No need to go into details; I know you know the story and suffice it to say that his is among one of the most tragic and yet oddly triumphant stories in horse racing.

Number 2 on the list is Skip Away who in 1996 finished second in the Preakness and then second in the Belmont. Interesting sidelight to this late bloomer: he went on to become Horse of the Year in 1998 and won the 1997 Breeder's Cup Classic. So much for retiring them young...

Number 3 is Easy Goer who in 1989 had a great rivalry going with Sunday Silence. Sunday silence won both the Derby and the Preakness, the later in one of the great stretch duels of all times but Easy Goer would deny him the Triple Crown, winning the Belmont by 8 lengths.

Number 4 is Swale, another tragic story. He won the Derby, never "fired" in the Preakness and won the Belmont, only to die of a heart attack, eight days later.

And Number 5, my personal favorite for some very obvious reasons: Bet Twice. In 1987, my family owned Bet Twice who was second in the Derby and second in the Preakness to Alysheba in yet another great racing rivalry. Bet Twice won the Belmont by 14 lengths to deny Alysheba the Triple Crown on a day that I will never ever forget. Bet Twice was not a great stud and passed away a few years ago.

The moral of the story: don't hand Big Brown the Triple Crown until he wins it. Anything can happen!