HORSE RACING is a humbling, maddening, mystifying sport because nothing short of a walkover is an absolute certainty. Just when all the experts think they have the sport figured out, something comes along to prove them wrong yet again. Even Man o' War had his Upset.

Following a masterful victory in the Kentucky Derby (G1), Fusaichi Pegasus was viewed as the horse of destiny, the three-year-old worthy to share the mantle of Citation, Secretariat, Seattle Slew, and Affirmed. All he had to do, many pundits said, was to stay healthy and show up for his races; he was so dominating that the elusive Triple Crown was his for the taking.

Fusaichi Pegasus showed up in good health for the 125th Preakness Stakes (G1) at historic Pimlico Race Course on May 20, and he was soundly and thoroughly beaten by Red Bullet. Over a wet racetrack, the Derby winner simply did not fire, and Stronach Stable's Red Bullet went ballistic under jockey Jerry Bailey in a victory no less convincing than Fusaichi Pegasus's win at Churchill Downs on May 6.

Bred by owner Frank Stronach, Red Bullet was held out of the Derby by the Austrian-born entrepreneur after Fusaichi Pegasus beat him by 41Ú4 lengths in the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) on April 15 at Aqueduct. The Unbridled colt out of the Caro (Ire) mare Cargo became the first three-year-old to skip the Derby and win the Preakness since Maryland homeboy Deputed Testamony in 1983.

How could a form reversal of eight lengths occur in a mere five weeks? Perhaps the cause indeed was the weather and the racetrack conditions, as the Fusaichi Pegasus camp contended, and perhaps this Preakness was yet another perverse and unpredictable turn of horse-racing destiny. But maybe, just maybe, it was Red Bullet's turn to be the horse of destiny.

Neil Drysdale, one of the most meticulous trainers on the planet, had done everything in his power to keep Fusaichi Pegasus on the road to destiny, but the one factor that he could not control was Baltimore's quirky spring weather, which parked an unexpected storm atop the region for more than 12 hours, thoroughly soaking the track and chilling a Preakness throng of 98,304, most of them reveling in Pimlico's infield.

During the afternoon, the track went from sloppy to muddy to good at post time, but the gradual improvement made the surface somewhat slippery, said both Drysdale and Fusaichi Pegasus's jockey, Kent Desormeaux, the former king of Maryland racing. "I don't think Fusaichi Pegasus handled the track," Drysdale said. "It was a greasy kind of track, and he just could not handle it."

Red Bullet handled the track just fine, thank you, as he had from the moment he first set foot on it. Dogwood Stable's Impeachment again put in a credible late run to duplicate his Derby third-place finish, only a head behind Fusaichi Pegasus and a neck ahead of Captain Steve in the field of eight, the smallest since 1991 (won by Hansel with Bailey in the irons).

Completing the order of finish were Snuck In, Hugh Hefner, High Yield, and Hal's Hope. Red Bullet ran the Preakness's 13Ú16 miles in 1:56.04, more than three seconds slower than the track record. Red Bullet, who did not start as a two-year-old, won his fourth race in five career starts. He previously had won Aqueduct's Gotham Stakes (G3) over Derby second-finisher Aptitude, who passed up the Preakness to await the Belmont Stakes (G1) on June 10.

A bountiful week

While Fusaichi Pegasus was regarded as the horse of destiny, perhaps in mid-May destiny took up residence with Red Bullet, Stronach, and trainer Joe Orseno, 44, who became Stronach's private New York trainer early in 1998. In the span of one week and a few minutes, Stronach and Orseno won both the Pimlico Special Handicap (G1) with Golden Missile and the Preakness with Red Bullet. And in the intervening days, Stronach-controlled Magna Entertainment Corp. locked up control of Northern California racing by agreeing to buy Bay Meadows Race Course's operating company. It was indeed quite a week.

For much of the week, all attention focused on Fusaichi Pegasus, or on as much as could be seen of him. With Drysdale-as much of an individualist as the horse he trains-calling the shots (he informed the owner of his decisions by fax), Fusaichi Pegasus was stabled far away from Pimlico's stakes barn, breaking a tradition extending more than a half-century. In that span, only one other Derby winner, Northern Dancer in 1964, was not stabled in the stakes barn behind Pimlico's grandstand.

Fusaichi Pegasus arrived at Pimlico on May 17, after a solid five-furlong workout in :59 at Churchill Downs two days earlier, and the media covering the Preakness quickly realized upon the colt's arrival in Baltimore that they would see little of the Derby winner.

Rather than unloading Fusaichi Pegasus near a stable entrance as Pimlico officials had planned for a photo opportunity, Drysdale had the colt taken directly to Barn 7, where photographers and TV cameramen had only a three-second glimpse of him as he walked down the ramp and into the shedrow. Track security kept the media far away from the barn for the remainder of the week.

Continued willfulness

Fusaichi Pegasus continued his willful behavior in the days leading up to the Preakness. In his first visit to the track on May 18, he stopped repeatedly while jogging around the track with exercise rider Andy Durdin. Drysdale kept everybody guessing between his daily press conferences and decided at the last moment to saddle Fusaichi Pegasus in Pimlico's infield rather than its indoor paddock.

The field assembled for Fusaichi Pegasus's march toward destiny was-with the exception of Red Bullet-hardly distinguished, and Pimlico oddsmaker Clem Florio made Fusaichi Pegasus the 3-to-5 morning-line favorite. He would go off at 3-to-10, the shortest price since local hero Spectacular Bid won at 1-to-10 in 1979. Red Bullet went off as the 6.20-to-1 second betting choice.

Also in the field were colts trained by Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lukas, who between them had won every Derby and Preakness in the three prior years. Baffert sent out Captain Steve, eighth in the Derby, and High Yield, who had run a horrid 15th at Churchill, represented Lukas.

Others coming out of the Derby to meet Fusaichi Pegasus were Impeachment and a hopeless Hal's Hope (16th of 19). The race's two other newcomers, Snuck In and Hugh Hefner, were chasing a dream without much hope of success.

On the eve of the Preakness, the race posed two questions: How good is Fusaichi Pegasus, and would Red Bullet's best effort be good enough?

And then it rained.

Even without the rain, which may well obscure the meaning of this Preakness, Red Bullet was poised for his moment of destiny. With suitable respect for both Fusaichi Pegasus and Drysdale, Orseno took an entirely opposite route to the Preakness starting gate. Red Bullet arrived early-he shipped from Belmont Park with Golden Missile before the Pimlico Special-and the glowing good health on his bright chestnut coat was there for everyone at the stakes barn to see.

"Fantastic" workout

Also readily evident was how well Red Bullet had taken to the Pimlico racing surface. On the morning of the Pimlico Special, he powered through a five-furlong workout in :58 4/5, a move that one veteran observer described as "fantastic." Each day leading up to the Preakness, he bounded over the track, going-as Orseno directed-a mile in slightly more than two minutes.

Stronach had passed up the Derby because, trapped on the inside of Aqueduct's main track in the Wood, Red Bullet had gotten caught up in a speed duel early and was unable to withstand Fusaichi Pegasus's electrifying stretch move. "Any time a horse doesn't finish strong, it takes out more than you realize. It was a tough decision not to run in a classic," said Stronach, who called the shot. "My heart said it would