Red Bullet killed off the triple crown hopes of Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus when taking the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on Saturday.
Jerry Bailey, winning the race for the second time, brought his mount to challenge pacesetter High Yield with a quarter of a mile to travel and the pair were never headed, scoring by three lengths from Fusaichi Pegasus.
The Japanese-owned favourite was sent off a 1-5 chance to land a sixth straight success but he had little answer to the 62-10 winner's burst of acceleration.
Impeachment, who was held up way off the pace in the early stages, ran on to take third.
Making just his fourth racecourse appearance, the winner - with whom connections opted to bypass the Kentucky Derby - may not take in the third leg of the triple crown, the Belmont Stakes, in three weeks' time.
Owner Frank Stronach said: 'It was an exciting race and we knew we had a very good horse.
'He lacked experience and we were worried we might be pushing him too hard.
'He may not go for the Belmont, we will have to see.'
Bailey said: 'When we broke a little slow I thought we could get the jump on Fusaichi and kick on at the half-mile and that's how it worked out. When he didn't beat me to the quarter-pole, I thought I had him beat.'
A deflated Kent Desormeaux, the rider of the runner-up, admitted: 'I don't want to try to pinpoint what exactly was the difference.
'We were together at the three-eighths pole, we were head-to-head.
'We both pressed our buttons and Red Bullet opened up - congratulations to his connections on a great performance.'
Speculation after the race centred upon whether the well-documented temperament of Fusaichi Pegasus had got the better of him in the race.
Squeezed leaving the stalls, he raced with his head to one side in the closing stages and never seemed to be putting everything in.
