Journalism shows heart, resilience to win the Preakness Stakes — just like the Altadena community he represents

Journalism won the Preakness Stakes with the same resiliency that the Altadena community has after the wildfires in January.

Michael McCarthy had just witnessed a display of resilience unfold in front of him at the Preakness Stakes on Saturday when he referenced another.

“We’ll rebuild,” McCarthy told NBC in a televised interview from the wet track of Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course, just minutes after his horse, Journalism, won the 150th running of the Triple Crown’s middle leg. “This is for Altadena.”

Journalism’s victory required a comeback of more than five lengths, an improbable run that required slipping between two horses on either side as it entered the backstretch, then furiously making up ground on leader Gosger, never taking the lead until the final strides. The route was unexpected and challenging — not all that dissimilar to what its trainer had endured since January wildfires in Southern California displaced McCarthy and his family from their home.

As flames creeped within a reported 600 feet of the walls of McCarthy’s Altadena home, he, his wife and daughter left at 4:40 a.m. and checked in to a hotel, The Athletic reported last month. McCarthy’s home in Altadena suffered smoke damage but ultimately survived what became known as the Eaton Fire, named for a nearby canyon from which it originated and grew into a blaze that would kill 18 people. But his neighborhood was largely destroyed, as was the city where he was raised.

What remained in Altadena was “just chimneys,” McCarthy told NBC Sports last month.