Gary Stevens says he knows how to beat American Pharoah in the Preakness with Firing Line. He does not say he is going to beat American Pharoah in the Preakness with Firing Line, but he knows what he needs to do to make it happen. Do not mistake such talk as the desperate flailings of a frustrated jockey wishing for a Kentucky Derby do-over. After beating their old nemesis Dortmund while losing the race by a length, Stevens arrived at the end of the Derby secure in the knowledge that his faith in Firing Line had been fully justified, and that owners Arnold and Ellen Zetcher and trainer Simon Callaghan, just 32, could hold their heads high. “The last time I felt like this finishing second was when Personal Ensign beat Winning Colors in the Breeders’ Cup,” Stevens said Tuesday after returning home to California. “I was heartbroken but so proud of what everybody had accomplished.” For those who need a refresher, he was summoning the memory of Nov. 5, 1988, when Stevens and his Derby-winning filly returned to Churchill Downs to come within a nose of handing Personal Ensign the only defeat of her amazing career. As second-place finishes go, it was a work of art. Then again, finishing second in a horse race like the Kentucky Derby is usually a ticket to obscurity. The eight or nine feet Firing Line was beaten might as well have been a mile as far as history is concerned. Triumphant American Pharoah and his retinue have received the royal treatment in media coverage and gaudy perks, as befits a favored Derby winner. So, what did Stevens do once he’d showered away the day? “Got some takeout, went back to Ron Anderson’s house, and watched the fight, which sucked,” Stevens said. That would be Joel Rosario’s agent, Ron Anderson, whose rider ran fourth on Frosted, and the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-match from Vegas. While Mayweather’s reviews were uniformly bad, American Pharoah’s victory was a valedictory statement by a very good, young racehorse who, at least for the moment, has separated himself from a pack of likewise talented, young racehorses for whom the Derby was not their day. They will have their days. The Preakness, however, is a strange creature begging a fresh set of questions. And the fact that there was only a length of difference between American Pharoah and Firing Line at the end of the Derby’s 1 1/4 miles will be parsed nine ways from Sunday, especially in light of the fact that the runner-up insisted on sticking with his left lead through the entire stretch run rather than swapping to a fresh right. Stevens was baffled. His colt had never failed to change leads before. The rider did what he could to encourage a switch, to no avail. “I had coffee this morning at the track with Jerry Fanning, one of the all-time greats,” Stevens said. Fanning saddled Desert Wine to be second in the 1983 Derby. “Jerry says, ‘You know, buddy, he was laying his body down for you. Sometimes those good horses, when they’re giving their all, they don’t have time to switch leads. They’re too busy trying to beat that other horse.’ “I wish I’d had been more prepared for it, though,” Stevens added. “He ended up running the last 3 1/2 furlongs on his left lead. His oxygen level was great, but he had to be getting leg-weary. I’m not implying it made the difference in the length we were beaten, but I’m always going to wonder. I was a lot more tired than he was pulling up.” Not a day goes by that Stevens is not reminded that he is 52 and playing a young man’s game, although the victory of Kerwin Clark aboard Lovely Maria in the Kentucky Oaks on Friday gave rise to the spectre of an all-AARP weekend. Clark is 56. “That would have been something,” Stevens said. “An Oaks-Derby double with more than a hundred years between us.” Stevens also is enough of a realist to recognize that the 141st Kentucky Derby might have been his last, and that Firing Line provided him with a chance to join his idol, Bill Shoemaker, as a four-time winner of the race. “I jogged back slow, just taking everything in, because I didn’t know if I’d ever be there again,” Stevens said. “I guess I was the last one back except for the winner, and there was Simon, walking down the middle of the track to meet me. His bottom lip was quivering, and he had one tear running down his cheek. “I told Simon later that night he stamped himself forever today, and that he will win multiple Kentucky Derbies,” Stevens said. “In all my years riding the race, I have never been on a horse better prepared for the job. Firing Line reminds me a lot of both Thunder Gulch and Silver Charm, but mostly Silver Charm because he’s such a fighter. There is absolutely no quit in him.” Firing Line will train at Churchill Downs before the quick turnaround to the Preakness. “I’m actually looking forward to my horse coming back for the first time in two weeks,” Stevens said. “If anything, he might have been a little overripe for the Derby. I said after the Robert Lewis that I learned something about Dortmund, and I thought I’d figured out how to beat him. Now I’ve learned about American Pharoah, and I’ll be making some tactical changes for the next one. “And I guarantee,” Stevens added, “he will change leads.”