The off-the-track Thoroughbred Witch Hunter took a star turn on Preakness Stakes Day at Pimlico, as the Adena Springs homebred and winning racehorse was the outrider pony who helped snag Bodexpress. After rearing and losing jockey John Velazquez at the start of the Preakness, Bodexpress ran with the field for the entire race. Maryland Jockey Club outrider Kaymarie Kreidel, a former jockey, and Witch Hunter attempted to snag the colt both times down the stretch, but were forced to back off when he evaded them so as not to affect the running of the race. Kreidel and Witch Hunter then gave chase as the colt turned the wrong way the second time on the backstretch and weaved back through a crowd of people crossing the track post-race, finally bringing the perilous situation to a halt by grabbing the colt’s reins. “I want to say thank you to everyone for all the praises and compliments, but the real hero is Hunter,” Kreidel said Saturday night. “I could’ve never done any of that without his talent. Once again, I will say I have the best ponies in the world. . . . My hero.” Witch Hunter, foaled in 2007, is by Ghostzapper, Adena’s homebred Breeders’ Cup Classic-winning son by homebred Classic winner Awesome Again. He is out of the graded stakes-placed Alphabet Soup mare Winning Chance. Both Ghostzapper and Winning Chance raced as Adena homebreds, and Witch Hunter’s sire, grandsire, and broodmare sire all stand or stood for Frank Stronach’s operation. Witch Hunter won once from five starts, and only missed the board once, while racing at Laurel Park and in Canada. After his final start in 2011, Frank Stronach gave him to Kreidel to start his second career. Kreidel, a stakes-winning jockey who rode for 16 years, has been a full-time outrider on the Maryland circuit for seven years after working the job part-time before that. Her string of ponies, who rotate through various jobs on the Maryland Jockey Club circuit, includes several former racehorses. Another of those also was quite busy this past week, as, following morning training hours at Pimlico, Wolftrap and Kreidel served as part of the outriding squad for the breeze show at the Fasig-Tipton Midlantic 2-year-olds in training sale at the Maryland State Fairgrounds. That 7-year-old Street Magician gelding, a winner of 1 of 28 starts, was bred in Maryland by Northview Stallion Station.