this is an interesting horse racing season first leg of the triple won by a longshot and the second leg won by a filly and beating out the winner of the first leg.  this is one powerful girly.

The Filly Is a Champ and May Not Be Finished

BALTIMORE There was about a sixteenth of a mile left to run in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday, six seconds or so of horse racing in which Rachel Alexandra would show what she was all about. She had the lead and the wire was fast approaching, yet the Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird was closing furiously on the outside.

But Rachel Alexandra, pitted against 12 males, had the talent and speed to do what no filly had done in 85 years. Holding off Mine That Birds late run, Rachel Alexandra won the middle leg of the Triple Crown by one length.

I think shes the greatest horse in the country, said her jockey, Calvin Borel, who had ridden Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby but, as Rachel Alexandras regular rider, returned to her for the Preakness. Thats colts, fillies, boys, whatever. Shes an amazing filly.

And Borel contended that Rachel Alexandra did not run her best. He said she did not care for the racing surface at Pimlico Race Course and probably would have done better if she had.

My filly was kind of struggling in the last quarter-mile, said Borel, whose mount was the favorite despite not running in the Derby. She went to reach out, and the ground was breaking out from underneath her.

Borel has ridden the Derby winner in two of the past three years, and his decision to bail on Mine That Bird made him the first jockey to take off a Derby winner for another horse in the Preakness. That was just one of the noteworthy developments in the two weeks between Triple Crown races.

After Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks against fillies by 20 1/4 lengths on the day before the Derby, her owner, Dolphus Morrison, said he had no intention of pitting her against males.

But Jess Jackson, who started the Kendall-Jackson wine empire, had other ideas. The week before the Preakness, he bought Rachel Alexandra, locked up Borels services, turned the filly over to the trainer Steve Asmussen and announced his plan to run her in the Preakness.

I would have taken a lot of heat had she not run well, said Jackson, who also teamed with Asmussen to win the 2007 Preakness with Curlin.

Rachel Alexandra, who started in the outside post position, broke sharply from the gate and headed toward the lead. She appeared to be going comfortably, but Big Drama stuck to her flank while racing on the inside. By the top of the stretch, Big Drama was done and Rachel Alexandra was about to open up a lead of four lengths.

But Mine That Bird, the stunning winner of the Derby at odds of 50-1, was in the midst of a move much like the one that carried him to victory two weeks earlier at Churchill Downs. Sitting last early under the replacement rider, Mike Smith, Mine That Bird picked up steam on the far turn and was picking off horses one by one.

After getting out of a brief traffic jam on the far turn, Mine That Bird had a clear run and just one horse to catch. He was closing, but Rachel Alexandra was simply the better horse.

I thought I did, Smith said when asked if he thought he had a chance to catch the winner. Hats off to her. Shes a talented, talented mare. Anyone else wouldve caved in.

For Mine That Bird, there was honor in defeat. Many dismissed his win in the Kentucky Derby as a fluke. On Saturday, he ran nearly as well.

Im thrilled to death with the race my little horse ran, said Chip Woolley, Mine That Birds trainer. Everything was going according to Hoyle until the turn, when he was fanned a little wide. I thought we had a chance at the eighth-pole. But you have to give that filly credit.

Rachel Alexandra, who became the fifth filly to win the Preakness and the first since Nellie Morse in 1924, paid $5.60 for a $2 win bet. She covered the mile and three-sixteenths in 1 minute 55.08 seconds over a track that was listed as fast despite a shower that hit about 15 minutes before the race. The Pimlico crowd of 77,850 was down from 112,222 last year.

Musket Man, third in the Derby, finished third again, a half-length behind Mine That Bird.

My horse ran well, but we got beat by a great one, said Derek Ryan, Musket Mans trainer. Shes a filly for the ages.

The Kentucky Derby runner-up, Pioneerof the Nile, the second choice in the wagering Saturday, was the primary disappointment. He finished 11th.

The Triple Crown heads now to Belmont Park on June 6 for the Belmont Stakes, with a potential rematch between Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra. No filly has ever won two legs of the Triple Crown.

Mine That Birds connections have committed to the Belmont. Jackson was less definite about the plans for Rachel Alexandra, saying no decision would be made until he and Asmussen could see how she came out of the Preakness. But he sounded a lot like an owner who wants to do this all over again.

Would we love to run her in the Belmont? Yes, Jackson said. Could she win? We think so. Shell run against the boys again somewhere. Its good for champions to race against champions.