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They’ll be a new player in Baltimore for the 134th Preakness. She’s the likely favorite – Rachel Alexandra.All that’s formally needed is the $100,000 supplemental fee to make the restricted 14-horse field as long as there’s a slot open. So far, a dozen colts and the Kentucky Derby winning gelding Mine That Bird plan to race on Saturday.
Both new owner Jess Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen said last week that if Rachel Alexandra continued to do well she would run against the boys.
On Sunday, she did. The daughter of Medaglia d’Oro posted a sharp 48 2/5 breezing four furlongs at Churchill Downs, galloping out five furlongs in 1:02.
She was full of energy entering the backstretch, observers told the Daily Racing Form, and by the time she passed the half-mile pole she was in full flight.
The filly won the Kentucky Oaks by an amazing 20 ¼ lengths for her fifth consecutive victory and her fourth straight triple-digit speed figure. That’s just one less than all likely Preakness runners combined.
In addition, jockey Calvin Borel chose to ride her over Mine That Bird, but was aboard the son of Birdstone Monday when he breezed four furlongs in 49 1/5 at Churchill Downs.
Alexandra the Great is so feared that a couple of owners had considered running more horses to keep her on the sidelines. Thoroughbred Times first reported that Mark Allen, co-owner of Mine That Bird, and Ahmed Zayat, owner of Derby runner-up Pioneer of the Nile, planned “to enter at least one additional horse.”
The announcement triggered such an avalanche of comments, mostly negative, that the TVG racing network contacted Zayat on Sunday. After thoroughly reviewing the situation, Zayat said by phone he would not run any other horse. Later, Allen also said he had changed his mind.
Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli had already announced he would make Rachel Alexandra the morning line favorite. The last two fillies favored in the Preakness were Derby champs Genuine Risk in 1980 and Winning Colors in ‘88.
Genuine Risk finished second to Codex while Winning Colors was third to Risen Star. Four of the 52 that triumphed at Pimlico were Florcarline, ‘03; Whimsical, ‘06; Rhine Maiden, ‘15; and Nellie Morses, ‘24. You could call ‘15 the Year of the Filly because Regret took the Derby.
Genuine Risk was the first of two fillies to start all three legs of the Triple Crown, finishing second in the Belmont, while Winning Colors ran sixth.
Horses exiting the Derby hold a distinct advantage: 21 of the past 23 captured the Preakness. The only exceptions were newcomers Red Bullet in ‘00 and Bernardini in ‘06, returning $14.40 and $12.20, respectively.
The longest longshot in Preakness history was Master Derby in ‘75, returning $48 on the front end. In the last 14 years, four Derby winners paid more: Thunder Gulch in ‘95, $51, Charismatic, ‘99, $64.60; Giacomo, ‘05, $102.60; and Mine That Bird, $103.20.
Seven Derby champs also won the Preakness since ‘93 when the last runner-up scored — Prairie Bayou. That bodes ill for Pioneer of the Nile.
Other Derby runners headed to Pimlico: Musket Man, third; Papa Clem, fourth; General Quarters, 10th; Friesan Fire, 18th; and Flying Private, 19th and last.
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