Rachel Alexandra will win Saturday’s Preakness Stakes.
The Kentucky Oaks winner will be the first filly to win Baltimore’s Triple Crown race since Nellie Morse in 1924. No filly has even tried it in 10 years. Fillies are rarely as good as colts and the smart money would send her to an unbeaten campaign versus her own gender and retire as a champion.
But Rachel Alexandra is special, a speedster like Winning Colors who whistled the 1988 Derby field. Rachel Alexandra will lead every step to beat Papa Clem with Friesan Fire third.
And Derby winner Mine That Bird? If that one-shot wonder wins the Preakness, I will quit watching racing after 28 years because the sport will have hit rock bottom. Not that it already hasn’t in Maryland.
Mine That Bird owner Mark Allen is so afraid of Rachel Alexandra that he wanted to enter a winless nag of his own and asked another trainer to enter a long shot to keep the filly out of the field. Rachel Alexandra is a supplemental entry because her previous owner didn’t nominate her to the Triple Crown. She can only enter the Preakness if the 14-horse field has room. Allen later recanted after others pointed out what a coward he was.
Allen claimed he was trying to get jockey Calvin Borel back on the Derby winner by freezing out Rachel Alexandra. Borel will ride Rachel Alexandra instead of Mine That Bird. Jockeys only earn 10 percent of winnings. Borel knows where his payday lies. That someone gets off a Derby winner is like an ugly man divorcing a supermodel.
Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli made Rachel Alexandra the first filly ever as the morning-line Preakness favorite. She will be overbet to even money, but the winner is the winner. She may only pay $4 to win, but it’s better than tearing losing tickets in half.
The value is wagering on the extra. Papa Clem was running best of all when finishing a close fourth in the Derby. The Arkansas Derby winner is just 2 of 7, but he’s often near the winner.
Friesan Fire ran a horrible 18th as the Derby favorite. You have to toss such a bad effort, especially in the mud. The Preakness winner’s circle is filled with horses bouncing back from a bad Derby. He’ll stay close to Rachel Alexandra all the way around, but not outkick her in the stretch.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Read more at TheRickSniderReport.com or
e-mail [email protected].
