Written by :
Published on :
With the Preakness Stakes decisive win by filly Rachel Alexandra Saturday the oddsmakers will be looking towards three weeks to see if there is more interest on the Belmont Stakes and what many believe to be a "lock" to win. Odds on Rachel Alexandra to win the 2009 Belmont Stakes had yet to be released at press time though Sportsbook.com was expected to publish odds shortly.
The filly is already being dubbed "Alexandra The Great".
Jockey Calvin Borel all but guaranteed victory in the Preakness Stakes and, boy, did she deliver, becoming the first filly in 85 years to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.
A rangy bay who is as big as most of the horses she beat, Rachel Alexandra shot to the front and took a sizable lead before Mine That Bird tested her in the stretch. The 9-5 favorite beat him by a length in her first race against the boys.
Saturday's win also validated Borel's decision to climb off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and stay on as her regular rider.
Now Borel may get a shot at a personal Triple Crown, if Rachel Alexandra goes on to the Belmont Stakes in three weeks. The 1½-mile race is the most grueling of the three.
"I'm not worried about nothing," he said. "It's going to take a racehorse to beat her."
Rachel Alexandra had already beaten up on her own gender, winning her five previous races by a combined 43½ lengths.
While many had written off Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner nearly beat Rachel Alexandra in the very end, coming in a close second.
Musket Man finished third, as he did in the Derby, while the very big long shots, Flying Private and Big Drama, came in 4th and 5th, respectively.
The last filly to win the Preakness was Nellie Morse in 1924. Rachel Alexandra became the second filly to go off as the wagering favorite and win. Whimsical at 8-5 odds was the first, in 1906.
Don Shapiro, Gambling911.com
