by Ray Kerrison, New York Post

Comment

Rachel Alexandra, the filly hyped to the heavens as the finest of her gender since the immortal Ruffian, did something Ruffian never did. She whipped the daylights out of colts and geldings, won one of the great classics of the American turf, the Preakness Stakes, dusted the winner of the Kentucky Derby — and ran her way into hearts and history.

What a gal!

In one of the truly memorable runnings of the Preakness, the superstar filly came speeding out of her extreme outside gate of 13, engaged the leader, Big Drama, on the clubhouse turn, then ran by him, opened daylight and ran them all off their legs. The boys didn't have a chance.

"She struggled with the ground and I had to get into her [with the whip] a bit, but the more I asked, the more she struggled," her jockey Calvin Borel said.

It sure didn't look like it from where I was standing in the press box. Rachel, with the niftiest set of heels seen at Pimlico in 85 years (the last time a filly won the Preakness) sprinted clear around the final turn and it was a case of "down with the binoculars." Nothing was going to get to her.

She had every reason to tire a little in the last half furlong, but even as the great little Derby hero, Mine That Bird, made his exciting, patented stretch run at her, they could have gone around again and he would not have headed her.

"God only knows how good she is," Borel said. "She's everybody's dream horse. She's the greatest I've ever been on."

Her new trainer, Steve Asmussen, stood in awe.

"She's an amazing filly, a true champion," he said.

Her new principal owner, Jess Jackson, said after the race that he would "seriously consider" running Rachel back in the Belmont Stakes in three weeks.

"We would love to have her run," he said.

That promises another dazzling matchup with Mine That Bird, surely a huge crowd pleaser.

The most disappointing facet of the day was the very thin crowd in the infield. Pimlico this year banned customers from bringing their own beer into the track, and it paid the price with what appears to have been a big boycott by the young crowd.

What a pity. Pimlico shut the crowd out on what was one of their best days ever, denying them the chance to be there for a spectacular achievement.

The field behind Rachel had no excuse. They were plain outrun. Big Drama, a classy speed horse, came flying out of the gate, went nostril-to-nostril with Rachel for half a mile, then threw in the towel.

Friesan Fire was right behind them, perfectly placed, then replicating his Derby horror, he spat the bit and trudged home a thoroughly thrashed 10th.

Pioneerof the Nile was even worse. He began well, had good position all the way, till the real galloping began, then he simply folded. He beat just two horses home, the longshots Tone It Down and Take The Points.

Papa Clem neither accelerated nor fell back. He ran midpack at the start, in the middle and in the end.

Musket Man came from a fair way back to get third, a good honest run by a very nice, consistent horse, who won the Tampa Bay Derby, the Illinois Derby and then ran a gallant third in the Kentucky Derby.

Next to the heroine of the day, surely the star was Mine That Bird, who, as always, dropped way behind the field. Now consider what he did: He conceded an 18-length start to probably the best horse in America today, Rachel Alexandra, then came running and lost by only a length.

That is an astounding performance in itself. But the sweet thing is that the little gelding certified his equally astounding Derby upset, proving it was no fluke.

In the end, it was Rachel's day all the way, brilliantly validating the bold strike by Jackson (who coughed up $100,000 to get her into the race) to challenge the male horses and pump a whole new dimension in this year's run for the Triple Crown.

But the biggest winner of all was thoroughbred racing. It put on one helluva show and, best of all, every horse came home sound of heart and limb. No accidents, no injuries. Racing at its best.

Time: 23.13, 46.71, 1:11.01, 1:35.82, 1:55.08. Track fast. (sealed).

$2 Exacta (13-2) Paid $39.20
$2 Trifecta (13-2-3) Paid $216.20
$2 Superfecta (13-2-3-10) Paid $5,807.60
$2 Super High Five (13-2-3-10-1) Paid $34,003.20
$2 Pick 3 (1/8-3/9-13) Paid $94.80
$2 Pick 4 (4/5/8-1/8-3/9-13) Paid $130.20
$2 Daily Double (B.E. Susan/Preakness - 2-13) Paid $16.80
$2 Daily Double (3-13) Paid $20.00