AAUW Dialog

There was a lot at stake at the Preakness Stakes this past weekend. The storied racetrack where the second leg of horseracing’s Triple Crown is held, Pimlico Downs, has hit some hard times — so hard that Maryland has OK’d slot machines in an effort to raise revenues. So hard that the race had two sponsors — The Blackberry Preakness Race presented by Cannon — a bit over the top if you ask me. Still, race organizers couldn’t have asked for a better story for Saturday’s race in light of their troubled circumstances.

Rachel Alexandra at the Preakness stakes. Photo courtesy of apium via flickr.

Incredibly, Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, of the amazing come from behind victory, was not the talk of the track. No, it was Rachel Alexandra, the 16-hand filly with the striking white blaze, who had tongues wagging. Why? The super filly who’d taken the Kentucky Oaks, the girls’ race before the Derby, by 20 lengths had been unexpectedly entered in the Preakness. Some of the colts’ owners were not at all happy about Rachel’s presence — in fact, they tried to block it.

So how did Rachel end up at the Preakness? Rachel, named for the original owner’s granddaughter, had been sold in the short time between the Derby and the Preakness for a cool $10 million. Her previous owner, Dolm Morrison, had intentionally kept her out of the Derby, thinking it unseemly and unsafe for a filly to run with the boys. “Stallions should run with stallions,” he said.

Clearly, Rachel’s new owner didn’t feel the same way; Jess Jackson ponied up the premium entry fee of $100,000, saying that “champions should run with champions.” And the fab filly proved him right, leading almost from the beginning and becoming the first horse to win from the 13th pole position. Rachel was also the first filly to win the race in 85 years. A star, no, a superstar was born.

So now the question is, does Rachel take on the colts again in the longer race — a mile and a half — at the Belmont Stakes? Rachel’s new owners want to prove she’s a champion horse, not a champion filly. A victory in the third leg of the Triple Crown could do that; it could make Rachel a horse for the ages. If she’s ready, if she’s recovered from the Preakness, I hope they race the fab filly.

There are those who believe Rachel Alexandra would have won the Derby had paternalism not gotten in her way. But that’s water under the bridge. The Belmont is the next challenge, and if she’s healthy, I say let her run with the boys — and run like a girl to victory.