BALTIMORE — Girls rule! The best 3-year-old in the land just happens to be a filly named Rachel Alexandra.
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 — as big as most of the horses she beat — Rachel Alexandra shot to the front Saturday and wasn’t seriously challenged until a late close by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.
She led by a head at the quarter and half-mile poles. She stretched it to a half-length at the three-quarters pole. She was ahead by four lengths going down the stretch. In the end, the 9-5 favorite won by a length in her first race against the boys.
The win also validated Borel’s decision to climb off Mine That Bird and stay on the filly 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 1 1/2-mile race is the most grueling of the three.
“I’m not worried about nothing,” he said. “It’s going to take a race horse to beat her.”
Rachel Alexandra had already beaten up on her own gender, winning her five previous races by a combined 43 1/2 lengths.
Musket Man finished third, as he did in the Derby, followed by Flying Private and Big Drama.
Rachel Alexandra covered 1 3-16 miles in 1:55.08 and became the first horse to win at Pimlico from the No. 13 post on the far outside. She paid $5.60, $4.60 and $3.60. Mine That Bird returned $6.60 and $4.80, while Musket Man paid $5 to show.
“I’m thrilled to death with the race my little horse ran,” said Chip Woolley Jr., who trains Mine That Bird. “You have to give that filly credit. She’s a great one.”
Rachel Alexandra earned $660,000 from the purse of $1.1 million.
Papa Clem was sixth, followed by Terrain, Luv Gov, General Quarters, Friesan Fire, Pioneerof the Nile, Tone It Down and Take the Points.
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.
Rachel Alexandra stumbled slightly leaving the gate, then stuck her head in front at the first turn and refused to give way.
Her first challenge was to get rid of Big Drama, a persistent presence from inside down the backside and into the final turn.
Once she shook him loose and opened up the four-length lead at the top of the stretch, Mine That Bird made a run at her.
Borel sensed she was tiring, and took firm hold of the reins.
“I had to put the bit in her mouth because she was kind of struggling,” he said. “It kind of took a lot out of her.”
Still, she had enough left at the end and crossed the finish line to the cheers of 77,850 fans — the smallest crowd since 1983 — at Pimlico.
The most impressive of Rachel Alexandra’s performances was her stunning win by 20 1/4 lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, the day before the Kentucky Derby.
This ending was different from the last time a filly faced the boys. Eight Belles finished second in last year’s Kentucky Derby, then broke both front legs while just past the finish line and was destroyed on the track.
