LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The girls already grabbed horse racing’s biggest headlines. Now another one is out to steal the sport’s biggest race from the boys.
Devil May Care will try to become the fourth filly to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday and extend the dominance begun last year by Rachel Alexandra, who won the Preakness, and Zenyatta, who won the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Those two finished 1-2 for horse of the year honors.
Devil May Care is listed at 10-1 odds in her bid to join the last filly winner, Winning Colors in 1988. Just as important, her trainer, Todd Pletcher, knows plenty about beating the boys with a girl. He did it with Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, his only victory in a Triple Crown race.
But Pletcher is 0-for-24 in the Derby, where his horses have finished last five times and next-to-last twice.
“When you get an exceptional animal, you’ve got to give them a chance to do exceptional things,” owner John Greathouse said. “I’d dearly love our filly to be the one to break this deal for him.”
Devil May Care will run two years after filly Eight Belles finished a gallant second, then broke down past the finish line of the 1 1/4-mile race and had to be euthanized on the track.
“It’s a big challenge for all of them — filly, colts and geldings,” Pletcher said. “She’s been preparing her whole life to run long and I think that’s what she wants to do.”
