Sunday, May 17, 2009

The Girl Wins The Preakness



From The Huffington Post:

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.

By beating him she ended any chance that thoroughbred racing would have a Triple Crown winner this season. Affirmed was the last Triple Crown winner in 1978.

That's our Calvin (The Cajun) Borel, from Catahoula, Louisiana, riding the winner once again. There may not be a Triple Crown horse winner, but our Calvin may be the Triple Crown jockey. I wonder if Mine That Bird would have won, had Borel been the jockey.

Calvin says: "I'm not worried about nothing....It's going to take a racehorse to beat her."

I hope so, but the Belmont is the long race. It will be a test of both horse and jockey.

Geaux Rachel Alexandra! Geaux Calvin!
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11 comments:

  1. SCGMay 17, 2009 at 7:59 PM

    Wow! What a girl!

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  2. June ButlerMay 17, 2009 at 8:08 PM

    Mine That Bird was moving up. We shall see in the Belmont.

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  3. RileyMay 17, 2009 at 10:37 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  4. Ruth Hull ChatlienMay 17, 2009 at 10:59 PM

    It was a thrilling race.

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  5. June ButlerMay 17, 2009 at 11:25 PM

    Riley, welcome. I see you're a horse trainer. What a wonderful job.

    Thanks for the information on the back room machinations. I'm glad that the maneuver failed. Rachel A. stuck it to Mine That Bird. I hope to see her in the Belmont. Calvin seems to be counting on her.

    I know a little about what goes on in horse racing in the second and third tier races, and it ain't all clean.

    Come back again and leave a word or two or three.

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  6. June ButlerMay 18, 2009 at 7:23 AM

    Ruth, it was a wonderful race to watch.

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  7. PaulMay 18, 2009 at 7:47 AM

    The sport of kings... and grandmothers!

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  8. June ButlerMay 18, 2009 at 9:07 AM

    Paul, there's something special about this Triple Crown year. A gelding and a filly won the first two. What does that say about the merits of testosterone?

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  9. susan s.May 18, 2009 at 9:53 AM

    Oh, Mimi, it was thrilling! I'm glad the filly won, but Mine that Bird has heart! I'm wondering if he had been urged 4 seconds earlier, would she have won.

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  10. June ButlerMay 18, 2009 at 10:04 AM

    Susan, of course I'm prejudiced, but I think if Calvin had ridden MTB, he would have won. It's the combination of a good horse with heart and a jockey with good instincts about when to push.

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  11. JimBMay 18, 2009 at 9:36 PM

    "Paul, there's something special about this Triple Crown year. A gelding and a filly won the first two. What does that say about the merits of testosterone?"

    For additional data see Virtueless blog.....

    FWIW
    jimB

    ReplyDelete

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