Shortly after Calvin Borel won the Kentucky Derby, somebody asked the jockey which horse he would ride, if forced to choose, Mine That Bird or Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra. Borel’s supple features stretched into a wide grin that pushed his cheeks upward, crowding his eyes, which seemed to squint with amusement, as if he had just been asked what color’s an orange.

“I’d ride her,” he said indulgently, his voice rising for emphasis. “I think she’s the best horse in the country right now.”
Borel did indeed make the unprecedented choice: the filly over the Kentucky Derby winner. And in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes at Pimlico, over the course of 1 3/16 miles, he and Rachel Alexandra will explain why. Indisputably the best 3-year-old filly in the country, with a string of dominant victories that Tiger Woods could envy, she’s the 8-5 morning-line favorite as she confronts males for the first time.
With a win Saturday, she would become the first filly since Nellie Morse in 1924 and only the fifth ever to pocket this second gem in sport’s most famous piece of jewelry. And if she is to be the 11th filly ever to win a Triple Crown race, she also would become just what the sport needs, a superstar with cachet in popular culture. But none of this would surprise Borel.
They’re unbeaten together: five stakes wins by a total of 43 › lengths, all accomplished with such ease and aplomb that they’re more like Astaire and Rogers than any sports duo. Fifteen days ago at Churchill Downs, Borel and Rachel Alexandra won the Kentucky Oaks by more than 20 lengths, a record.
The next day, after he won the Derby, Borel put everything in perspective by saying she was the best horse he had ever ridden. And that “ever,” by the way, was large enough to be seen from outer space.
This Cajun from Catahoula Parish knew how to ride horses before he knew how to peel shrimp, starting at Louisiana’s small unrecognized bush tracks 34 years ago, when he was just 8. Fourth in Churchill Downs’ all-time standings, he has ridden such stakes winners as Distorted Humor, Halo America and Denis of Cork. Borel has won more than 4,700 races, including two Kentucky Derbies, the first with Street Sense in 2007. And Rachel Alexandra, as he put it, is the best horse in his life.
“She’s got a lot to prove, and I’ve got a lot to prove for the people,” Borel said Friday, “to show the public why I think she’s the best horse in the country right now. And this is the time to do it.”
In choosing to ride the filly rather than Mine That Bird, Borel didn’t disparage the Kentucky Derby winner. He’ll run well, the jockey predicted, but he can’t run with the filly.
“He’d have to run the race of his life to beat my filly,” Borel said. “I think all the others are going to have to run the race of their lives or me fall off or something stupid happen.... I think I’ve just got to point her in the right direction and she’ll get me there.”
Most of the questions and doubts about Rachel Alexandra’s participation in the Preakness are a sort of cross-species sexism. After winning the Oaks, can she return in just 15 days and give another superlative performance? Can she stand up to the pressure of the big, bad colts?
Of course, seven of the 13 horses in the Preakness ran just two weeks ago in the Derby, including the first four finishers: Mine That Bird, Pioneerof The Nile, Musket Man and Papa Clem. Can they come back so quickly and give a good performance? As for her being intimidated by the larger males, Rachel Alexandra will be one of the taller horses in the field, as well as the fastest. A more reasonable question would be whether they’ll be intimidated by her.
Fewer uncertainties will accompany Rachel Alexandra into this race than the others in the field. Is Pioneerof The Nile good enough? Can Friesan Fire, the beaten Derby favorite, recover from his misfortunes at Churchill Downs? Will Big Drama carry his speed this far? Can Mine That Bird possibly duplicate his sensational Derby effort?
When Rachel Alexandra won the Oaks, she was a sixteenth of a mile ahead of any rival by the time she was pulled up on the backside; yes, she can effectively run this far.
The only legitimate question is how she will handle all the recent change in her life. She was sold just 10 days ago and moved into the barn of trainer Steve Asmussen.
“She’s loose and she’s happy,” said Scott Blasi, the assistant to Asmussen. “I feel comfortable with how she’s doing. Her weight looks good.”
In other words, she’ll probably handle this the way she has handled everything this year: by winning.