Rachel Alexandra outran the boys at Pimlico today.
If you read my previous post, I picked all three of the top finishers in today's Preakness. But I had them in the wrong order.
I picked Mine That Bird to win, Musket Man to place and Rachel Alexandra to show.
Rachel Alexandra actually won the race. Mine That Bird placed. Musket Man was third.
It was the first time a filly had won the Preakness in 85 years. But the Triple Crown drought, which began more than three decades ago, goes on.
One of those streaks had to end today.
So there will be no Triple Crown winner this year — although we might have to put an asterisk next to the year 2009 in the annals of horse racing because the same jockey, Calvin Borel, has won the first two races. He just won on different horses.
I don't think it's ever come up before, but Borel might win all three Triple Crown races — but not on the same horse. Would he be considered a Triple Crown winner by himself?
In the three weeks until the Belmont, I'm sure someone will explore the possibility. But at least one sports writer, Rick Bozich of the Louisville Courier–Journal, says Borel "deserves his Muhammad Ali moment."
Well, he deserves to savor what he has done so far — win or lose in three weeks.
The Baltimore Sun reports that attendance was down more than 30% over last year and was the lowest it has been in 26 years. One can only imagine what the absence of a Triple Crown possibility will do to the gate receipts and overall wagers on the Belmont three weeks from today.
But the folks in Baltimore saw a pretty exciting race this afternoon.
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