Belmont or bust?
BALTIMORE — Even though there won't be a Triple Crown winner this year, the Belmont Stakes could be compelling — if the handlers of a very popular filly ultimately decide to bring their horse to New York.
Rachel Alexandra fulfilled all expectations Saturday by becoming the first filly in 85 years to capture the Preakness. With Calvin Borel aboard, Rachel Alexandra broke to the lead early and held off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird to win by a length.
Mine That Bird trainer Chip Woolley Jr. said Sunday he will definitely enter his horse in the third jewel of the Triple Crown on June 6. A reprise of their memorable duel down the stretch would make it a Belmont to remember, but there's no indication yet whether Rachel Alexandra will be up for a rematch.
Rachel Alexandra left Pimlico on Sunday morning for trainer Steve Asmussen's barn at Churchill Downs in Kentucky. The filly is set to return to the track on Wednesday, and is scheduled to breeze on Memorial Day.
"We're not going to tell her how she's feeling. She'll tell us how she's feeling," Asmussen said.
Co-owner Jess Jackson bought the horse after the Kentucky Derby and promptly decided to run her in the Preakness, just to see if she could beat the boys as easily as she dominated her own gender.
The answer was an emphatic yes.
"I personally think she's proven what (Jackson) set out to prove with her immediately, which doesn't eliminate anything," Asmussen said. "But I think it does take a tad of the urgency off it."
At this juncture, it's a wait-and-see proposition for Jackson, co-owner Harold McCormick and the rest of the racing world.
"We'll wait for three or four days, see how she comes out of the race," Jackson said. "Then we'll give her the same scrutiny we did with the vets, and of course working her out, and get the opinion of everybody that's involved."
Regardless of the competition, Woolley is convinced his horse can win the Belmont. Mine That Bird was in last place at the half-mile pole in the Preakness before jockey Mike Smith produced a stirring finish that came up a little short.
Woolley believes a smaller field and a longer race bodes well for his fast-closing colt.
"My horse will be much more suited to the Belmont: big wide track, big wide sweeping turns. It should play a little better to my horse," he said. "It'll probably be a shorter field, which eliminates some of the traffic. We're excited about going."
Woolley said Smith would remain aboard Mine That Bird, even if Rachel Alexandra doesn't run. Borel rode Mine That Bird in the Derby, then switched to the filly in the Preakness.
If Borel gets to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Belmont, a win there would make him the first jockey to win a Triple Crown on different horses.
