Rachel Alexandra wins the Preakness

Unsurprisingly, we did much better picking horses for the Preakness. I had Rachel Alexandra and Mine That Bird, and had Musket Man as my 3rd/4th pick along with Pioneerof The Nile, who is not doing well. Mr. Bill had Musket Man, Flying Private, Big Drama and Papa Clem. Key Dear had Rachel Alexandra, Luv Glove, General Quarters and Pioneerof The Nile. She had been leaning toward Papa Clem and Freisan Fire.

I'm loving Mine That Bird — he would have really pushed Rachel Alexandra if Mike Smith had been able to stay on the rail. Smith got caught in traffic on the turn for home and had to check the horse around the 3/8-pole, but the little gelding dug in. Just watch the stretch run. When Big Drama lived up to his name and was freaking out in the starting gate, Mine That Bird stood like a rock, calm and collected. I just love that horse. Eddie Arcaro once said that about 70% of race horses don't want to win. Mine That Bird may not always get there, but he doesn't quit. And while he may not be the straightest horse, he is beautiful.

One statistic that came out of the Derby was that Mine That Bird's final quarter was the second fastest final quarter time for a Kentucky Derby, second only to Secretariat, whose Derby performance will, imho, never be equalled. No horse before or since has run each successive quarter faster than the last. But it puts Mine That Bird's Derby into perspective. Too bad the TV coverage continues to suck. And I'm getting tired of Calvin Borel and his, "I wish my parents were here to see what I've accomplished in my life." Yeah, Calvin, we get it, we got it the third or fourth time you said those exact same words. Enough already. Go learn to read.

Is Rachel Alexandra a super horse? Maybe. She's certainly a standout in her filly crop, and she's in a year where there are no standouts in the colts. Many of the early Kentucky Derby favorites pulled out, and there wasn't a Seattle Slew or even a Smarty Jones. So is she all that? I'm not convinced yet. Another Ruffian? I think not.

Musket Man continues to do well. While not winning, he has never run out of the money, with a record of 5-0-3 for his eight races. After finishing last in the Derby, Flying Private finished fourth. Big Drama, despite his temper tantrum in the gate, managed to finish fifth, his first finish out of the money. The rest of the finishers were Papa Clem, Terrain, Luv Glove, General Quarters, Freisan Fire, Pioneerof The Nile, Tone It Down and Take The Points.

On to the Belmont.

I vaguely remembering liking Birdstone in the Belmont. I think I picked him for second or third, because my heart was with Smarty Jones. I was just looking at Birdstone's pedigree and hadn't realized he went back to Mr. Prospector (too far back to matter, but still...). He also has Secretariat's dam, Somethingroyal, in there. Pretty impressive pedigree. Mine That Bird has Mr. Prospector as his great-grandfather on his dam's sire's side. That one may actually count. That's about as far back in a pedigree as I figure should matter. jmho, ymmv.