Rachel Alexandra has outside post for Preakness

BALTIMORE â€”  The jockey who lives on the rail will have a long trip to get there in Saturday’s 134th Preakness Stakes, horse racing’s second leg of the Triple Crown.

When race favorite Rachel Alexandra drew the 13th post Wednesday for the 13-horse race, it meant that Calvin Borel, known affectionately by fans and less so by fellow jockeys as Calvin Bo-Rail, would either have to bide his time or make a trophy dash out of the gate.

That apparent problem didn’t bother the connections of the filly one bit.

“Steve [trainer Steve Asmussen] and I are pleased Rachel is entered and now has the 13 hole,� said Jess Jackson, who has owned the talented filly less than two weeks. “We need to be outside to stay clear. Out there, there’s a fair chance she can stay out of trouble.�

There’s also a fair chance that more eyes will be on the far outside of the starting gate than anywhere else Saturday, because Rachel Alexandra was installed as the morning line favorite too. She was put at 8-5 and, depending on how bettors react to that, probably will go off as both the betting favorite and the public’s darling.

There have been 52 fillies entered in the Preakness. Four have won, the most recent being Nellie Morse in 1924. The most recent to even enter was Excellent Meeting 10 years ago.

Suffice to say, none created the buzz of Rachel Alexandra.

She won the Kentucky Oaks, the major 3-year-old filly race of the year, the day before this year’s Kentucky Derby. Rachel Alexandra won it by 20 1/4 lengths with Borel aboard. Her owners at the time had no intention of entering her in Triple Crown races against the boys.

The next day, Borel, aboard a 50-1 horse named Mine That Bird, who was known by his owners, trainer and a handful of fans at Woodbine in Toronto and Sunland Park in New Mexico, weaved through traffic on the home stretch and won the Derby going away.

A few days later, Jackson, founder of Kendall-Jackson Winery and owner of now-retired Curlin, stepped in, bought Rachel Alexandra and paid the $100,000 supplemental fee to get her in the Preakness. That made her the first to win the Oaks and run in the Preakness, assuming she does.

Then Borel jumped off Mine That Bird and onto Rachel Alexandra, becoming the first jockey to win a Kentucky Derby on one horse and get on another for the Preakness when the Derby winner was entered in the Preakness.

There are other great horses and stories in the Preakness, but the lady has trampled on them.

Trainer Wayne Lukas has saddled a record 32 Preakness entrants, won five and has two horses entered this time, Flying Private and Luv Gov, both 50-1 shots.

Trainer Bob Baffert has won four and has the second choice at 5-1 in Pioneerof The Nile, who finished second in the Derby.

Trainer Gary Stute’s Papa Clem, fourth at Churchill Downs, may be the race’s best value at 12-1.

Oh, and the Kentucky Derby winner?

Mine That Bird shared the third choice of 6-1 odds with Friesan Fire. Mine That Bird, now ridden by Mike Smith, drew the second post, where his former rider would have felt right at home.

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Preakness Stakes

Post positions for Saturday’s race with morning line (3 p.m. PDT, Channel 4):

*--* PP HORSE Line 1 Big Drama 10-1 2 Mine That Bird 6-1 3 Musket Man 8-1 4 Luv Gov 50-1 5 Friesan Fire 6-1 6 Terrain 30-1 7 Papa Clem 12-1 8 General Quarters 20-1 9 Pioneerof The Nile 5-1 10 Flying Private 50-1 11 Take The Points 30-1 12 Tone It Down 50-1 13 Rachel Alexandra 8-5 *--*