"RIDERS UP!" 134th running of the Preakness thread...

[A HERETIC I AM]

Derby winner Mine that Bird is not the favorite.

Big favorite is a Filly named "Rachel Alexandra"

Safe race boys and girl.

http://www.drf.com/tc/preakness/2009/134.html

[konnichi wa]

1. Raining...yuck

;-)
\

[tridim]

4. Her mother was a mudder?

[HowHasItComeToThis]

2. THANKS FOR THE ALERT

[krispos42]

3. It's on NBC

just FYI

[Parker CA]

5. Jockey bucked off in the gate. Big Drama lol. Here we go....and, they're off!!

[tridim]

10. Big Drama must be a DU'er.

:)

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. The filly did it! Mine that Bird from last to second!...Wow.

[Moondog]

9. Yesssssss!!!!!

[Parker CA]

7. WOW!! Mine That Bird ALMOST pulled it out. Last place to finish in second. Great race.

[tularetom]

8. The girl horsey won!

[Manifestor_of_Light]

11. Rock on, Rachel Alexandra!!!

I raise a toast of my glass of iced tea in memory of the

Greatest Racehorse Ever:

RUFFIAN :toast: :bounce: :cry:

[Faygo Kid]

12. Beautiful horse, historic win, great race. Wow.

She's fantastic. First filly to win the Preakness since 1924! And Mine That Bird is no fluke.

Can't wait for the Belmont.

[whistler162]

13. So can the jockey not the horse win the triple crown?

Borel has won two legs on two different horses.

[merh]

14. Isn't that so neat.

Way to go Borel.

:toast:

[bklyncowgirl]

15. Supergirl vs Underdog you gotta love it!

Rachel Alexandra is something else. I honestly thought she wouldn't be in a good mental state to race but watching her in the post parade I changed my mind. She just took control from the start, coasted a bit when she could and hung on.

Mine That Bird. WOW. As a horsewoman THAT'S the beast I want in my barn. Stood like a statue in the gate while the horse next to him reared and dumped his jockey and then came from first to last dodging horses like it was a video game and charging down on Rachel Alexandra. What a run!

Gotta give kudos also to the Jersey horse Musket Man who came in 3rd. Always tough, always in the money.

So, would The Bird have caught the filly in a longer race?

Stay tuned for mile 1/2 Belmont.

[riverdeep]

16. "So, would The Bird have caught the filly in a longer race? "

The rider of the filly said 'no'. Of course, he's a bit biased. According to him, she likes a hard track and didn't run that great of a race at the end, and still beat the field. I can't really understand fully what he said, something about she's not used to being hit (I take that to mean he usually doesn't use a crop much), and so this was a learning experience. Here's the whole race, the jockey's comments start around 4:30. Probably won't stay on here for long before it's removed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG3J8PRlF-M

[bklyncowgirl]

17. ....and Mike Smith on Mind That Bird said he'd won if he'd had another furlong.

Who knows? I think Rachael Alexandra showed the sort of determination that makes a horse dig in and pull something extra out of an exhausted body. Mine That Bird may have the size and demeanor of a kid's pony but he's one of the gutsiest race horses around. It's too bad he couldn't get to her before the wire because then they'd go head to head and we'd see some hell of a race.

Maybe in the Belmont.