05.18.09 RACHEL ALEXANDRA BRINGS HOME THE BACON

Rachel Alexandra (foreground, in yellow) was the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness, holding off Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird by a length. But the odd thing is now that the lady horse–who sat out of the Derby–may not even enter the Belmont. From Y! Sports:

“I personally think she’s proven what [owner Jess Jackson] set out to prove with her immediately, which doesn’t eliminate anything,” [trainer Steve] Asmussen said. “But I think it does take a tad of the urgency off it.”

“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.”

Since the horse was female, she was only paid 2/3 of the purse that they would have awarded a stallion. But at least the sexual advances in the starting gate were kept to a minimum. So much for progres…