Barring the unforeseen, super filly Rachel Alexandra will run with the boys in the 134th Preakness in Baltimore next week.
The filly's new owners at Stonestreet Stables on Friday indicated they're leaning toward entering the Preakness on May 16. If they do, it will be a history-making event.
For the first time, the winning jockey from the Kentucky Derby would be riding a different horse in the Preakness. Stonestreet announced that Calvin Borel, who won the Derby aboard Mine That Bird last Saturday, has agreed to ride Rachel Alexandra for the rest of the racing season.
Three times before - the last in 1946 - the Derby winner had a new jockey for the Preakness. None of the three previous Derby-winning jockeys, however, had a mount in the Preakness. And only Bold Venture, in 1936, won the first two races of the Triple Crown, under Ira Hanford and George Woolf.
In a statement released by Stonestreet Stables, co-owner Jess Jackson called the pairing of Borel and Rachel Alexandra "a perfect match of rider and horse."
"If she continues to be in perfect condition," he said, "our intention will be to run her in the Preakness."
The final decision to run will come after a workout on Sunday or Monday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., according to the Maryland Jockey Club.
Even if Jackson decides to run, he still would have to pay a $100,000 supplemental fee to enter because Rachel Alexandra can be added only if there are fewer than 14 nominated horses in the field.
Meanwhile, the trainer for Mine That Bird was preparing to replace his jockey.
"We hate losing Calvin; he's the reason we're here," Chip Woolley Jr. told reporters Friday. "But these things happen, and we'll move on."
Woolley said he will still name Borel his rider at Wednesday's post draw, waiting to see whether Jackson in fact pays the supplemental fee. He said he has spoken to several jockeys about taking the mount.
Borel rode Mine That Bird to the second-biggest upset in Derby history at 50-1 odds last week. The day before the Derby, he rode Rachel Alexandra to a 20 1/4 -length victory in the Kentucky Oaks.
Rachel Alexandra is unbeaten in five starts since Borel became her jockey last fall.
"It came down to the facts that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her and he knows how to win," Jackson said. "They were an amazing team at the Kentucky Oaks."
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
PREAKNESS
Next Saturday,
Pimlico Race Course
Post time: Approximately 6:18 p.m.
TV: 4:30 p.m., chs. 11, 4
