Horse Swapping Improves The Field

Rachel Alexandra Added To 'Race Of The Ages'

There will be no collusion to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the 134th Preakness Stakes.

It appears the 3-year-old filly who stormed out of the Kentucky Oaks with an aura of invincibility almost certainly will run at Pimlico on Saturday.

Her path as a $100,000 supplemental entry was cleared over the weekend when Mark Allen, co-owner of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, and Ahmed Zayat, owner of Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile, backed away from a plan that would have kept the likely pre-race favorite on the sideline.

It assured Pimlico Race Course of having one of its best Preakness fields in years - with the top four Derby finishers plus the best rising female - and precluded another black eye for a sport already bruised by recent negative publicity. It also adds intrigue because Derby-winning jockey Calvin Borel will switch allegiances by riding Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.

"This is fantastic," Tom Chuckas Jr., president and chief operating officer of Maryland Jockey Club, said on Monday. "This provides us a race of the ages. ... This is exactly what the sport needs."

Chuckas helped ensure Rachel Alexandra's participation when he talked Zayat out of a deal that would have blocked Rachel Alexandra's entry for lesser horses.

"I did have a conversation with Zayat, and the conversation was fruitful," Chuckas said. "He listened to the Jockey Club position. I was told he would enter the Preakness with Pioneerof the Nile and only Pioneerof the Nile. I found him to be a class gentleman."

Zayat told Horse Racing Television on Sunday that Allen had called him and suggested both owners add a second horse to their entries in order to block Rachel Alexandra. Those entries would have taken the field to 14 horses - the Preakness' limit - without the filly, who was not nominated to the Triple Crown series.

Allen's Double Eagle Ranch in Roswell, N.M., planned to enter Indy Express, who is 0-for-9 lifetime with just one finish in the money. Zayat was going to cooperate by bringing a horse from Zayat Stables.

The backlash caused them to reconsider.

Marylou Whitney and D. Wayne Lukas, owner and trainer of Flying Private, said Luv Gov would come to Baltimore and race only if Rachel Alexandra was in the field and not as a blocking mechanism.

"I don't believe it would have been in the best interests of the racing industry," Chuckas said. "Sanity prevailed at the end of the day. Looking at it, I think they recognized the importance of the race and the perception to the fans. I think they did the right thing, and I compliment them for their decision."

As it turned out, the field went to 13 horses on Monday even with Rachel Alexandra. Hull, a speed horse based at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky., was pulled from the race Monday in what appeared to be fear of the filly.

The other speed horse in the field - Big Drama - was holding its ground, though.

"We're committed now," said Celia Fawkes, assistant trainer and wife of trainer David Fawkes. "There's no looking back, no being sorry. We're here to run."

Fawkes applauded the decision to abandon the plan to keep Rachel Alexandra out of the race.

"I think it was wise of Zayat to step down and play fair," she said. "It's definitely the more sportsmanlike thing to do. When I look at some of the past performances here, I see some horses that have run that had no right to be in this year. ... The horses that deserve to be in it, need to be in it."

Allen announced his decision not to block Rachel Alexandra in a release from his Double Eagle Ranch. He said he wanted to retain Borel, who delivered on a 50-1 long shot in the Kentucky Derby. Borel had agreed to ride Rachel Alexandra through the rest of the race season, and will become the first jockey to bail on a Derby winner to ride another horse in the Preakness.

"My decision to enter Indy Express in the Preakness was strictly business, but after consulting with my Dad and [Dr. Leonard] Blach, I have decided to withdraw Indy Express to prevent any further misunderstandings," Allen said in the release. "Their advice to me was just to do what's right, because arrogance and greed isn't right."

Allen said Borel will be replaced by veteran jockey Mike Smith, who won the 1993 Preakness aboard Prairie Bayou. In addition to his Preakness win, the 43-year-old Smith rode Giacomo to victory in the 2005 Kentucky Derby. The New Mexico native was inducted into horse racing's Hall of Fame in 2003.

Borel rode the filly to a 201/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks and was committed to riding her at the Preakness, if she ran.

"The decision to ride Rachel Alexandra was made way prior to the Kentucky Derby even being run," said Jerry Hissam, Borel's agent and friend. "We've always told [trainer] Chip Woolley that if for any reason this filly would cross paths with Mine That Bird, Calvin would have to say, 'I'm riding the filly.'

"She's just an extremely special horse. Don't get me wrong, without her in any of the races, Mine That Bird would be a very nice horse. But there was really no decision at all. She's just an amazing horse."

Gary Stute, trainer for Papa Clem, fourth in the Derby, saw the greater good in the arrival of Rachel Alexandra.

"For me personally, it's probably not good," he said. "Coming out of the Derby, I thought I had a heck of a shot. For horse racing as a whole, though, it's great. ... It might be the shot in the arm that racing needs."

Baltimore Sun reporter Kevin Van Valkenburg contributed to this article.