Calvin Borel

None of NBC's racing experts picked Curlin to take the Preakness, but that doesn't mean the network's telecast didn't finish in the money. A look at the highlights: It was two-week-old news, but news nonetheless. Showing a replay of the Kentucky Derby, NBC broke the story that Hard Spun had clicked heels with Street Sense down the stretch at Churchill Downs as Street Sense took the lead. Hard Spun's jockey, Mario Pino, told NBC he didn't realize that's what had happened, but added he didn't think it had any bearing on the victory by Street Sense.

Acting Happy, a lightly raced filly with the smallest earnings in the field, powered into the lead in the stretch and outran No Such Word to the finish line to win the $175,000 Black-Eyed Susan Stakes at Pimlico Race Course on Friday. The race was marred by an accident leaving the backstretch in which two jockeys were thrown and one horse went down, and the incident could have implications for today's Preakness. The problem started when Diva Delite clipped heels with C C's Pal and fell, throwing jockey Julien Leparoux.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Kentucky Derby favorite Orb comes from one of the country's oldest racing families, with ties to the greatest horses of the era. The second choice, Verrazano, is a product of Todd Pletcher's new-school empire; he's one of five the trainer is sending to the post. The third favorite, Goldencents, comes from the trainer who, a year ago, lost the chance to run for a Triple Crown when his horse withdrew with an injury a day before the Belmont. All three drew favorable starting spots Wednesday in the post-position draw for the 139th run for the roses, and they were established as the horses to beat by Churchill Downs odds-maker Mike Battaglia.

xxxxxxx John Cherwa Los Angeles Times The smart thing when handicapping the Kentucky Derby is to throw out the obvious best horse. Too many things can go wrong. When picking for the Preakness, you just look for the best horse. And in that department the likely choice to win is Lookin at Lucky, the snakebit Bob Baffert horse who was still competitive in two races marked by disasterous trips. Saturday, with new rider Martin Garcia, will be his day, especially breaking from the middle of the field in the seven spot.

He wears No. 536 on his helmet, testimony to the number of winners that carried him to a national riding championship last year.Mid-Atlantic trainers seek his services zealously and his agent, Steve Rushing, often has his choice of several mounts in a particular race.But Edgar Prado's fourth Preakness ride, aboard Hot Wells tomorrow, is not likely to lead to a rash of appearances in future Triple Crown races.Strictly business, you understand."More exposure is good," Prado said of his Preakness appearance.

Rachel Alexandra changed stalls at Churchill Downs in Louisville early Thursday morning, and the reverberations blew through the Preakness Stakes posthaste. No sooner had Stonestreet Stables purchased the precocious 3-year-old filly than new owner Jess Jackson was fielding questions about a possible run at the $1 million Preakness on May 16. Jackson was noncommittal after moving Rachel Alexandra into trainer Steve Asmussen's barn. The ambiguity left Chip Woolley, trainer for the Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, wondering whether he needed a jockey for the second leg of the Triple Crown.

BELMONT, N.Y. -- Perhaps more than any horse in the field of the Belmont Stakes, it's almost impossible to predict what Dunkirk is going to do Saturday. When he was purchased for $3.7 million at auction, plenty of people expected big things from Dunkirk, including his trainer, Todd Pletcher. But it has been something of a roller-coaster ride since. The horse almost didn't make the Kentucky Derby field through graded earnings, then did get in and went off as the second choice at 5-1. The horse stumbled out of the gate and then got pinched between Pioneerof the Nile and Papa Clem at the halfway point and finished 19 lengths behind eventual winner Mine That Bird.

ELMONT, N.Y. - -Kent Desormeaux and Calvin Borel not only took different paths around the track in Saturday's 141st running of the Belmont Stakes, with Borel going outside and Desormeaux hugging the inside, but the two jockeys also used different pre-race tactics. Desormeaux rode in a handful of early races on the card, winning three straight at one point, while Borel didn't ride until the Belmont. While Borel might have been better rested, Desormeaux said he felt as if the extra confidence he picked up from those victories helped him. He also got a good feel for the track, something Borel might not have had, considering he had not ridden in the Belmont Stakes before Saturday.

The Maryland Jockey Club and Maryland Thoroughbred Horsemen's Association have set their schedule for the rest of 2009, and it includes the return of the Grade I Frank J. De Francis Dash after a one-year hiatus. After a 10-week break, live racing will return to Maryland on Aug. 1 at Laurel Park. The 11-day summer stand will conclude Aug. 23, with live racing taking place Friday (3:35 p.m. twilight post time), Saturday and Sunday for three consecutive weeks after opening weekend. That's one more day of summer racing than the MTHA held last year, according to Mike Gathagan, vice president-communications of the Maryland Jockey Club.

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.