Rachel draws outside for Saturday's Preakness

Rachel Alexandra drew the outside post in a 13-horse Preakness field when post positions were drawn this afternoon for Saturday's race. She was installed as the 9-5 morning-line favorite, with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird the second choice at 9-2 and Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile the third choice at 5-1.

Rachel Alexandra's new owner Jess Jackson was on a conference call shortly after the draw and touched on a few subjects:

(1) He chose the Preakness rather than waiting for the Belmont because of how easily she won the Kentucky Oaks. "She devastated a field, but they had to send the outrider most of the way down the backstretch just to help pull her in," Jackson said. "She has stamina and distance, and she's an athlete. She has good recovery and she didn't burn herself out in the Oaks. I think she's just as good in the Preakness as well as the Belmont."
(2) Jackson said the Belmont is still a possibility for Rachel, depending on how things go in the Preakness. "That will depend on how she recovers out of this race and whether she was stressed or not," he said. "I don't think she's been really tested in any race she's run. Now she's going to be tested, and this is going to determine whether we consider the Belmont or other filly races."
(3) He said Rachel has the strength and endurace to compete against and beat the boys. He said you always worry whether a filly is good enough to beat males, but he cited many examples overseas where it's done on a regular basis. "The champion of Japan last year was a filly," Jackson said. "Who won the Arc de Triomphe? A filly. Fillies race in the rest of the world all the time against males. This thing that is an old horseman's tale about fillies being weaker is somewhat true, but it doesn't mean that they're slower or don't have more endurance."
(4) If all goes well the rest of the year, Jackson intends to race Rachel as a 4-year-old and then breed her to his brilliant two-time Horse of the Year Curlin. He said her first breeding "date" would in all likelihood be with Curlin when she is retired."We've got a long way to go. I'd see her in five or six races this year and we'll have to watch her and she'll tell us if she's able to campaign next year."

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