"Girl Power!"

I know it's silly to care about this at all, but I got a huge charge out of the Preakness winner beng a filly. It's very rare for female horses win the big races - something I learned when I visited Churchhill Downs last year. This is history and it's just freakin fun!

The best 3-year-old in the land just happens to be a filly named Rachel Alexandra. Jockey Calvin Borel all but guaranteed victory in the Preakness Stakes and, boy, did she deliver, becoming the first filly in 85 years to win the second leg of the Triple Crown.

A rangy bay, as big as most of the horses she beat, Rachel Alexandra shot to the front Saturday and wasn't seriously challenged until a late close by Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird.

She led by a head at the quarter and half-mile poles. She stretched it to a half-length at the three-quarters pole. She was ahead by four lengths going down the stretch. In the end, the 9-5 favorite won by a length in her first race against the boys.

The win also validated Borel's decision to climb off Mine That Bird and stay on the filly as her regular rider.

Now Borel may get a shot at a personal Triple Crown, if Rachel Alexandra goes on to the Belmont Stakes in three weeks. The 1 1/2-mile race is the most grueling of the three.

"I'm not worried about nothing," he said. "It's going to take a racehorse to beat her."

Rachel Alexandra had already beaten up on her own gender, winning her five previous races by a combined 43 1/2 lengths.

Musket Man finished third, as he did in the Derby, followed by Flying Private and Big Drama.

Rachel Alexandra covered 1 3-16 miles in 1:55.08 and became the first horse to win at Pimlico from the No. 13 post on the far outside. She paid $5.60, $4.60 and $3.60. Mine That Bird returned $6.60 and $4.80, while Musket Man paid $5 to show.

"I'm thrilled to death with the race my little horse ran," said Chip Woolley Jr., who trains Mine That Bird. "You have to give that filly credit. She's a great one."