She is no Ruffian

Rachel Alexandra is a great filly and one of the best to come along in many years. She won the Preakness Stakes but Mind That Bird was closing on her with every stride, he had a rough trip and was 4 wide on the final turn. He is a small horse but he can run and he can get the distance in the 1 1/2 mi Belmont in three weeks. I believe he will beat her.

Some have been trying to compare Rachel to Ruffian. Ruffian ran 5 races as a two year old in 1974 and 5 as a three year old in 1975. In those 10 races she won them all and either set a new track record for that race or tied the record. She was never headed. That means no other horse ever got their head in front of hers. Her final start was against the Ky Derby winner of '75 and he did get out of the gate ahead of her, that was the only time she was headed. She came right back and was pulling away from him when she broke down, it was very tragic, they worked all night trying to save her but could not.

Mind That Bird's daddy won the Belmont Stakes and kept Smarty Jones from winning the Triple Crown. So he should not have a problem making the distance. I don't think the filly can go that far she was already starting to struggle when she won the Preakness at 1 3/16 mi. And Mind That Bird was still coming. I think he will win the Belmont.