Thunder and Lightening on the track

Racing before a roaring crowd of 35,000 at Monmouth in Jersey, many of them(shamelessly swept up in Rachelmania) holding signs with her name, the filly, Rachel Alexandra won the Haskell on a sloppy surface, crushing the colts by 6 lengths and winning 2 ticks under the track record. In May, Rachel became the first filly in 85 years to beat the boys in the 2nd jewel of the triple crown, the Preakness. Why is this a phenomena? Because as in many sports, the sport of kings (ironically today it takes a king's ransom to breed and purchase a champion) is traditionally male dominated. Before the Breeder's Cup, there is and always will be the Triple Crown (the Almighty said that)! And the Triple Crown belongs to the colts unless your name is Regret (1915), Genuine Risk (1980) or Winning Colors (1988) all fillies, all Kentucky Derby winners...or Rags to Riches, first filly in more than a century to win the Belmont. By the time colts are 3, they begin to muscle out; they are significantly taller than fillies. Racing tradition segregates the colts and the fillies. Competition is gender based. And 95% of the time that's a good thing. Thirty four years ago, I remember sitting in a house in Cali balling my eyes out after the great Ruffian, a monster of a filly standing 17 hands high, broke down in a match race against the colt Foolish Pleasure. That was a cruel cold day dictated by the racing gods. Those of us who carry that memory, recognize that this year something very special has been happening. Rachel Alexandra is torching thoroughbred racing. And, like her namesake, Alexander the Great, who after conquering much of the known world cried out for more worlds to vanquish, Rachel Alexandra and her connections may look around and perhaps see themselves in that unique position. With one exception. On the West coast waiting in the weeds is a 5 year old mare, Zenyatta. Thunder on the track. She has won 10 races in a row.