Mike Brunker Horse racing editor • Profile • E-mail

BALTIMORE - Horse racing is called the sport of kings, but a princess put on a show in Saturday’s Preakness Stakes, providing just the right salve for a game that has recently had more than its share of aches and pains.

Rachel Alexandra joined the ranks of the greatest fillies to ever grace a racetrack with her game one-length victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, becoming the first member of her gender to win the Preakness in 85 years and just the fifth overall.

But unlike her victory two weeks ago in the Kentucky Oaks, this was no coronation. It was a good old-fashioned horse race.

Mine That Bird let the gas out of the argument that his amazing last-to-first victory in the Derby at 50-1 was a fluke, mounting another impressive charge that came up just short.

And old reliable Musket Man fired his best shot yet again, repeating his third-place Derby finish while narrowing the margin to Mine That Bird to a mere half length.

Best of all, there were no injuries and no other significant distractions — the gray, rain-spitting skies, extension of the Triple Crown drought to 31 years and disappointing attendance of 77,850 at Pimlico notwithstanding.

It remains to be seen how Rachel Alexandra’s victory will resonate with the general public, or whether her freshly minted rivalry with Mine that Bird will be renewed three weeks hence in the Belmont Stakes on June 6.

But for those who love the sport, her performance in the second jewel of the Triple Crown will live for a long, long time.

While Rachel had been toying with her competition in her recent races, adversity looked her in the eye this time. She didn’t blink.

The filly didn’t get her customary quick start, breaking outward from the 13 post and losing maybe half a step to her rivals. Jockey Calvin Borel then revved her to the front, intent on avoiding a wide trip around the first turn, which accomplished that goal but left her eyeball-to-eyeball with speedy rival Big Drama rounding the first bend.

She stuck her neck in front entering the backstretch, but to Borel’s consternation she wasn’t floating over the Pimlico racetrack with the same ease as she had the five previous times he had ridden her. 

Belmont Stakes Summer Bird pulls off upset Desormeaux gets redemption Notebook: Dunkirk impressive

“The first quarter was good, then we picked it up,” he said afterward. “The more I asked her, the more she struggled.”

Even so, she managed to separate herself from the field at the top of the stretch and open a four-length lead.  For a brief moment it appeared that she was headed for another ridiculously easy victory.

Then the toll of her exertions came due. Her rhythmic strides began to diminish from allegro to moderato and she was clearly a tired racehorse passing the 1/16th pole. For the first time since she and Borel first partnered in November, she felt the sting of Borel’s whip.

But when the chips were down and the colts were charging, Rachel Alexandra dug into her untapped reserves and found something more.

It was a show of determination that was not lost on her rivals.

Filly winners in Triple Crown races 2009: Rachel Alexandra — Preakness Stakes 2007: Rags to Riches — Belmont Stakes 1988: Winning Colors — Kentucky Derby 1980: Genuine Risk — Kentucky Derby 1924: Nellie Morse — Preakness Stakes 1915: Rhine Maiden — Preakness Stakes 1915: Regret — Kentucky Derby 1906: Whimsical — Preakness Stakes 1905: Tanya — Belmont Stakes 1903: Flocarline — Preakness Stakes 1867: Ruthless — Belmont Stakes

“I thought she’d come back to me, but she kept on going,” said Mike Smith, who ably filled the vacancy left by Borel on Mine That Bird.

“My horse ran well, but we got beat by a great one,” said Derek Ryan, Musket Man’s trainer. “She’s a filly for the ages.”

Trainer Steve Asmussen, who had the good fortune to inherit the filly after co-owners Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick purchased her privately after her tour-de-force in the Kentucky Oaks, also sang her praises.

But his post-race remarks also seemed to suggest that the still-developing superstar might skip the Belmont.

“The race didn’t unfold exactly as we expected it to,” he said. “She was still good enough to win a classic. She’s a true champion, a tremendous talent and deserves to be treated with the respect that she deserves.”

Jackson, the filly’s majority owner and founder of Napa’s Kendall Jackson winery, said that the team would seriously consider the Belmont, but he, too, noted that the Preakness was a tough race for her, saying,” she may be coming out of this much more tired than I know.”

Also on NBCSports.com PFT’s Picks: Eagles, Saints, Colts, Pats primed for wins NCAA FB: Michigan’s wheels coming off  |    Top 25 games MLB: Take a visual tour of the Yankees’ Series win College hoops: Season starts Monday! Are you ready?   Video: Red card? Some rough play in women's soccer Twitter: Follow us @nbc_sports

MORE FROM HORSE RACING

Horse racing Section Front

Zenyatta beats the boys in Breeders’ Cup Classic Quality Road bucks violently, scratched from Classic Conduit repeats as $3M BC Turf champion Long shot Furthest Land wins BC Dirt Mile Goldikova wins 2nd straight BC Mile Vale of York stuns at 30-1 in BC Juvenile Dancing in Silks pulls shocker in BC Sprint California Flag cruises to win in BC Turf Sprint Pounced wins Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Life Is Sweet wins Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic Horse racing Section Front   Add Horse racing headlines to your news reader: