Rachel Alexendra has been tabbed as the morning line favorite going into the Preakness Stakes. Mine That Bird, who won the Kentucky Derby at odds of 50-1, is second choice at 9-2 with Pioneer of the Nile right behind at 5-1 for the showdown on Saturday afternoon at Pimlico.

Alexendra, who is trying to be the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, has drawn the outside post of 7. Here is where they will line up for the big race that will air at just past 6 on NBC on Saturday:

Rachel Alexandra will be running with the boys on Saturday. The Kentucky Oaks champ, who won by a margin of more than 20 lengths in the race against her fellow fillies, has been officially entered to run in the second leg of the Triple Crown. The 3 year old filly will be among 13 starters in the Preakness and will likely be the morning line favorite. Her owners had to pay a $100,000 entry fee to run this weekend as she had not been nominated to run in the Triple Crown races.

The field will be drawn at 5 p.m. later this afternoon. You can watch the action if you have access to Horse Racing Television (HRTV) and ESPN360.com from your cable network provider. The race itself will be taking place at Pimlico Racetrack and will be broadcast on NBC at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 16, 2009 with post time set for 6:05 p.m.

If Rachel Alexandra runs in the Preakness as expected, Mike Smith will be mounting the Kentucky Derby champion Mine That Bird in the second leg of horse racing's Triple Crown. Bloodhorse.com quotes the winning trainer in the 135th "Run for the Roses" as saying:

“Calvin (Borel) will have the call on my horse right up to the time entries are taken," Chip Woolley said. "If the filly is entered, then Mike Smith will have the mount. We’ve had talks with Mike and we decided it was the best move to have Mike on our horse if the mare is in the race. Mike watched the Derby. He saw how the horse ran and knows the kind of running style he has. We’re confident that he’d do his job well.”

Borel has stated that he will ride the filly Rachel Alexandra who won by over 20 lengths in her romp in the Kentucky Oaks. Smith, a veteran rider, has one victory in the "Run for the Black Eyed Susans" under his belt as he guided Prairie Bayou to victory in the race in 1993.

How good is champion filly Rachel Alexandra? Enough to make jockey Calvin Borel do something almost unthinkable. Borel who won both marquee races at Churchill Downs last week with victories in the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby has committed to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes. That will leave the "Run for the Roses" champion Mine That Bird in need for a rider in the "Run for the Black-Eyed Susans".

“It came down to the facts that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her and he knows how to win,’’ Jess Jackson told Bloodhorse.com a day after purchasing the filly for an undisclosed price. “They were an amazing team at the Kentucky Oaks—winning by over 20 lengths. We think this is a perfect match of rider and horse.’’

Jackson added:

"If she continues to be in perfect condition, our intention will be to run her in the Preakness."

As sad as it was to find out that former Cleveland Indians star Manny Ramirez had tested positive for performance enhancing drugs, it wasn't shocking. So many baseball greats had been exposed as frauds before that it was just a matter of time before another superstar tested positive for a banned substance. The latest person who has been linked to cheating in sports is an outright shocker. Bloodhorse has reported that a horse in Queen Elizabeth II’s stable tested positive for using a banned substance after a race.

You'd think that the Queen's connections would be a sure fire bet to win if it was using unscrupulous measures against her rivals. Not so, the six-year-old Moonlit Path finished sixth after testing positive for tranexamic acid.

Like Manny, the trainer for the mare Nicky Henderson blames the doctor saying:

“The substance concerned was administered by my vet entirely in the interests of the horse’s welfare, which is always paramount. There was no intention to enhance performance and it is worth pointing out that we won the race in question with the odds-on Ravello Bay.”

Britain's horse racing board disagrees with that saying that the medication was given:

Last weekend was a great weekend for the ailing sport of horse racing. The excitement started on Friday when filly Rachel Alexendra ran away with Kentucky Oaks in a run that rekindled memories of Secretariat's romp in the Belmont in 1973. The Kentucky Derby, in front of its largest television audience in over a decade and a half, lived up to its expectations when Mine That Bird scored a 50-1 upset coming from out of nowhere to capture the 135th running of the "Run for the Roses".

Didn't think it could get any better? The Triple Crown series may add more drama after Rachel Alexendra was sold yesterday to former Curlin owner Jess Jackson and his friend Harold T. McCormick. The champion filly's previous owners thwarted talk of running her in the Preakness Stakes and instead looked to all girls race at Belmont Park next month for her next time on the track. It appears that the new connections, which will include trainer Steve Asmussen, may point her to the Preakness Stakes instead.

At approximately 12:02pm the process for selecting the Kentucky Derby post positions began. The results of that are as shown below, and the following positions have been finalized for the 135th annual Run for the Roses:

#1 - West Side Bernie
#2 - Musket Man
#3- Mr. Hot Stuff
#4 - Advice
#5 - Hold Me Back
#6 - Fresian Fire
#7 - Papa Clem
#8 - Mine That Bird
#9 - Join in the Dance
#10 - Regal Ransom
#11 - Chocolate Candy
#12 - General Quarters
#13 - I Want Revenge
#14 - Atomic Rain
#15 - Dunkirk
#16 - Pioneer of the Nile
#17 - Summer Bird
#18 - Nowhere to Hide
#19 - Desert Party
#20 - Flying Private

Whether you like a favorite or a longshot in this years Kentucky Derby you need want to know where your horse will be positioned when they make the "Run For the Roses" on Saturday. The Louisville Courier Journal is airing the Derby selection show and allowing websites to embed the happenings right websites all over the world. Check back to see where the premiere 3 year old horses will line up on on Saturday.

The Derby will once again air on NBC with post time scheduled at 6:04. Below is the webcast from the Courier Journal:

While the post positions have not been set, it didn't stop the folks at Churchill Downs to set the morning lines to the 135th running of the Kentucky Derby which will be held on Saturday.

I Want Revenge who will be ridden by Joe Talamo and is trained by Todd Pletcher has been inserted as the morning line favorite at 3-1. I Want Revenge is followed by Dunkirk at 4-1, followed by Pioneerof the Nile at 9-2 and Friesan Fire at 5-1 with the rest of the field tabbed as greater than 10-1 underdogs in the Run for the Roses.

The post positions of the prestigious race will be announced at noon. ESPN had been airing the event the past few years but will not this year. You can still watch the proceeding and find out where your favorite horse will start from by watching live at The Louisville Courier Journal which will air a webcast at noon.

Here is a full rundown on the odds for the field:

Horse Jockey Trainer Odds
Advice N/A Todd Pletcher 30-1
Atomic Rain Joe Bravo Kelly Breen 50-1
Chocolate Candy Mike Smith Jerry Hollendorfer 42-1
Desert Party Ramon Dominguez Saeed bin Suroor 15-1
Dunkirk Edgar Prado Todd Pletcher 4-1
Flying Private Robby Albarado D. Wayne Lukas 50-1