I had the once in a lifetime opportunity to witness Rachel Alexandra win the Woodward Stakes in Saratoga Springs, New York, this summer. Since my family and I follow the racing season starting in the spring, I knew that Rachel Alexandra was a special horse and that this was a special year for girls. It can be said that famed jockey Calvin Borel started this women’s movement in the mostly male-dominated world of Thoroughbred racing in May when, he won the Kentucky Derby and decided to forego the opportunity to ride the potential triple-crown colt Mine That Bird in the Preakness. Instead, he chose to ride the filly Rachel Alexandra because, he said, she was the best horse he had ever mounted. That started the “year of the girl” and no one could have imagined how exciting this racing season would be for all girls! Rachel went on to beat the boys, including Calvin’s Mine That Bird, in the Preakness Stakes. The rest, as people often say, is history. Rachel Alexandra came to Saratoga with great expectations, undefeated in eight races including the Preakness and the Haskill Invitational in which she also beat all boys and the Kentucky Oaks in which she easily beat all other fillies by 20 ¼ lengths, proving she was no ordinary horse.
On September 5, 2009 at the historic Saratoga Race Track, the oldest sports venue in the country, if you did not like pink you were out of luck. The “think pink” theme was everywhere because breast cancer awareness groups, who used the abundant girl power to educate people about breast cancer, sponsored the festivities. Rachel buttons and pink posters were everywhere. I had never in my life seen anything like it. The entire city was painted pink with proud banners urging “Run Like a Girl” and storeowners showing their support with signs like “Win Girl Win.” As an 11-year-old girl, it was obvious to me that all people, not just horseracing fans, were excited that finally a female was considered the best. For once, everyone expected the girl to beat the boys. There was so much money bet on her to win that the odds were 1-4 and that inspired me.
We camped out at the rail for two races just to save our spot. It was hard to wait that long but it was worth it because during the race we were at the rail, right at the finish line. With the crowd yelling all together, “Rachel, Rachel, Rachel,” she hung on to win, ahead of some of the greatest colts of the season. After she crossed the finish line I looked behind me to see a packed grandstand of very happy fans. My mom was so happy, she cried! At first I thought my Mom was weird but then I noticed that many people around us were crying, too. I witnessed history in the making! Everyone was overjoyed that she had done it! And although I think I am too young to really understand why my Mom and other older fans shed heartfelt tears, it was clear to me as a young woman that something special happened this summer. Something that appears to have challenged all those thoughts that women cannot compete equally with men, something really important.
Meanwhile, on the west coast, another filly (technically she is a mare because she is older) named Zenata was showing that Rachel Alexandra was no fluke. Zenata was also undefeated, winning 14 races, capping off the racing season with a one-length victory against a field of colts in the prestigious Breeders Cup Classic in October. I wish I could have been there to see her win because I know that that same girl power that propelled Rachel Alexandra to victory in Saratoga, had to be there in California to support Zenata. That kind of positive energy is contagious and it seems the world, at least the horseracing world, is ready to welcome girls as equals.
And now, there is a debate in the male-dominated world of horseracing—which horse should be Horse of the Year? Which filly should get the honor when it is announced in January at the Eclipse Awards, the “Oscars” of horseracing? While everyone has an opinion one way or the other and the Rachel or Zenata camps are as abundant as the Edward or Jacob Twilight camps, the one thing everyone agrees on is that the competition is between the two greatest horses of the year—both fillies! And to top it all off, Linda Rice, a female trainer, was the first female to win a training title at a major thoroughbred track, beating all of the male trainers at Saratoga, just one month after Janet Elliot, a steeplechase trainer, became the first female trainer to be inducted into the Horse-Racing Hall of Fame.
Ah, this has been a very good year for all females, fillies or women, in the “Sport of Kings.” If the barriers and assumptions about woman can be destroyed in this mostly male-dominated sport, then there is no limit to what we independent girls can do in every area of life! So, as everyone said at Saratoga this summer, “You go, girl!” And if you ever doubt whether you can do it, just think of those independent fillies, Rachel Alexandra and Zenata, and remind yourself that you can do anything you want because being a girl is no longer an excuse for losing.
You see, these fillies don’t even know or care that a filly isn’t supposed to beat a colt. They don’t know or care that they aren’t supposed to win, aren’t supposed to be as fast. They don’t know or care that they are not supposed to be able to go the distance. Calvin Borel, winning jockey aboard Rachel Alexandra, put it best when I asked him for a quote about Rachel Alexandra beating the boys in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga this year, and he said, “Rachel is an extraordinary horse—girl or boy.” He sounded a little annoyed that all of the attention was paid to Rachel’s gender. You see, at the end of the day, or race, it does not matter that two of the top contenders for horse of the year 2009 just happen to be fillies. What matters most is that Zenata and Rachel Alexandra are extraordinary horses who have finally proved that although each may run like a girl, they are each capable of beating the boys while running like a girl. And that should make every independent girl feel inspired. What these two fillies have taught us all is that we should never put limitations on our expectations of a contender based on gender. It is worth saying again, “You go girls!”