By Will Graves
Associated Press
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- D. Wayne Lukas has a plan on what it's going to take to stop Rachel Alexandra in the Kentucky Oaks.
Lukas -- who will saddle Tweeter, Be Fair and Stone Legacy in Friday's filly version of the Kentucky Derby -- figures one horse alone can't beat the superstar 3-year-old filly over the 1 1/8 mile course at Churchill Downs.
"I'm going to put Be Fair over there by the (track) kitchen, I'm going to put Tweeter right here (at the backstretch gap) and we're going to tag around and keep barreling so we can hold off that monster," Lukas said.
The four-time Oaks winner was kidding. Probably.
Besides, a tag team might not be enough.
"Maybe if they made her break behind the gate," said trainer Bob Baffert, who will send Gabby's Golden Gal to the post for the Oaks. "She's pretty dang good."
So good she's barely been tested this year, winning three races in a hand ride under jockey Calvin Borel, who is so confident in the filly's ability he started celebrating his victory in the Fair Grounds Oaks a couple hundred yards before the wire.
Borel shot up the "No. 1" sign as she jogged to the finish in the slop, hardly bothered by a fast closing Flying Spur.
"We told Calvin he gets paid to run all the way through," trainer Hal Wiggins said. "He can tell us she's No. 1 when she's done."
Then again, even Borel admits he's mostly been along for the ride. Rachel Alexandra has led wire-to-wire in three of her four victories with Borel, including a stakes record in the Golden Rod at Churchill Downs in November.
"She's perfect," Borel said.
She has been this year. Rachel Alexandra has won so easily some think she may be the best 3-year-old horse in the country, male or female.
While Wiggins and co-owners Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer were flattered by the concept, they never really considered putting her in the Derby.
"I'm a little old-fashioned," Morrison said. "I think colts should run against colts and fillies should run against fillies."
Right now, no filly in the country appears to be anywhere near Rachel Alexandra, who will go off as an overwhelming 3-5 favorite.
Justwhistledixie, winner of five straight, appears to be the field's best shot at pulling the upset. A fast-moving closer, Justwhistledixie hasn't had a horse come within a length of her since breaking her maiden at Belmont in October.
"There's plenty of good fillies in there," Wiggins said. "We're just hoping to get out in front and see what happens."
Rachel Alexandra has won so easily Borel hasn't even had to lay a hand on her this year and Wiggins said he's amazed at how relaxed she appears even as she pulls away from the field.
"Her ears are just pricking," Wiggins said. "We don't make her go to the front, we just try to ease her out. She gets out there so easy, she's just pure speed."
The best may be yet to come. Borel hopped off following an 83/4-length win in the Fantasy Stakes on April 9 and told Wiggins he'd like it if just one time he could get a chance to hit the gas.
"He said I don't really know what'll happen when I ask her to run," Wiggins said. "I told him, 'Just hold on. Hopefully you won't have to."'
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