Rachel Alexandra beats boys in Woodward Stakes

Star filly Rachel Alexandra made history at Saratoga Race Course by becoming the first female to win the prestigious Woodward Stakes on Saturday, holding off Macho Again by a head at Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

The 3-year-old ran an electrifying race against the older boys for her ninth consecutive win and all but clinched horse-of-the-year honors.

Rachel Alexandra dueled early with 2008 Belmont Stakes winner Da’Tara before taking the lead along the backstretch. She set a blistering early pace on the way to running 1 1/8 miles in 1:48.29.

On the turn for home, it looked for a brief moment as though the filly would be caught, but regular rider Calvin Borel wasn’t bashful about using the whip, first left-handed, then right-handed to keep her in the lead.

As they crossed the finish line, Borel raised his right hand in a No. 1 salute and pointed to racing’s biggest star.

Rachel Alexandra beat 3-year-olds boys in the Preakness and the Haskell Invitational, and overwhelmed 3-year-old fillies in the Kentucky Oaks and the Mother Goose Stakes.

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Del Mar

Southern Equine Stable’s Mi Sueno, the even-money favorite under jockey Michael Baze, clinched the 2-year-old filly championship of the summer season with a hard-earned victory in the Grade I $300,000 Darley Debutante.