Filly aims to be 4th to win Kentucky Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The girls already grabbed horse racing's biggest headlines. Now another one is out to steal the sport's biggest race from the boys.

Devil May Care will try to become the fourth filly to win the Kentucky Derby on Saturday and extend the dominance begun last year by Rachel Alexandra, who won the Preakness, and Zenyatta, who won the Breeders' Cup Classic.

Those two finished 1-2 for Horse of the Year honors and they're back competing this year.

Devil May Care is listed at 10-1 odds in her bid to join the last filly winner, Winning Colors in 1988. Just as important, her trainer, Todd Pletcher, knows plenty about beating the boys with a girl. He did it with Rags to Riches in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, his only victory in a Triple Crown race.

But Pletcher is 0 for 24 in the Derby, where his horses have finished last five times and next-to-last twice.

"When you get an exceptional animal, you've got to give them a chance to do exceptional things," owner John Greathouse said.

"I'd dearly love our filly," he added, "to be the one to break this deal for him."

Devil May Care will run two years after filly Eight Belles finished a gallant second, then broke down past the finish line of the 1¼-mile race and had to be euthanized on the track.

"It's a big challenge for all of them — filly, colts and geldings," Pletcher said. "She's been preparing her whole life to run long, and I think that's what she wants to do."

He has no qualms about sending a filly into the 20-horse fray. Muscular colt Lookin At Lucky is the 3-1 favorite, followed by Sidney's Candy at 5-1. Joining Devil May Care as the third favorite are Florida Derby winner Ice Box and Gotham Stakes champion Awesome Act.

"I've had the opportunity to train her with colts and she's always done very well," Pletcher said. "Eight Belles happened to get hurt in the Derby. It wasn't that she wasn't healthy. She ran well."

Devil May Care has won three of five career races, including her debut in the slop at Saratoga last August. That might be a plus on Saturday, when heavy rain is forecast to turn the Churchill Downs strip into a muddy mess.

When Devil May Care has been beat, it hasn't been pretty. Her two losses were by a combined 23 lengths.

But Greathouse is confident the brown filly won't be intimidated. She's not as big as Zenyatta, but she's not dainty, either.

Kentucky Derby

Saturday, 4:42 p.m., NBC

Position Horse

1 Lookin At Lucky

2 Ice Box

3 Noble's Promise

4 Super Saver

5 Line of David

6 Stately Victor

7 American Lion

8 Dean's Kitten

9Make Music For Me

10 Paddy O'Prado

11 Devil May Care

12 Conveyance

13 Jackson Bend

14 Mission Impazible

15 Discreetly Mine

16 Awesome Act

17 Dublin

18 Backtalk

19 Homeboykris

20 Sidney's Candy