Siggggghhhhhhhh. Oh, Sally.

Sally Jenkins wrote a strange column in today's Washington Post celebrating Rachel Alexandra's Preakness victory as some kind of feminist triumph (emphasis mine):

I root wholeheartedly for the filly every time. Oddly, horse racing is practically the only game in which I do. Most arguments about gender politics in women's sports are dicey; you end up sounding full of apologetic favoritism and go-girl pink sentiment. The fight for equal prize money in women's tennis? They still don't play five sets, and you never know whether Venus and Serena have been practicing or hanging out in South Beach. Women's college basketball is a superior game, but the ball is smaller, the three-point line shallower, and the officiating execrable. Spare me the LPGA, with its dim personalities and shorter tees. If you want to see a female compete straight up against guys without asking for any favors, watch auto racing, or the Triple Crown.

I'll give her tennis, possibly the LPGA though "dim personalities" is a cheap shot. The women are smaller in the NCAAW, and even if they were as tall, their hands would still be smaller. And she left out all equestrian sports, where women compete equally with men in fact. But the Triple Crown? Only if she's talking about women jockeys.

Because Rachel Alexandra had a big advantage over the rest of the field (and still only won by a length, not the 20+ she beat the fillies by in the Oaks). Colts and geldings carry 126 pounds (57 kg). Fillies carry 121 pounds (55 kg). At Preakness distance, that's a 2-and-a-half length advantage.

I don't want to say that Mine That Bird would be looking at a Triple Crown chance if Rachel Alexandra had been carrying the same weight as he, but *all other things being equal* he'd have won by a more than a length. (I don't want to say that because who knows? She might have found more inside herself when he challenged her, and if she'd started from a different pole position she might have been going away at the end. Of course, Bird might not have lost a length around the turn in this other reality, too....)

But you certainly can't say "If you want to see a female compete straight up against guys without asking for any favors, watch ... the Triple Crown." Not if you're talking about the horses.