BALTIMORE -- Larry Jones knows something about running a filly against the boys in a U.S. Triple Crown race, and he's not looking forward to the threat posed by Rachel Alexandra.

The trainer saddled Eight Belles to a gallant second-place finish in last year's Kentucky Derby before she broke her front ankles past the finish line and had to be destroyed on the track.

Now Jones is preparing to send this year's beaten Derby favorite Friesan Fire in Saturday's Preakness Stakes against stellar filly Rachel Alexandra, who has won five consecutive races by a combined 43 1/2 lengths.

"Anytime the horse is as fast as her, you wish you didn't have to run against them,'' Jones said on Tuesday. "I've chased her twice with fillies. If I've got any shot of beating her, it's going to have to be with a boy. I ain't got a filly that can try her.''

Perhaps because she's beaten her fellow females so soundly, Rachel Alexandra is gearing up to test herself against new rivals.

Coming off a smashing 20 1/4-length victory in the pre-Derby Kentucky Oaks, Rachel Alexandra is expected to be among at least 13 horses entered on Wednesday for the 1 3-16-mile (1,900-meter) Preakness. That's when the filly's owner, Jess Jackson, has to pony up a $100,000 supplemental fee because she wasn't nominated to the Triple Crown races.

"She may never know there's any colts in here. She just may go in the front and think there's a bunch of girls chasing her around there,'' Jones said.

Pimlico oddsmaker Frank Carulli has already said he would make Rachel Alexandra the favorite. No filly has won the Preakness since Nellie Morse in 1924.

Gary Stute, who trains Papa Clem, isn't thrilled by the prospect of taking on Rachel Alexandra.

"Personally, it's a little disappointing, but for racing I think it's great,'' he said. "I figure it should bring 20-30,000 extra fans here on Saturday. And when the husbands are watching the race at home, the wives will be watching, too. Racing is in kind of a downward spiral right now, and this can only help it in the long run.''

Jones may not welcome the extra competition, but he has no qualms about a filly going against the boys a year after the Eight Belles tragedy thrust American horse racing into a heated debate on such issues as safety and treatment of the animals.

"If they run her in the Preakness, it shows me they have confidence that we didn't mess up running Eight Belles in the Derby,'' he said. "It wasn't the fact that there was boys in there that made her do what she did. That wasn't why Eight Belles had her problem.''

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert was sanguine about Rachel Alexandra. He saddled Excellent Meeting, the last filly to run in the Preakness in 1999. She was pulled up in the race.

"There is going to be a lot of excitement with that filly in there,'' Baffert said from Louisville, Kentucky. "She's an incredible athlete. She's going to be forwardly placed, so she'll be out of the way. She's got a beautiful fluid stride and a great turn of foot. She's dangerous.''

The imposing presence of Rachel Alexandra steals much of the spotlight from Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, who hasn't scared away the competition as he tries to back up his 50-1 upset by winning the second leg of the Triple Crown.

Among his other challengers will be Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile, who lost by 63/4 lengths; third-place finisher Musket Man; fourth-place Papa Clem; and 10th-place General Quarters.

Count Jones among the skeptics questioning whether Mine That Bird can return to the winner's circle two weeks after a Derby victory that still has people buzzing.

"He has to do it twice in a row to make me a believer,'' Jones said.

Mine That Bird likely won't even have the same jockey on his back on Saturday. Calvin Borel, whose rail-hugging ride in the Derby was credited for the victory, has committed to being aboard Rachel Alexandra, whom he rides regularly.

If she becomes just the fourth filly to run since 1939, Woolley will go with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith on Mine That Bird. Smith won the 1993 Preakness with Prairie Bayou.