American racing's two leading fillies return to action Saturday, with 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra making her season debut in New Orleans and Zenyatta revisiting the
scene of her Breeders' Cup triumph in California.

If all goes well, the filly and the mare are scheduled to face each other for the first time on April 9 in the US$5 million Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park in Arkansas.

But first they'll have to contend with members of their own gender. Zenyatta takes on four rivals in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies' Stakes over 1 1-16 miles on the dirt at the Fair Grounds.

She'll carry 123 pounds - two to six more than the others in the race that goes off at 6:15 p.m. ET.

About 25 minutes later, Zenyatta faces eight fillies and mares in the $250,000 Santa Margarita Handicap over 1 1-8 miles on Santa Anita's synthetic surface.

"I know it sounds funny," her Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said, "but I really think she's getting better."

Zenyatta, who beat the boys in the $5 million BC Classic in November on the same track, will carry high weight of 127 pounds - 12 to 19 more than her rivals.

That's because the race conditions call for the weights to be based on age and past performances. The six-year-old mare is undefeated in 14 career starts, easily making her the class of the field and the 1-9
morning-line favourite.

The weights were assigned by Santa Anita racing secretary Rick Hammerle to level the playing field, entice some competition for Zenyatta, and make it an attractive betting proposition.

"The better horses carry more weight and the least accomplished carry less," Hammerle said. "Obviously, Zenyatta is the best horse to come along in a long, long time, so she's carrying more weight."

He compared Zenyatta's weight impost to handicapping Kobe Bryant in a game of one-on-one, with Bryant needing to score 20 points and his competitor getting 15 from the start.

"If I only have to score five and he has to score 20, I've got a shot," Hammerle said, adding that such a setup would attract bettors. "All of a sudden you say, 'This guy played a little in high school, he's
getting 15 points. Maybe I'll put $5 on him."'

Zenyatta has carried 123 pounds in her last three starts. The most weight she ever ran under was 129 pounds in last year's Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park, where she won by 2½ lengths.

Zenyatta comes in off a four-month layoff, having rallied from 13 lengths back to win the 1 1/4-mile Classic by a length against a deep field of males in her last start.

Now a four-year-old filly, Rachel Alexandra hasn't run in six months, having capped her 8-0 campaign last year with a victory against older males in the Woodward Stakes on Sept. 5. She also beat the boys in the
Preakness and Haskell Invitational.