'Rachel Alexandra': back to work in 2010

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=ravenclaw;4103563]
Speaking of this, has anyone heard when and where Zenyatta is going to have her next race? I know she was supposed to run recently (I think on Derby Day?) but they scratched her due to the off track.[/QUOTE]

It was the Louisville Distaff (G2) on Kentucky Oaks Day and Calvin Borel won it on a highly fiesty and brave little filly “Miss Isella”. It a a beautiful, gutsy, hold-on-baby-we’re-going-for-it type of move that forshadowed Mine That Bird’s rail trip 24-hours later. Replay video of the Distaff - that is racing!

IMHO on that off track - and with the ground saving effort by Borel - I have to say that I would not have bet that Zenyatta would’ve be victorious that day.

Zenyatta is scheduled next for the Grade 2 Milady Handicap on Saturday (May 23rd) at Hollywood Park.

[Glimmerglass]

Monday June 8th : Rachel puts in her 3rd workout since the Preakness

She breezed six furlongs in 1:13.80 early Monday over a fast track at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Trainer Steve Asmussen said there has been no decision made on where the star filly will race next.

Asmussen has mentioned the June 27 Mother Goose as a possible next start for Rachel Alexandra, but said majority owner Jess Jackson will make the final call.

“We’ll report back to Jess and the gang and see what we do next,” said Asmussen.

Exercise rider Dominic Terry was aboard as usual for the work, which came in splits of 13, 25.60, 37.60, 49.40, and 1:01.20, with a seven-furlong gallop-out time of 1:28.

The Grade 1 $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes (for 3-yr old fillies) is at nine furlongs (1 1/18 mi) and will be held at Belmont Park on June 27th. Last year the race was won by Music Note

[Glimmerglass]

The Daily Racing Form has confirmed Rachel’s next start:

Rachel Alexandra will kick off the second half of her 3-year-old season by returning to face her own gender in the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes on June 27 at Belmont Park, her connections officially announced Wednesday.

The Mother Goose, a one-turn, 1 1/8-mile race restricted to 3-year-old fillies, will be Rachel Alexandra’s first start since she defeated males in the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico on May 16.

[Glimmerglass]

From Monday June 22nd morning workout at Churchill Downs

Dominic Terry up; Photoa by Reed Palmer Photography/Churchill Downs

Image: she looks like she’s a freight train

Image: all systems go

Rachel Alexandra covered the distance over a “fast” track in fractional times of :13, :25 and :37.40. She did four furlongs in :49.80

Her half-mile work ranked as the 17th fastest of 51 at the distance and the Steve Asmussen-trained filly galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.40.

RA will ship to New York on Tuesday for Saturday’s race. In Saturday’s Mother Goose (to be aired on TVG & HRTV) she’ll face graded stakes runner Justwhistledixie and Don’t Forget Gil in the race. Also in the race will be Nassau County Stakes winner Flashing, owned by Sheikh Mohammed al-Maktoum’s Godolphin Racing. Another huge victory runner too expected is Malibu Prayer, a Malibu Moon filly who has won her last two starts by a combined 20 1/4 lengths for owner Edward Evans and trainer Todd Pletcher.

NYRA (Belmont) is getting into the Rachelmania, too - although a tad sexist

When Rachel Alexandra makes her Belmont Park debut in the 53rd renewal of the $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) on Saturday, June 27, the New York Racing Association, Inc. will give away pink bracelets embossed with the filly’s name and admission for ladies will be free that day.

The Rachel Alexandra bracelets are free with admission for the first 10,000 customers (paid for males, free for females) and will be handed out at both clubhouse and grandstand admission booths as patrons enter the park – one per customer, no coupon required, while supplies last.

[Mara]

Any word on who’s riding?

[Glimmerglass]

[QUOTE=Mara;4182326]
Any word on who’s riding?[/QUOTE]

Calvin Borel. As Daily Racing Form’s Mike Watchmaker said last week on TVG: I do hope Calvin gets a couple of mounts around the Belmont track before he mounts up with this race.

This is not going to be some walk-over race despite RA looking explosive and a public likely betting her down to a 1-9 type wagering poposition. No need taking chances - get out there, get some experience on the track, and win.

[Glimmerglass]

One less challenger for Saturday: Justwhistledixie’s connections are skipping this showdown with her:

… multiple graded stakes winner Justwhistledixie would skip the Mother Goose and be pointed to the Grade 1 Test Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 8. “It’s a little quick back for her, and we’re trying to pick the ideal spot for her,” said Kiaran McLaughlin.

[Lori_T]

Calvin has the ride on RA throughout the year.

[Mara]

Glad Calvin’s got the mount

Figured he would. Glad to see Jackson and Asmussen keeping the faith.

[VirginiaBred]

I agree with Glimmer on this race. No walk over here.

[Glimmerglass]

The field looks to be turning up exceedingly thin - maybe as few as 3 others to challenge RA on Saturday. She has, by the way, arrived at Belmont Park Tue for the weekend race:

Accompanied by assistant trainer Scott Blasi, exercise rider Dominic Terry, the Stonestreet Stables security team, and four other Thoroughbreds, Rachel Alexandra departed Churchill Downs at noon (EDT) for the 90-minute flight to Farmingdale, New York, and arrived at trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn on the Belmont Park backstretch by van at about 4:30 p.m.

After a few turns around the shedrow to stretch her legs, and a bath, the filly was bedded down in stall No. 5 – the same stall previously occupied by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin – at 5:30 p.m.

[Glimmerglass]

No California for Rachel Alexandra and thus likely no Zenyatta matchup - ever. Me thinks JJ while a resident of California isn’t exactly pro Cali racing

Assoc Press June 24, 2009 “Rachel Alexandra to skip Breeders’ Cup”

Jess Jackson said Wednesday that he isn’t willing to run the 3-year-old filly on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita in November after a fourth-place finish by his two-time Horse of the Year Curlin in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, also at Santa Anita.

Rachel Alexandra returns to the track for the first time since her Preakness win, when she runs in Saturday’s Mother Goose at Belmont Park.

Jackson is uncertain what the rest of the year holds for his filly, but he did not rule out races against the boys.

He mentioned the Delaware Handicap, the Haskell Invitational and the Travers as possibilities.

Please, please, please let her go to Saratoga for the Travers Stakes!!

Edited to add a bit more:

Schenectady Gazette June 24, 09 “Summer stay likely for Rachel”

Jackson said on a national conference call this afternoon that he expected to bring a large part of his Stonestreet Stable horses to the Spa, known for its tradition, history and lucrative purses.

“You have to read the horse and see what her condition is before you can set a full calendar for her,” Jackson said. "I’d love to run her in the Travers. I’d love to run her in the Alabama. We just want to make sure she’s in top shape and ready to go when we run her.

“I’m not inclined to go to the Breeders’ Cup,” Jackson said. “I have a very strong dislike for the plastic, and I don’t believe she should be exposed to that.”

Jockey Calvin Borel, who has won six straight races with Rachel, all in graded stakes, will be back aboard on Saturday. Unlike the Belmont Stakes, where he ran third with Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Borel expects to ride at least one other race prior to the Mother Goose.

Borel also stopped short of guaranteeing a victory like he did with Mine That Bird during Belmont week.

“I have a lot of confidence in the filly. I think she’s the best horse I’ve ever been on in my life,” Borel said. “I don’t go back on my word too many times. She’s looked so good training out here at Churchill. She’s doing so good. We’ve got nothing to prove.”

[VirginiaBred]

Damn Glimmer, your fingers and computer is way faster than mine. :lol:

[Pirateer]

For real! I JUST got that BloodHorse email…

[Glimmerglass]

With Saturday’s race …

$300,000 Mother Goose (Grade 1)
Track: Belmont Park, Elmont NY
Race 9; off at 5:17 p.m. EST
Restricted to 3-YO Fillies
Distance (surface): 1 1/8 Miles (Dirt)

PP. Horse, Jockey, Weight, Trainer

1. Hopeful Image (KY), E S Prado, 121, G Procino
2. Don’t Forget Gil (NY), A Garcia, 121, M A Hennig
3. Rachel Alexandra (KY), C H Borel, 121, S M Asmussen
4. Malibu Prayer (VA), J R Velazquez, 121, T A Pletcher
5. Flashing (KY), J Castellano, 121, S bin Suroor

TV coverage: HRTV, TVG, MSG Plus

The race was named for H.P. Whitney’s filly Mother Goose, one of only thirteen fillies to have ever won the male dominated Belmont Futurity Stakes.

Record: Lakeway ran the fastest mile and one eighth in the race’s history (at Belmont; it has been held a few times at the Big A) when she won the 1994 edition in a stakes record time of 1:46.40

By comparison last year’s winner, Music Note, won it in 1:49.75

Past winners of note: Chris Evert, Ruffian, Mom’s Command, Go For Wand, and Serena’s Song

Calvin Borel does have several undercard mounts: Z Fortune in the Fratello Ed. Stakes (4th race); Deputy Empress in the 6th race; Nemo Landing in the 8th race; and will have Extra Billy in the 10th and final race.

[Drvmb1ggl3]

“I’m not inclined to go to the Breeders’ Cup,” Jackson said. “I have a very strong dislike for the plastic, and I don’t believe she should be exposed to that.”

She has already won on “plastic”.
So basically Jackson is not going to run her not because of any horse welfare issue or because she may not handle the surface, but he wants to make some childish personal point.
What a sore loser you are Jackson, your super horse was beaten fair and square last year, get over it.

[Pronzini]

@Drvmb1ggl3;4187302

She has already won on “plastic”.
So basically Jackson is not going to run her not because of any horse welfare issue or because she may not handle the surface, but he wants to make some childish personal point.
What a sore loser you are Jackson, your super horse was beaten fair and square last year, get over it.

Hmmm…arguably there are three top fillies in the country right now–Zenyatta, Rachel and Seattle Smooth. Two of those won’t be at the BC because of the synthetics. Perhaps the BC should have thought about potential resistance when it forced competing owners to run on the fake stuff two years in a row.

Good for Jackson in articulating what many of us in California who are stuck with it feel.

[Barnfairy]

While this is an incredibly disappointing announcement, can performance on the polytrack at Keeneland really be a reliable indicator as to how a horse will take to the debacle that is California synthetic surface? Really?

[Glimmerglass]

I always like the West Coast’s spin on things - right down to the headline: LA Times June 25 “Rachel Alexandra to avoid Breeders’ Cup”

There was shock and disbelief in the offices at Santa Anita on Wednesday when officials learned that the owner of Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra said in a conference call that the filly would not run in this year’s Breeders’ Cup at the Arcadia track.

“We’re all just stunned,” track spokesman Mike Willman said.

Seriously those guys were stunned, really? Not seeing that decision forthcoming reminds me of this clip.

By the way here is the high quality NYRA video of Rachel Alexandra arriving at Belmont Park Tuesday off the Sallee Horse Van. Cool that they’ve made this type of footage available on youtube

[Glimmerglass]

With the assumption that Rachel will not only race on a NYRA track with the Mother Goose (Belmont) but also at Saratoga in the Travers or Alabama and maybe another fall NYRA offering …

NYRA has accordingly created her own web page

John Pricci’s article today indicates that Jackson does want her running at 4 and that she’ll be at the 2010 Breeders Cup at Churchill Downs.

Jess Jackson: “Absolutely. I’d love to run in the Breeders’ Cup next year. I hope they keep Zenyatta in training. Maybe we could meet Zenyatta there.”

Pricci points out that the Delaware Handicap (10f) July 19th could have the same impact as a Breeders Cup win [in terms of an Eclipse] as its against older fillies and mares. The rub aside from the shortness in time between the MG is the distance: 1 1/4 mi which is not one she’s gone yet.