$3 profit on a $30 bet. Must make sure not to spend it all in one place. :lol:
Ohhhh do I ever wish she would run for the roses!
Race replay: Grade 2, $250k Fantasy Stakes @ Oaklawn Park (Race 9 Apr 5, 2009) with jockey Calvin Borel up.
I’d be hard pressed to say that I’ve seen as many looks back by a jockey in some time 
Final winning margin was 8 3/4 lengths
I’m reminded of my youth and this ad with Robert Conrad “I dare you to call this regular!”
She rocks my socks. Love her!
Shipping off to Churchill Downs tomorrow …
Rachel Alexandra heading to Kentucky
DRF Apr 7, 2009
Rachel Alexandra is to ship to Churchill Downs on Wednesday to begin preparations for the Grade 1, $500,000 Kentucky Oaks on May 1. She established herself as the probable favorite for the race by winning the Grade 2, $250,000 Fantasy here Saturday by a stakes-record margin of 8 3/4 lengths. It was her fourth consecutive stakes win, and she earned a 101 Beyer.
Hal Wiggins, who trains Rachel Alexandra, said Monday that she emerged from the race in good order and plans are to breeze her twice heading into the Oaks.
“The Oaks is on Friday, so I’ll give her like an easy half on Monday before the Friday,” he said, “and 10 to 12 days before that we’ll give her kind of a serious five-eighths and let her gallop out a little bit.”
Rachel Alexandra has spent her winter living just one stall from where Smarty Jones was stabled when he won the Arkansas Derby. He then shipped to Churchill and won the Kentucky Derby.
Worth citing that while Hooh Why (and Gozzip Girl) defeated one-time class leader Stardom Bound in the Ashland Stakes at Keenelend she is likely to skip the Kentucky Oaks. Why? Because of Rachel Alexandra
Mark Hoffman, co-owner of Ashland S. (G1) winner HOOH WHY (Cloud Hopping), said it is doubtful the filly would run back in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
One of the main factors is the presence of Rachel Alexandra (Medaglia d’Oro), a two-time winner at Churchill Downs who crushed four foes on Sunday in the Fantasy S. (G2) at Oaklawn Park.
“I was in the parking lot at the hotel and a buddy called me and I listened to the call (of the Fantasy),” Hoffman said. "She (Rachel Alexandra) has the same running style as my filly and it doesn’t make much sense to take her on now with so many other races out there to run. As I’ve said, I want to try my filly on the grass."
You can run but you cannot hide!
Wow. That was an impressive race. Calvin just sat chilly, like he was breezing her.
Will Rachel Alexandra meet Evita Argentina in the Kentucky Oaks? Evita (another Candy Ride!) beat the boys in a Gll last time out, and if she runs well against the talented and versatile Selva tomorrow at Keeneland, she could very well show up to challenge Rachel.
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/50059/evita-argentina-headlines-beaumont-cast
What an awesome filly…she just rocks! I wish she would take on the boys just to show that she can…and then get the recognition she would deserve…say HOTY? How many fillies have ever won that award?
Her style reminds me of Ruffian! Just get there and go…
Spoke to Calvin’s mom-in-law this morning and she was going on and on about this filly. Very impressive! Glad that Calvin has such a great ride!
I love this lady! I’ve yet to really fall in love with any of the Derby contenders. But I know who I want to see kickin’ it in the Oaks, for certain!
And I don’t bet, so the fact that she’s a poor ROI in that regard bothers me not!
The ‘gun’ just keeps firing bullets! Thursday morning’s work was sensational …
Courier Journal 4-16-09 “Oaks favorite ‘Rachel’ has big workout at Churchill”
Rachel Alexandra zipped five furlongs in :59.40 over a “fast” track with jockey Calvin Borel in the irons. The move, which came just after the break for track maintenance, tied as the fastest of 21 at the distance.
Churchill Downs clockers caught Rachel Alexandra in fractions of :12.60, :24.40, :36 and :47.60. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:11.60 and seven-eighths in 1:24.20.
“I’ve never asked her – it’s scary,” said Borel. “I’ve been on her all the time and I’ve never asked her. She’s just unbelievable, and she just gets better and better and better and better. I don’t know how good she can be.”
Has anyone seen any promos on Bravo for the kentucky Oaks? I’ve seen on NBC many of the teasers for the Derby …
Courier-Journal April 23, 2009 “‘Rachel’ has the spotlight on Wiggins in Kentucky Oaks”
66-year-old Hal Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra’s trainer
A trainer for 34 years, he has 859 career wins and more than $19 million in earnings, but he has never had a Grade I winner. Now the one-time tax accountant holds the reins to one of the best 3-year-olds in training.
“It’s been a long, humble journey for him,” said Renee Wiggins, his wife of 43 years. "He’s been at the bottom and now is experiencing what it is like to be at the very top. I know he feels privileged to be in this spot.
“I’m wondering if the big guys in training are affected in the same ways as we have been with all of this. We get lumps in our throats and tears in our eyes. This whole thing means so much to us.”
He and his wife have been hosting a barbeque for about 60 friends at the barn on Derby Day, and Renee Wiggins said she always gets emotional as the connections take their horses to the track.
"We always take our guests and family to the gap and watch those horses, and I just pray, ‘Oh, Lord, please let us experience this,’ " she said. “Our whole family is going to be there with us as we experience this moment.”
Calvin says she is the best horse he has ever ridden. He really loves this filly!
Looks like Calvin also picked up a ride for the derby!
Last work will be tomorrow (Mon 27th) before Friday’s Kentucky Oaks
Herald-Leader 4-26-09 “‘Monster’ filly owns Oaks talk”
“She’s never been asked, she’s done everything so easy and she’s coming to (the Oaks) as good as any horse I’ve ever been on in my life,” said jockey Calvin Borel, who has been aboard Rachel Alexandra throughout her current four-race win streak. "I won the Kentucky Derby (in 2007) on Street Sense and I would put her in that caliber of horses.
“She is unbelievable. I’ve never been on a filly as good as her.”
Added Wiggins: "Maybe one of these days we’ll find the right spot to run her against the colts. Several times she has run faster than the boys … but if you put her in the same race, it’s going to be a different story because the pace will be a little quicker and all that.
“I’m not saying she couldn’t outrun them but we’re doing the right thing by keeping her with the fillies.”
This filly is just a super freak. Nothing phases her.
Literally RIGHT before she was about to break off into her work this AM there was an ugly accident involving a loose horse colliding into a working horse. All training was halted for 30+ minutes.
RA comes back and gallops out 6 in 1:10 and change like nothing happened…
Texarkana - that is spooky stuff!
Video of her Sunday morning light work at Churchill
I’m not entirely sure who the exercise rider is in the video. Rudy Gallegos was up on her April 22nd and Calvin Borel was to be aboard her this morning.
I know little about race horses, but her pedigree is one of the few TB pedigrees I’ve looked at where there was something besides 0s in the last 2 numbers of the DP. Could that be helping her?
Video: DRF clocker report 4-27-09 - Mike Welsh: “If she was in the Derby, she’d be my pick hands down, star of the show today with her work …” 
No video of her work today however (as of yet) and maybe not at all due to the wreck that transpired before.
Interestingly there is a lawsuit tied to a partial ownership sale in 2008 with her:
TB Times 4-28-09 “Consultant files suit over Rachel Alexandra deal”
Jerry Brown, president of Thoro-Graph Inc., has filed suit against Michael Lauffer, co-owner of Rachel Alexandra, alleging non-payment of fees related to Lauffer’s private purchase of a 50% interest in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) morning-line favorite last November.
A lawsuit filed in Kentucky’s Johnson Circuit Court claims Brown, acting as a consultant, recommended that Lauffer and two partners purchase Rachel Alexandra before she registered her first stakes victory.
… under an agreement that Brown would receive 5% of the purchase price, 5% of future earnings, and 5% of any increase in value during her racing career.
I don’t know of anyone who would agree to those terms myself with a consultant’s role. You’d be giving away far too much.
I never saw this one before. Per Joe Drape’s NYT’s article "Better Than the Boys? Maybe, but She’s Not in the Derby " ‘Rachel’ was almost acquired by IEAH who has looked at every horse of promise - including the one you can ride for $0.25 in front the A&P
Last fall, International Equine Acquisition Holdings was close to buying Rachel Alexandra. It co-owned last year’s Derby winner, Big Brown, and recently purchased a 50 percent stake in I Want Revenge, the 3-1 morning line favorite in Saturday’s Derby.
International Equine decided against buying Rachel Alexandra after X-rays showed a tiny chip in the filly’s left ankle. Instead, Morrison and Lauffer had Dr. Larry Bramlage remove the chip, and Wiggins gave Rachel Alexandra two months off.
Oh and what if she does win the Oaks?
If all goes well in the Oaks, Wiggins hints that he might like to take Rachel Alexandra to the Belmont Stakes.
For the Saratoga crowd the good news is that they see the Alabama Stakes as a next big goal after the Oaksl!
