Will anyone else be terribly upset if the owners don’t run her against the boys? 
It seems like the great racing mares just don’t command the same respect if they don’t run in mixed company.
Does anyone more knowledgeable about racing than me know how her Oaks speed figure compares to MTB’s in the Derby?
I don’t usually stray to the racing forum, but I have to say that I admire RA’s owner for keeping her out of the Triple Crown races. As much fun as it would be to watch her whup the boys, there is also a good chance she WOULDN’T whup ALL the boys and could even finish out of the money. Why not keep her in filly races where she will be the top contender for the top prize? Much better to win the lion’s share of a $300,000 purse than to finish out of the money in a TC race - right?
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Will anyone else be terribly upset if the owners don’t run her against the boys? It seems like the great racing mares just don’t command the same respect if they don’t run in mixed company.
Does anyone more knowledgeable about racing than me know how her Oaks speed figure compares to MTB’s in the Derby?[/QUOTE]
Per today’s Daily Racing Form — RA, 108, MTB, 105. In other words, she could have destroyed the boys.
I agree that she should finish out the Triple Tiara (esp. given that co-owner’s comments), but I would love to see her run with the boys as a 4/5 y/o! Calvin said she’s one of the best horses he’s ever ridden, not just best filly. I can’t wait to follow her career 
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Per today’s Daily Racing Form — RA, 108, MTB, 105. In other words, she could have destroyed the boys.[/QUOTE]
Not to take anything away from her but it is a bit apples to oranges as the track sufface was much different Friday then it was Saturday. It was dried enough for the Oaks to add a dynamic of speed vs. sloppier for the boys.
Further she has not gone past 1 1/8 in distance. No reason to think she’d sruggle at all in doing so but to be fair again, she hasn’t had to stretch out in a race for 1 1/4 mi.
I think she is amazing!!! I can’t wait to see her run again…
an interesting peice of trivia is that she is from the first crop of her sire who is now 10 years old–(i hsd to check it twice I thought it was a typo) which means that he raced until he was at least five–hopefully a good sign that she too will stay sound a long time.
I would still love to see her run against the boys dare I say the Travers or better yet the Breeders cup classic! She is amazing and should get her due like HOTY awards…
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I would still love to see her run against the boys dare I say the Travers or better yet the Breeders cup classic! She is amazing and should get her due like HOTY awards…[/QUOTE]
To that point it’s worth citing that her co-owner added to his statement of running against the boys: See Gary West’s “How Good Is Rachel?”
Dolph Morrison, the majority owner, said he was opposed to running her in the Derby.
“The Triple Crown,” he said, “is a showcase for stallions. Stallions should race against stallions, and fillies against fillies.”
However, he later clarified that to say he was speaking only of the Triple Crown. In other words, Rachel Alexandra could run against males at some point. Well, good luck to them.
“No sir,” Morrison said. “The Triple Crown races are to showcase the future stallions of our industry and fillies should run with fillies and stallions with stallions.”
Morrison said a schedule is not in place yet for the remainder of the year for Rachel Alexandra but he said she will remain in Grade I company. He did not rule out a future date against colts.
“I didn’t say she would never run vs. the boys,” Morrison said. “We do have several races to consider but it’s a little premature to play our hand.”
So indeed maybe a Travers Stakes or Jockey Club Gold Cup start - both rarely getting large fields in modern times - could be something in the cards.
A race for stallions that was won by a gelding.
It is unfortunate he was more of a boy at a young age but hopefully we will see him race safely for years to come…like Forego, he was one of my favorites didn’t come into his own 'til late adn look at John henry…This little gelding is bred very nicely I think may he race safely where ever he is…Could he win the Preakness? Not really his kind of race but we shall se. let it rain and he will have a better chance…
No real shocker but I don’t recall the last time this was the case …
Rachel Alexandra gains top spot in NTRA Poll - May 4, 2009
Rachel Alexandra has vaulted to the top of the weekly NTRA poll of three-year-olds.
The filly received 186 points with Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile holding onto to second with 161 points.
Rachel Alexandra is a big, mature-looking girl. I have a 3 year-old TB filly, less than three weeks younger than RA, and RA looks old enough to be her mother.
I’m disappointed that US fillies and mares don’t usually run against the boys. Look at Zarkava or Makybe Diva or Ouija Board or (going back) Dahlia or Allez France – they all did just fine.
I hope they’ll tell Jess “I can buy anything, but sue later” Jackson to pound sand
This makes me ill … and why take her away from Wiggins when he’s the one who has done right by her with training?
DRF 5-6-09 “Stonestrreet trying to buy Rachel Alexandra”
The Stonestreet Stables of Jess Jackson is interested in purchasing Rachel Alexandra, the sensational winner of the Kentucky Oaks last Friday at Churchill Downs, and was negotiating Wednesday to try to close a deal, according to a source close to the situation.
The possibility of a sale grew on Wednesday morning when Rachel Alexandra vetted out perfectly, according to the source, who cited a confidentiality agreement that precluded speaking on the record.
A transfer of Rachel Alexandra would raise the possibility of the filly being supplemented for a $100,000 fee to the next jewel of the Triple Crown, the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico. The filly was not nominated to the Triple Crown, and her breeder and co-owner, Dolph Morrison, was adamant in the wake of her Oaks victory that she would not be supplemented to the Preakness or June 6 Belmont Stakes.
Owned by the L and M Partners of Morrison and Mike Lauffer and trained by Hal Wiggins, Rachel Alexandra won the 135th Oaks by 20 1/4 lengths, the widest winning margin in the race since 1910, the earliest date for which Churchill has such records. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 108 in the Oaks. The 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d Oro has won her last five starts.
Should a deal be struck, Steve Asmussen, who trained Curlin for Jackson, would take over the training of Rachel Alexandra, according to the source. Asmussen said Wednesday afternoon that he had not been told that the filly would be joining his stable.
Meanwhile, Rachel Alexandra made her first appearance on the racetrack since the Oaks when out for a 1 1/4-mile jog early Wednesday under regular exercise rider Rudy Gallegos. Until the possibility of a sale arose, she had been scheduled to train at Churchill until leaving a few days before her next scheduled start, the Grade 1 Acorn on the Belmont Stakes undercard.
I read about this on another forum and hoped it was wrong.:no:
Leave the filly where she is. I am so tired of the likes of IEAH and others trying to buy their way into a champion or one capable of winning one of the “big ones.”
Wiggins and Borel are magic with her, they take care of her and protect her- one of the reasons she was not among the beaten up in the Kentucky Derby.
Putting this mare into the last races of the triple crown would put Borel into an incredible bind. Besides, the tale of Mine That Bird and his crew needs to go on and I think they need Borel to do it. THAT is good for racing.
Racing needs more of both RA and MTB, not someone always trying to buy into a winner.
This is more than sad, it’s sick and it’s not good for racing. :mad:
Maybe, even though I think he messed up the stud career of Man O’ War, people should remember that Riddle said, not exactly quoting here, that you could buy a lot in the world but there is only one Man O’ War and he was not for sale.
There is only one RA and I hope, hope, hope she ends up, “Not for sale.”
Sadly TVG’s Simon Bray and Todd Schrupp just did a live interview with Jess Jackson and he confirmed it: Stonestreet Stables purchased Rachel Alexandra …
I don’t want to say that, if offered that kind of money, that I would turn it down. It’s easy for us to say her owners should turn it down.
I hope that her owners don’t sell her or at least sell her to someone I have more respect for. Doesn’t Sheik Mo need another great filly!
Another confirmation …Courier-Journal 5-6-09 “Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra sold to Jess Jackson”
Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra has been sold to wine-magnate Jess Jackson for an undisclosed amount, both parties announced this evening.
Trainer Hal Wiggins said his understanding is that as soon as the money is transferred to the account of owners Dolphus Morrison and Mike Lauffer, the standout filly will be transferred to Eclipse Award-winning trainer Steve Asmussen.
However, a spokeswoman for Jackson said no decision has been made on trainer, jockey or her next race.
“I’m happy for the owners,” Wiggins said. “… On a personal note, it kind of knocks the wind out of your sails when you lose a horse like that. That’s part of the game, the business decisions that they made. But if they’re happy then I’m happy.”
The release did not specify the filly’s next race, but it has been widely speculated it will be the Preakness Stakes. Rachel Alexandra would have to be supplemented for $100,000.
