Great piece on Good Morning America!
Lovely piece that just aired on Rachael Alexandra this morning!!! 
In regards to what Jess Jackson and his partner paid for Rachel Alexandra it seems even more murky if you read this Bloomberg article:
“Rachel Alexandra Is Rightful Preakness Favorite, Jackson Says” from May 14, 2009
Jackson – with an estimated fortune of $2.4 billion, ranking him 187th on Forbes magazine’s list of 400 richest Americans in 2008 – [b]said the price, which he would only say “reflected the market,” was his highest ever for a filly.
“If I had waited until she retired and was put on the auction block, she would have gone for $4, $5, $6 million,”[/b] he said. “This was the only way I could ensure she is in my broodmare camp. If she wins more races, it will add money to offset the investment.”
Jackson figures she’ll enter another five or six races this year and will race as a 4-year-old “as long as she tells us she wants to.”
“We’re trying to define her the way we did with Curlin last year,” he said. “We raised the bar and pressed him to his limits.”
As an aside - someone on this thread or another asked about Curlin in the shed:
Curlin, who won the 2007 Preakness, has proved to be very fertile in his first year of breeding, Jackson said. The farm has booked 140 dates with mares, although he’s impregnating most on the first or second round.
“The mares like him. He’s a success,” Jackson said.
Assoc. Press/Boston Globe 5-14-09 “Is she ‘Alexandra’ the Great?”
I thought I saw mention of her prior owners suggesting the Travers just not any of the Triple Crown legs …
Original owner Adolphus Morrison, who named the horse after his granddaughter, had indicated that if Rachel Alexandra did run against the boys, it might be later in the year, perhaps at the Travers at Saratoga in August, not in the supercharged atmosphere of the Triple Crown season. But then a group headed by Jess Jackson made an offer to buy Rachel Alexandra that Morrison couldn’t refuse - speculation has the total as much as $12 million. Jackson has only said that the price tag of $3 million in some reports is very low.
Gary Stevens, who is now an NBC racing analyst, was the jockey on Winning Colors and sees potential greatness.
“Rachel Alexandra makes goose bumps stand up on the back of my neck,” said Stevens, “like a good racehorse used to when I was on her back.”
Jess Jackon:
This was the only way I could ensure she is in my broodmare camp.
Just as suspected…securing control of the foal bed…
Glad to see Asmussen & Co. are keeping Rachel A’s papers right where they can find them.
:lol:
Assoc. Press/Boston Globe 5-14-09 “Is she ‘Alexandra’ the Great?”
ETA: Mr. Blaudschun might want to do a little more proof reading / fact checking (ie- who did Calvin Borel ride to win in the 07 Kentucky Derby? That would be Street Sense. Not Hard Spun. Street Sense.)
[QUOTE=Barnfairy;4093472]
Glad to see Asmussen & Co. are keeping Rachel A’s papers right where they can find them.
:lol:[/QUOTE]
She is one huge mare. How tall is she? And how heavy? I can see the jocks on other horses working very hard to keep her off the inside, so her trip may be longer unless Borel can work some rail magic.
I just hope that she isn’t too big for the bones in her legs; if another Eight Belles happened, racing would be in deeper trouble than it is now.
[QUOTE=vineyridge;4093890]
She is one huge mare. How tall is she? And how heavy? I can see the jocks on other horses working very hard to keep her off the inside, so her trip may be longer unless Borel can work some rail magic.
I just hope that she isn’t too big for the bones in her legs; if another Eight Belles happened, racing would be in deeper trouble than it is now.[/QUOTE]
I think Calvin said 17 or 17.1 hands.
Dare I say Ruffian…My heart broke then I do not need it broken again! She never lost except when it took her life…Racing certainly doesn’t need that! Can we look at her breeding? What does that say?
[QUOTE=ivy62;4093932]
Dare I say Ruffian…My heart broke then I do not need it broken again! She never lost except when it took her life…Racing certainly doesn’t need that! Can we look at her breeding? What does that say?[/QUOTE]
I’ve never understood this reaction. Ruffian, from all I’ve ever seen, took a bad step. It just happened to come racing a colt. I have never gotten why it was the gender of her opponent or the fact it was a match race–she could have gone down any time. And if I had a similiarly spectacular filly and the chance to match race her against the best colt of her age, I’d do it now without a second thought and without any guilt feelings. Racehorses are there to race, not to stand around looking pretty. You can’t sit there fussing about what-ifs.
I would rather see a horse being raced than not been raced, and challenged rather than not. It’s pretty clear from the Oaks that as far as other three-year-old fillies go, there’s no challenges there. Against Zenyatta might be another story (though I’m not sure even there.) So even though I’d rather have seen Borel on MTB and I’ll be rooting for MTB to win, I’d rather see her run against colts and be pushed.
Worthy of a read is the very good article published this afternoon in the Daily Racing Form. It’s too long to reprint entirely here. Lukas, Baffert, Wiggins and Pletcher all cite dealing with fillies.
Daily Racing Form May 14, 2009 “Fillies have rich history in Triple Crown”
One excerpt
Rachel Alexandra might not have the bulk of a Winning Colors, but she’s not dissimilar, either.
“Maybe not quite, but she’s fairly close,” said Hal Wiggins, who trained Rachel Alexandra until she was sold after the Oaks. “She’s got real good height. When you see her train in the mornings, you think you’re looking at a colt. She’s not overly muscular, but she’s got a lot of length. She’s got some kind of stride to her.”
“In the barn, often colts are stabled next to fillies,” Pletcher said. “They’re used to being around each other, and to me, it’s not a big deal.”
Pletcher said his operation does not hesitate to breeze a colt and a filly in company if the two horses seem like suitable workmates. Circular Quay and Rags to Riches regularly worked together in the spring of 2007 when Circular Quay was preparing for the Kentucky Derby, Rags to Riches for the Kentucky Oaks.
Which is not to say that colts and fillies mirror one another physiologically, said Dr. Arthur. “Absolutely, there are differences,” he said. “But there’s quite a bit of variation, too. I’ve seen fillies that make colts look like wimps.”
[QUOTE=danceronice;4094138]
I’ve never understood this reaction. Ruffian, from all I’ve ever seen, took a bad step.
If you know anything about Ruffian her breeding was soft…She herself had a hairline fracture between her 2 year old and 3 year old season…Her father Reveiwer broken his cannon bone 3 times and Shenanigans had breaks also…I went to bed that night knowing she had surgery and survived that only to find out that she was dead, I was 13 at the time and very emotional about it…
She was awesome big, black and beautiful and never lost…She was a gift that only lasted a short time// Also, a match race is 1 mile and a 1/4 sprint so agreed the races are very different, I wuold have rather they met in a regular race not in a match race.
If I didn’t have a personal connection to MTB I would be all for it but for me I hope “he” wins and everyone comes home safe…
I would rather see her run against Zenyatta and the boys in say the Breeders Cup classic…
Yeah, I had heard she had sketchy breeding but that means even more so–could happen any time. She could have snapped her leg in a workout. Match races are good for ratings and if you’ve got two clearly great horses why not put them head to head, with no possible interference?
I personally want MTB to win because I keep hoping to see a Triple Crown (I was born three months too late for the last one) and he would make a good story. I love an underestimated horse (one of my favorite race calls ever–'93 Classic and Arcangues.)
there is a really good article on her breeding, if I can find it I will forward it to you…It was amazing to watch her run. Some of her times were faster then Secretariat…She also had very long sloping pasterns…Could have been the reason for her demise. It was awful…I cried and cried…so did most of the racing world…
I think back then you didn’t SEE as many breakdowns, not that they were not there but the media available was different…
Like Zenyatta no one finished in front of her.that’s what I call a great horse…
I wanty another TC as much as the next person but I don’t see it happening this year and will solidly behind RA in the Preakness.
[QUOTE=danceronice;4094138]
I’ve never understood this reaction. Ruffian, from all I’ve ever seen, took a bad step. It just happened to come racing a colt. I have never gotten why it was the gender of her opponent or the fact it was a match race–she could have gone down any time.
Agreed. Frank Whitely always thought the seeds were sowed for the fatal injury when she broke sideways and crashed into the gate.
Go For Wand had an equally horrific breakdown against her own sex. Europeans and Australians routinely run top fillies against colts. Who would ever suggest that Zarkava or Makybe Diva should’ve stayed in the distaff races?
Both of Ruffian’s parents died trashing around while coming out of anesthesia. . .makes you wonder.
So if she wins the Preakness, will she go on to the Belmont? With the connections, probably yes? That would be such an interesting storyline if she won both…has a filly ever won two Triple Crown races? And Calvin could win the Triple Crown, without the horse!
Caitlin
I heard on TVG that her weakness is the short time between the Oaks and the Preakness. I know it is a challenge for any racehorse to run two races so close, but she doesn’t seem to like it. I am very excited about RA and would love to see her win but will she run with the same greatness after a short 2 wks. I hope she does and everybody comes home safe!! I would love to see RA and Zenyatta match up…
[QUOTE=RedMare01;4095376]
So if she wins the Preakness, will she go on to the Belmont? With the connections, probably yes? [/QUOTE]
I would see zero point in doing that even if she does win.
A point only needs to be proven once.
I’d far rather - if she’s successful at Old Hilltop - her trying her hand at say the Travers Stakes at Saratoga. That mid-summer’s race is vastly more glorious IMHO then taking the Belmont. The Travers will mark its 140th running this year
Even with a romp tomorrow I really doubt they’ll henceforth continue pointing her to the traditionally male run only big stakes races like the Haskell Invitational, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and yes the Travers or the Jim Dandy. But who knows what JJ has in store beyond cashing checks from restricted filly/mare races.
They said she’d run maybe 6 more times in 2009.
Is the schedule such that she could still win the Triple Tiara after the Preakness? Has any filly been able to race against the colts and come back to dominate the female ranks?
I can see her in the Alabama and some of the late summer/fall female races and then in the BC Distaff.
But if she wins the Preakness, maybe she will go on to the Belmont and run in the BC Classic. That would be very good for racing.
