NEWS
Rachel Alexandra simply awesome in Haskell
Posted: Sunday, August 02, 2009 6:40 PM
RACHEL ALEXANDRA
Jessica Denver/EQUI-PHOTO
For video of the Haskell Invitational Stakes, click here.
by Mike Curry
Rachel Alexandra cemented her status as the best three-year-old and, perhaps, the best female horse in the country with a spine-tingling performance under regular rider Calvin Borel in the $1,250,000 Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) on Sunday at Monmouth Park.
Neither a wide trip nor a blistering pace could dull the brilliance of the Medaglia d’Oro filly, who left multiple Grade 2 winner Munnings and Belmont Stakes (G1) winner Summer Bird in her wake with an explosive bid on the turn. Rachel Alexandra, winner of the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), skipped away from males for a second time this season and opened a commanding five-length lead in early stretch to put the race out of reach as the 1-to-2 favorite.
“This filly is just unbelievable," Borel said. "I can’t say how good she is. I don’t know. I gave her a few taps at the sixteenth pole, that’s it. I just wanted to keep her focused with a couple of taps. She started looking around at the crowd, so I just kept her busy to the wire."
Rachel Alexandra defeated Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (G1) winner Mine That Bird in the Preakness and easily defeated Summer Bird in a six-length Haskell romp.
“When Calvin [Borel] asked her to go, she just blew by them,” said majority owner Jess Jackson, who owns Rachel Alexandra along with Harold McCormick. “It was a great challenge; she beat some very good horses today. … She’s just above the crowd.”
After winning the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by a record margin and winning the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) in stakes-record time in her starts before and after she became the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra flirted with another record by completing the 1 1/8 miles of the Haskell in 1:47.21 in front of a crowd of 37,090. The track record for the distance is 1:46.80 set by Spend a Buck on August 17, 1985, and equaled by Jolie’s Halo on August 8, 1992.
"We have not gotten to the bottom of her, that’s for sure,"Borel said. "She’s an amazing athlete and I’m glad that I get to ride her.”
With the Haskell victory, Rachel Alexandra extended her winning streak to eight and won her fourth straight Grade 1 race. She also gave trainer Steve Asmussen his third graded stakes win of the weekend in the three-year-old division. Soul Warrior won the West Virginia Derby (G2) at Mountaineer Race Track and Kensei won the Jim Dandy Stakes (G2) on Saturday at Saratoga Race Course just a few minutes later for Asmussen.
After the Haskell, Jackson said he would look forward to a showdown between Rachel Alexandra and undefeated reigning champion older female Zenyatta, but he reiterated that such a race will not take place on a synthetic surface.
“We’re not going to the Breeders’ Cup. I’ve said it many time before and I mean it,” said Jackson, who said no firm plans have been made for Rachel Alexandra’s next start.
Rachel Alexandra improved to ten wins and two seconds in 13 career starts and boosted her earnings to $2,498,354. Bred by Dolphus Morrison, Rachel Alexandra is out of the Grade 2-placed stakes-winning Roar mare Lotta Kim.
"Well, the Haskell was our major goal and we’re happy with the way she ran today," Asmussen said. "We’ll go back to Saratoga and breeze her back before we decide anything about the [Shadwell] Travers [Stakes (G1)]."
Rachel Alexandra has not lost since a runner-up finish in the Pocahontas Stakes (G3) in November at Churchill Downs. She won the Golden Rod Stakes (G2) to close her juvenile campaign and this season has reeled off wins in the Martha Washington Stakes, Fair Grounds Oaks (G2), Fantasy Stakes (G2), Kentucky Oaks, Preakness, Mother Goose, and Haskell. She won the Oaks by a record 20 1/4 lengths and set a Mother Goose stakes record of 1:46.33 in a 19 1/4-length runaway victory.
“I can’t tell you how amazing it is that everybody everywhere asks me about Rachel," Asmussen said. "I think its fantastic and Rachel is very deserving of the admiration. I can’t remember the last little girl I’ve met that didn’t ask how Rachel was doing."
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor
