NEWS
Trainers praise Rachel Alexandra
Posted: Tuesday, May 12, 2009 11:52 AM
MINE THAT BIRD
Reed Palmer Photography/Churchill Downs
by Ed DeRosa
Kentucky Oaks (G1) winner Rachel Alexandra will not arrive at Pimlico Race Course until Wednesday, but she already is on the minds of everyone milling about the stakes barn at the Baltimore track.
“Only the Lord knows how fast Rachel Alexandra is,” said Larry Jones, who plans to start Friesan Fire in the Preakness Stakes (G1). “Anytime you have a horse as fast as her, the only chance anyone has to beat her is with the boys.
“We chased her earlier this year with two fillies and finished 19 and 11 3/4 lengths behind her, but all of the sudden that didn’t seem so bad after she won the Oaks by 20 [1/4 lengths].”
If Rachel Alexandra starts, then she would be the first Oaks winner to contest the Preakness, the 53rd filly overall, and first since Excellent Meeting in 1999. Derby winners Genuine Risk (1980) and Winning Colors (’88) both ran in the Preakness, finishing second and third, respectively. The last filly to win the Preakness was Nellie Morse in 1924.
“I don’t know that we can beat her based on talent or physically, but maybe we can beat her mentally,” said Gary Stute, Papa Clem's trainer. “She’s had a clear run in most of her races, so maybe if she gets pinned inside she won’t like that very much.”
Jones is not sure whether anyone in the field is good enough to keep Rachel Alexandra from having a clear run.
“She may not even know she’s running against boys,” Jones said. “She’ll go to the front and just think there’s a bunch of girls chasing after her.”
Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick purchased Rachel Alexandra privately after her record 20 1/4-length Oaks victory and plan to supplement the Medaglia d’Oro filly to the Preakness for $100,000, but she can only start if fewer than 14 horses enter.
As of Tuesday, her participation looked virtually assured, but there was talk on Sunday of some rival owners stuffing the entry box to keep her out. Stute and Jones said they merely monitored the situation.
“I was in my hotel room and a few people called me to tell me about it,” Stute said. “I’m glad I was laying low.”
“I can understand why you wouldn’t want her in, but as a fan, I want to see her in,” Jones said. “Selfishly, I like that her connections want to run her in the Preakness because it gives me more confidence that I did the right thing with Eight Belles. If these guys, who love the game and love horses, are willing to do it, then that makes me feel better.”
Jones saddled Eight Belles to a runner-up finish in last year’s Derby, but she fatally broke down nearing the backstretch on the gallop out.
Calvin Borel, who also won the Derby aboard Mine That Bird, will ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness, marking the first time that a jockey has taken off a Derby winner starting in the Preakness to ride a different horse in the Preakness.
Ed DeRosa is news editor of THOROUGHBRED TIMES
