NEWS
Rachel Alexandra drills at Saratoga
Posted: Monday, August 02, 2010 4:07 PM
by Phil Janack
Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra breezed five furlongs on Monday morning on the Oklahoma Training Track at Saratoga Race Course.
Ridden by jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, the four-year-old Medaglia d’Oro filly stepped on the track at 5:53 a.m. EDT, accompanied by trainer Steve Asmussen on his pony. She was clocked in 1:02.45, which ranked sixth of nine timed workouts at the distance.
“I thought she looked really good,” Asmussen said. “Shaun did a good job with her. She obviously was very strong away from the pole, but she looked beautiful.”
It was the first workout for Rachel Alexandra since she won the $400,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park on July 24 (video), her second straight victory after opening the year with a pair of runner-up finishes.
In the past, Asmussen has only worked Rachel Alexandra a half-mile the first time back following a race. She is scheduled to make her next start in the $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) at Saratoga on August 29.
“This morning is a little warmer than the last two days, but I think that the cooler weather this week has really had her energy level very high [in] training,” Asmussen said. “We did a little bit more with her today than we normally do off a race, and it had been [because of] how she’d been galloping the last few days.”
The Personal Ensign will mark Rachel Alexandra’s first time running 1¼ miles. She won the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1) at 1 3/16 miles last year during a season in which she was undefeated in eight starts, including wins over males in the Preakness, Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) and Woodward Stakes (G1), the latter at Saratoga against older horses.
“She’s always been very impressive. Something that everybody has always noted on is how she gallops out after a race,” Asmussen said. “I think that that's just part of her, she shows that in her training. It is going to be her first time at a mile and a quarter running, and it isn't galloping out.
“I feel very comfortable about it, with her being [based] here and having the success she did here last year.”
Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra is slated to have three more workouts on the training track prior to the Personal Ensign, her first Grade 1 race of the year. She has 13 wins from 18 career starts with $3,446,730 in purse earnings.
“I think we’ve evolved through the year,” Asmussen said. “You’re always evaluating where you’re at and where you’ve been, and the amount of pressure that was on her when she came into the stable last year and the expectations that were on her, as opposed to coming back slowly this year.
“I think she’s stepping it up. We’re very pleased with her last race, especially her state of mind, prerace, how calm she was gearing in, she didn’t pull [jockey] Calvin [Borel] at all. She was very comfortable with where she was at. I think that all those will be keys to having more success as the year goes on.”
Phil Janack is a Saratoga-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Mimi, San Antonio, TX on August 24, 2010 at 10:24 PM
Oh please; Rachel Alexandra accomplished WAY more than Life At Ten as a three year old. (Not BASHING Life At Ten, merely stating the facts. She is awesome too.) It's obvious that Rachel Alexandra is not at her top form this year, but let's hope she gets back to it. And, "sorry representative"? Has there ever been a mare that won the Kentucky Oaks by a larger winning margin? Has there ever been a mare to win the Haskell Invitational in over a decade? Has there ever been a mare to win the Woodward? When has a filly won the Preakness Stakes? Oh yeah, that was 85 years ago. Has there ever been a faster mare in the Golden Rod Stakes? Or how about the Martha Washington? Has there ever been a mare that was faster in the Mother Goose Stakes? Or how about one with a larger winning margign in that race? Oh, this is a good one; in 2009 was there ANY other horse with a higher Beyer Speed figure? So, please. When you post comments saying Rachel Alexandra is a "sorry representative" for Horse Of The Year it proves you are the "dumbest of the dumb" when it comes to horse racing. Any common sense horse expert or a common sense, normal, casual fan knows that the "sorry representative" statement is simply not true. So go ahead; show the world of horse racing how stupid people can really be. Not to mention you are BASHING, CRITICIZING, and DEGRADING an ANIMAL. Last time I checked the only types of people that do that are weirdos, freaks, mentally challenged people, or all of the above...
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Posted by: Leonard, Lawndale, CA on August 15, 2010 at 12:02 PM
Don't forget that LIFE AT TEN will win the Personal Ensign, not that sorry representative that has you so blinded that your walking into walls then getting on this blog and posting a bunch of jiberish that does not make sense. After the Personal Ensign is won by LIFE AT TEN, I will save you a seat on the QUEEN ZENYATTA EXPRESS all the way to the B.C.C. 18-0 and still counting. GO ZENYATTA !!!!
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Posted by: afleetalexforever, little rock, AR on August 13, 2010 at 09:17 PM
Hey Leonard, please grow up and dont post things that are ignorant, Zenyatta didnt win 18 races in 09, she only won 5 lol pitiful i mean 2 year olds run more and more consistently against quality competition.
Summer Bird campaign deserved more recognition than Zenyatta winning the Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup trumps 1 win of consequence. lol Pitiful circumstances that she deals with, i've never seen a supposed champion campaigned as a allowance horse before. Peppers Pride impressed me more because she at least was beating horses that were on her level, Zen is a legit Grade 1 horse beating optional claimers and allowance horses race in and race out. its embarrassing that her owners dont have faith in her the same faith her fans do. Enter her at alomitas county fair in a claiming race without a tag next out, might be a challenge for her since she runs down to competition.
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Posted by: Leonard, Lawndale, CA on August 13, 2010 at 02:59 PM
It's clear that afleetalexforever has some issue's, when rachael get's defeated by LIFE AT TEN in the Personal Ensign then maybe he can finally realize what a mistake it was to name rachael as horse of the year when that honor should have gone to the 18-0, undefeated, and still counting ZENYATTA. rachael does-not belong in the same race as ZENYATTA, Quality Road, Blame,etc. Remember LIFE AT TEN WILL WIN THE PERSONAL ENSIGN and once again expose that SORRY REPRESENTATIVE horse racing has as our Horse of The Year. GO LIFE AT TEN .... Stay Tuned....
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Posted by: G., Elizabethtown, KY on August 06, 2010 at 09:44 PM
Rachel would be better in a can. Instead of running gainst tomato cans , lets put her in a can.
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