NEWS
Rachel Alexandra breezes at Fair Grounds
Posted: Thursday, February 18, 2010 11:34 AM
RACHEL ALEXANDRA
Lou Hodges Jr. photo
Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra progressed toward her first start of 2010 with a five-furlong breeze in 1:00.20 on Thursday morning at Fair Grounds.
Exercise rider Dominic Terry guided the four-year-old Medaglia d’Oro filly in her fourth workout since she resumed serious training in late January. The time ranked second of 19 timed moves at the distance.
Rachel Alexandra had breezed five furlongs in 1:03.80 on a sloppy track on February 12.
“I think we’ve got a little Goldilocks going on,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. . “The racetrack was wet last week, and a little slow, and we were being careful. I thought she was overly aggressive today, a little quick, so hopefully we’ll level off.”
Clockers caught Rachel Alexandra with fractions of :12, :23.80, :35.60 and :47.60. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.20.
“I think with not letting her do too much last week it made her very keen,” Asmussen said. “I think she wants to be in a rhythm. Hopefully the weather will be as good as it was this morning and fairly consistent, and then I think we’ll be exactly where we want to be.
“She was just very aggressive all week and worked good today. She was off strong. From a timing standpoint there’s still time to get exactly where want to be.”
Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to return in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes on March 13 as a prep for a long-awaited clash with Zenyatta in the $5-million Apple Blossom Invitational Stakes (G1) on April 9 at Oaklawn Park.
Macho Again, the close runner-up to Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward Stakes (G1) on September 5 in her most recent start, also was on the Fair Grounds work tab, breezing three furlongs in :38 in his first workout of the year.
