NEWS
Personal Ensign could be next for Rachel Alexandra
Posted: Sunday, July 25, 2010 4:50 PM
by Phil Janack
The weather was considerably cooler in upstate New York on Sunday morning than it was at the New Jersey shore on Saturday, when Rachel Alexandra beat the extreme heat and her competition in the $400,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes for her second straight victory (video).
She arrived back at her summer base in Saratoga Springs, New York, at 8:55 a.m. EDT on Sunday, led from her personal silver horse van directly into trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn at the Oklahoma training track. After a few minutes and a big drink of water, Rachel Alexandra got a bath and a short walk before returning to her stall.
“She looks great,” Asmussen said. “I was extremely pleased with her race. It was extremely hot. She acted with composure in the paddock and pre-race, she was excellent. I’m very happy with how she relaxed the whole race. I thought she cooled out well and seemed very comfortable, very well within herself.
“We’re very excited to run her, and very happy with the results of yesterday. That’s what you’re expecting when you run her – being around her and being fortunate enough to train her, seeing how much talent she does have. We’re always expecting her to win.”
Temperatures reached 103 degrees at Monmouth Park on Saturday, enough for tracks in Delaware and Philadelphia to cancel their cards. Monmouth officials, who moved the Lady’s Secret back from its original August 1 date to accommodate the reigning Horse of the Year, went ahead as scheduled.
“She took it extremely well,” Asmussen said. “Her composure before the race, how calm she was in the post parade, how relaxed she was in the race, cooling out … she’s obviously in way better shape than I am.”
Rachel Alexandra began her four-year-old season with a pair of losses to end her eight-race unbeaten streak. She has rebounded to win two in a row, including the Fleur de Lis Handicap (G2) on June 12 at Churchill Downs.
Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra won all eight of her starts last season, beating males in the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), the Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) at Monmouth and the Woodward Stakes (G1) at Saratoga, which ended her three-year-old season.
“Everybody talks about comparing this year to last year,” Asmussen said. “Last year, she came to the barn four days off a 20-length Kentucky Oaks (G1) win, 10-11 days before a classic. That kind of pressure or expectation is not going to be duplicated, and not going to be duplicated by design.
“We’re trying to avoid any peaks or valleys. I think it’s a steppingstone in the right direction, trying to culminate this toward the end of the year. I think we still have a lot of mare to work with. She’s carrying very good flesh and she’s been very sound and comfortable. It’s getting toward the time of year that I think more pressure will be put on her every step from here forward.”
Jackson opted to bypass the $250,000 Ruffian Handicap (G1) on Sunday at Saratoga in favor of the Lady’s Secret, surprising NYRA officials. The $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes (G1) against older mares on August 29 at Saratoga on would be an ideal fit for Rachel Alexandra’s schedule, which has seen her races spaced five weeks apart. It is run at 1 ¼ miles, a distance she has never tried.
“Yes, I think there’s a chance she could run here,” Asmussen said. “We’ll sit down and talk about her condition with Jess and he’ll decide where she’s running. I just feel lucky to have her. It’s like being a carpenter with the biggest hammer. It’s great.”
Phil Janack is a New York-based Thoroughbred Times correspondent
READER COMMENTS
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Posted by: Garry, Elizabethtown, KY on July 30, 2010 at 04:15 PM
This is to Mimi,
I could not agree with you more. If people have favorite horses they should be able to get on here and express their feelings without being attacked from all four sides. And if someone calls me a name on here I am going to retaliate. And then when you have got a idiot like Gary in Lexington and Bob from Boston who starts this "Scary Garry" crap even though it is childish I will fire back. So Bob from Boston and Gary from Lexington keep the name calling to a minimum or stop it completely. I am 39 years old and i can't believe that I have let you all draw me into your adolescent world. That's all I have to say about that, have a nice day.
oh and Mimi I am going to respond to the other article too that you talked about Ruffian, I couldn't agree more. Ruffian is the greatest filly or mare that has ever lived.
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Posted by: Garry, Elizabethtown, KY on July 30, 2010 at 04:03 PM
To Dirk,
That may be true but when Rachel Alexandra retires she will have a Horse of the Year award to look back on. And knowing that after both of these two mares careers are over I will have the satisfaction of knowing that Zenyatta never ran an entire season as aggressively as Rachel Alexandra did her 3 year old season. I will say it again, if she never wins another race my horse will retire with Horse of the Year and knowing she did things in one season that no other mare has ever done. That's all I have to say about that, have a nice day.
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Posted by: dirk, boston, MA on July 30, 2010 at 07:15 AM
Even if Rachel Alexandra never wins another race my horse got Horse of the Year baby!
And she disgraced it when she came back in 2010 losing two grade 2 races, and having to drop down to powder puff races against powderpuff claimers just so she would be guaranteed a win, because she aint good enough to be trusted to get a real win in agaist real grade 1 horses in a grade 1 race..........
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Posted by: Mimi, San Antonio, TX on July 29, 2010 at 10:01 PM
WTF?! What a discrace to God! And "Fairy Gary" go get some help if you really mean what you say. There's hardly anyone in the world who is as crazy as "God from Heaven, MD" -don't compare him to RA fans unless exhibiting your ignorance is your goal. LOL I agree "Scary Garry", Mr. "God" is a danger to himself... How about keeping our MINDS here, people. The poor TBTimes people are probably really annoyed at all of the fighting back and forth, but they get good laughs I'm sure.
All horses are a gift from God, not just the great Zenyatta. Ruffian is the Queen of fillies and the other awesome fillies (Rags To Riches, Rachel Alexandra, Winning Colors and Zenyatta) are the princesses. No filly is as good as her. Not degrading any of the princesses of racing but Ruffian is just the Queen of racing; the Godess.
I'm not just a fan of Rachel Alexandra, but Zenyatta, and all of the awesome racehorses.
Good luck to all of the racehorses, forever and always!
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Posted by: Garry, Elizabethtown, KY on July 29, 2010 at 04:37 PM
This is to fairy Gary in Lexington KY. At least I am not backing a one dimensional one state horse that barley beat horses half her size. Did you get that fairy Gary? Have a nice day fairy Gary.
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