Thursday, April 22, 2010

When and Where for Rachel Alexandra

After sizzling six furlongs in 1.11.4 the speculation and suspense has grown to a nearly unbearable level. Fans of the reigning Horse of the Year want to know, where will Rachel Alexandra run next?

After running second by half a length to Zardana, Zenyatta's very own stablemate, in the New Orleans Ladies, and moving to Churchill Downs, Rachel has been working lights out. She first worked a brisk five furlongs in 1.00.2 on April 5th, then returned the next Monday to run run six furlongs in 1.12 flat. It seems that the Rachel of old is back and her fans want to see her back racing as soon as possible, to avenger her loss and silence her doubters.

The race most widely speculated for the filly's return is the La Troienne. In this spot the champion would sparing with last year's second best three year old filly of 2009, Careless Jewel, and none other than Zardana. If Rachel Alexandra does return at 100% there is no doubt in my mind that she will make easy work of both Careless Jewel and Zardana.

Another races that some have speculated Rachel Alexandra may start in is the Humana Distaff, at seven furlongs against last year's Champion Female Sprinter, Informed Decision, who also lost her 2010 debut. Seven furlongs is Informed Decision's best distance, it will take a fully loaded Rachel to beat the fleet footed grey at her own game, but the greats can run and run well at any distance.

Another race, I feel the connections of Rachel Alexandra could choose is the Churchill Distaff Turf Mile. Yes, it is on turf, and that is a surface that Rachel Alexandra has never touched, but I feel that the daughter of Medaglia D'Oro will flourish on turf, and may even find it more to her liking than dirt.

So, where will Rachel Alexandra race next, well we most likely will not find out until the day post positions are drawn, but a race on either Oaks or Derby day would seem the perfect spot for the forgotten super filly to make her presence felt once again. Lets hope Jess Jackson brings his Rachel back out of the shadows and that she comes back with a bang.

4 comments:

  1. The Turf Mile is an interesting thought. I doubt they would run here there though just because in America Turf is the “less respected” surface to dirt and Jess Jackson always wants his horses at the number one spot. By racing her in the premier dirt races Rachel Alexandra will better be able to defend her Horse of the Year title against dirt monsters like Zenyatta and Quality Road.

    The La Troienne seems to be the most logical choice for them and I agree that she looks like she will make mince-meat out of the field. I just hope they announce where she is going sooner than 5-6 days before the race so we the fans that are out of state and want to try and make it for her race have a chance to plan ahead (fat chance of that right?). :)

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  2. What about the Alysheba? None of the older boys are working that well. Rachel's mile gallop out time was 137 and change, that's two second's faster than Lucky's yesterday. I know the track was fast but that's a big difference.

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  3. railrunner,

    I agree with your assesment of the Turf Mile, but I think because JJ likes to be different and do things that are out of the box, he may try turf sooner or later. Personally, I think it will be later, maybe after she races in something like the Stephen Foster or some other race with males. If she were to win a graded stakes on turf as well as win premire dirt races, I feel that extra demension would help her case in HOTY as well.

    On the announcement of her race, yeah, lol, fat chance they will announce her starts in perfect order. They may throw out some ideas, and say they are leaning towards one or the other, like they did with the Woodward, but I think that's about as close as you'll get to them actually saying when her next race will be.

    Anon,

    I thought about the Alysheba, but as railrunner posted above, JJ like premire races with big purses. The Alysheba has a 100K purse while the La Troienne has a 400K purse. Even the Turf Mile has a larger purse. Plus, I think JJ is wanting to prove that RA is the best and if that is the case he's going to want to show up and beat CJ, who was easily the second best 3yr old filly on dirt last year and Zardana. If he were to come back and beat those two it would really send out a message that RA is back and better than ever.

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  4. All systems go for the La Troienne! Go Rachel Alexandra!!!

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