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#1
09-30-2009, 10:43 AM
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Relaxed Rachel is still at Spa
Relaxed Rachel is still at Spa
Star filly to head home to Kentucky next week By TIM WILKIN, Staff writer First published in print: Wednesday, September 30, 2009 SARATOGA SPRINGS -- The leaves on the trees around the Oklahoma Training Track have turned copper and dark red. There is a lot less hustle and bustle on the grounds now that the throughbred show has moved back down to Belmont Park. Three weeks have passed since the final race of the season was run. The stakes barn is boarded up for winter, the picnic tables from Saratoga Race Course's backyard have been stored away. There are still signs of summer and the race days gone by. Rachel is still here. Rachel Alexandra, the most popular name in racing, has stuck around the Spa city and it looks like she'll be here another week before shipping back to trainer Steve Asmussen's base at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Ky. Rachel has won all eight of her starts this year, including a sizzling win in the Woodward Stakes at Saratoga on the last weekend of the meet. Since that race, Rachel hasn't done much of anything. She has gone to the track but has only done light exercise. There have been no workouts, no anticipation of another big race on the horizon. Rachel Alexandra does not have anything on her immediate schedule. The day after beating older males in the Woodward, owner Jess Jackson said he thought the filly needed four or five months off. Caroline Shaw, a spokesperson for the California wine mogul, said through an e-mail that she hoped to have an announcement from Jackson sometime this week about Rachel's future plans. She has remained in Saratoga under the care of Scott Blasi, who is Asmussen's assistant and oversees 24 horses still on the Spa grounds. Amy Kearns, Rachel's personal security guard, said people still come out in the mornings and afternoons and try to get a picture of the mighty horse. Tuesday morning, a bright-eyed Rachel poked her head out of her stall and dove into a breakfast of hay. "Her attitude has just been very good," Blasi said. "That last race was very straining, to say the least. We said before it that it was going to be the hardest she has had to run to date. And it was." Rachel Alexandra has likely already clinched Horse of the Year honors and doesn't need to run again this year. Blasi only wants the filly to stay healthy and happy. Jackson has expressed interest in running her next season. "The whole idea is to have her around for next year," Blasi said. "In order to do that, you've got to let her down a little bit so you can bring her back up." Rachel still goes out for early morning jogs on the Oklahoma when it's still dark. She rolls in a round pen during the afternoon. "We just want to let her be a horse for a little while," Blasi said. "And she loves it. She has been one of the best experiences of my life and, without Mr. Jackson, I wouldn't have it."
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"An Absolute Thriller!!" - Grassy wins a six-way photo finish, Saratoga 9th, 8-22-09 
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#2
09-30-2009, 10:49 AM
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She's really tired. If a trainer said it was very straining, multiply that statemnt tenfold. Its realy no secret that the Woodward was the last start she'll ever make, and what a good one it was!
There hasnt been a race that emotive at Saratoga since the Holy Bull/Concern Travers and that was like 16 years ago!
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#3
09-30-2009, 11:02 AM
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#4
09-30-2009, 11:14 AM
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#6
09-30-2009, 01:11 PM
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why? She's healthy and getting a breather.. Its not like she can breed 150 mares this year. She should definately race next year. And if she loses one or two races next year they shouldnt automatically retire her either. Even great horses are allowed to lose a couple!
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#7
09-30-2009, 02:04 PM
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I saw Rachel last week. She's out in a pen every day and has only jogged a couple of times. She looks like she's gained a bit of weight and her coat looks nice. She seems to enjoy watching flocks of birds land and then take off in the field just beyond her pen.
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RIP Monroe.
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#8
09-30-2009, 04:36 PM
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Do I think Charity can win? Well, I am walking around in yesterday's suit.
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#9
09-30-2009, 07:11 PM
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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#10
09-30-2009, 07:34 PM
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The only thing less likely than Rachel coming back next year is Rachel coming back for the Breeders Cup Classic. She will struggle in a 10f dirt race against decent horses.
Jackson is less afraid of the synthetic this year than he is of running her at 10f. She is just like her daddy. A great 9f horse, I believe he was 6 for 6 or close to it at 9f, but he was 2 for 6 at 10f and looked very ordinary with the extra eighth. Rachel appears to have the same issue and her connections are very smart and have figured this out and placed her nicely.
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#11
09-30-2009, 07:44 PM
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#12
09-30-2009, 08:03 PM
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Sorry I make you sick but I like to make my observations based on facts not my heart.
She is who she is and her daddy was who he was. 10f is just not their ideal distance. Their racetrack performances seem to confirm this. He was great and she is great but great horses lose to lesser horses all the time because of distance limitations. Don't be surprised if even a superior horse to her like Sea The Stars loses this weekend because he does not want to run 12f. The difference though he is trying it to jump in with the immortals and she is watching birds from her pen at Saratoga.
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#13
09-30-2009, 08:15 PM
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#14
09-30-2009, 08:16 PM
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There are no facts to indicate that " she is just like her daddy "--that is an opinion , as is the fact that daddy lost to horses at 10 furlongs either due to their superiority or his limitations---both or neither... An assessment is never a fact---even a strongly evident one is still an opinion .. Get your facts straight ...
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#15
09-30-2009, 08:17 PM
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#16
09-30-2009, 08:37 PM
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Rachel struggled in the Preakness with a very average horse like MTB and never even tried 10f for a reason.
She had opportunities to run in the 12f Belmont and 10f Travers and opted for two shorter races. I don't know too many people that would rather win a Haskell and Woodward than a Belmont and Travers but I give credit to a very smart trainer that knows his horses limitations. I do not have a problem with his owner not running her again either but I don't think he should be going out and calling himself a sportsman either. He seems to be a bad sport that lost last year to better European horses at Santa Anita but is just a bad loser. I suspect Mr. Jackson will show up at Santa Anita and have no horse in the Classic but he will still try to steal the spotlight from the owners that are competing because he seems to always need to be the center of attention and is not exactly a great ambassador for horse racing.
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#17
09-30-2009, 10:47 PM
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#18
10-01-2009, 01:04 AM
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Medaglia D Oro's 10 furlong races were still fast, even if he didn't win. And anyways, there's no way to tell for sure until Rachel tries the distance. Many horses outrun their pedigrees.
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#19
10-01-2009, 01:34 AM
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This whole idea that Medaglia d'Oro couldn't get 10 furlongs is totally ridiculous.
First of all, he lost by a head or so in the Belmont....12 furlongs He earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 119 in the Pacific Classic at 10 furlongs. He broke the Del Mar track record that day, and was still beaten some 2 lengths by Candy Ride, who earned a 124. Does the fact that he was beaten that day mean that he can't get 1-1/4? Medaglia d'Oro was beaten a length by Pleasantly Perfect in the 10f Dubai World Cup. He was some 5 lengths in front of the third place horse. Yeah, he couldn't get 10 furlongs.
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#20
10-01-2009, 07:55 AM
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one, i disagree that rachel 'struggled'. two, no one asked rachel where she wanted to run. she didn't 'choose' any of the races. if you want to think rachel would lose at 10f, that's your prerogative. but it's certainly far from fact. as for whether jess is a sportsman or not, i don't see what bearing that would have on whether rachel could handle a classic distance.
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Books serve to show a man that those original thoughts of his aren't very new at all. Abraham Lincoln
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