Relaxed Rachel is still at Spa

[TouchOfGrey]

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."