Rachel Alexandra Gallops
Horse of the Year RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) and Bayakoa H. (G2) heroine ZARDANA (Brz) (Crimson Tide) each schooled in the paddock on Friday at Fair Grounds in advance of their expected starts in Saturday’s $200,000 New Orleans Ladies at the New Orleans venue. Trifecta wagering was added to the race late Friday, following approval by the Louisiana State Racing Commission.
The 1 1/16-mile event will be the first race of the year for Rachel Alexandra, who was also named champion three-year-old filly for 2009 following scores in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Preakness S. (G1), Haskell Invitational (G1) and Woodward S. (G1). Following the New Orleans Ladies, she is (Viagra Online Without A Prescription) expected to meet super mare and dual champion Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]) in the $5 million Apple Blossom Invitational (G1) at Oaklawn Park.horseracingpicks
Rachel Alexandra made two appearances on the eve of her four-year old debut, turning in a strong six-furlong gallop early in the morning and then wowing a crowd of admirers in the paddock during the afternoon’s 4TH race.
The gallop came at 6:15 a.m. (CST), when the bay lass stepped onto the track at the half-mile gap and took a right-hand turn before getting straight to the task at hand. With regular exercise rider Dominic Terry up, Rachel Alexandra galloped very strongly from the three-eighths pole to the three-quarters pole. Following the exercise, the champion filly was met by assistant trainer Scott Blasi and trainer Steve Asmussen, who walked her off the track back where they entered.
Later in the day Rachel Alexandra arrived in the paddock, at 2:20 p.m., with the horses entered for the 4TH race, and followed the same routine as when she schooled during Saturday’s races. She was led by Blasi and groom Javier Espinoza. Asmussen was present, as were other members of the superstar’s usual entourage, including her hotwalker Juan Gonzalez and her security chief.
Unlike Saturday, Rachel Alexandra had company for Friday’s session. The last three stalls in the Fair Grounds paddock were occupied by, from left to right, schoolers Rachel Alexandra; Devil’s Humor (Distorted Humor), a promising three-year-old filly making her debut for Asmussen in Saturday’s 4TH race; and Zardana, the second choice in the New Orleans Ladies.
Zardana will try her luck against racing’s reigning Horse of the Year (Lou Hodges Jr./Hodges Photography)
Zardana is a stablemate of Zenyatta, as both are trained by John Shirreffs, and will try to bounce back from a fourth-place finish in the Santa Maria H. (G2) last out. She was a surprise at 11-1 in the Bayakoa on December 5.
None of the trio misbehaved in any way and all impressed onlookers with their good looks. Fans applauded the first time Rachel Alexandra walked around the ring, and one smitten railbird even cried out for “Rachel,” like a fan at the Oscars seeking a celebrity autograph.
On her final lap around the paddock, Rachel Alexandra pranced on her toes as she crossed the path to the racetrack.
Local horsemen at Fair Grounds were given a chance to sound off on the chances of Rachel Alexandra getting beat in her return, as well as her upcoming match with Zenyatta.
Donna Keen, wife of Fair Grounds-based trainer Dallas Keen, wasn’t a bit hesitant on stating her opinion Friday morning during training hours
“No way,” Keen said of the possibility of Rachel Alexandra losing. “She’s a diva!
“Well, we’ll have to see how she does tomorrow,” Keen continued on the upcoming face off. “She’s our horse, by that I mean everybody’s horse here at Fair Grounds. Everybody here at Fair Grounds loves her. Steve Asmussen is so good with all his horses. But he’s also good with other people’s horses. He’ll come up to horses in our barn when he’s walking by and hold his hands out. They all respond to him because he presents himself so well to them. All horses just seem to love Steve.”picks
Incidentally, one of Rachel Alexandra’s halters, signed by Asmussen and Rachel Alexandra’s jockey Calvin Borel, is encased in a handsome shadow box on display at Fair Grounds and subject to bids during a silent auction that ends March 20. The two top bidders at the silent auction will be invited to continue to bid publicly at the Horsemen’s Dinner during the evening of March 26, Fair Grounds Oaks Day.
Profits from the auction will go toward a barn-raising fundraiser for the Remember Me Racehorse Rescue facility operated by Donna and Dallas Keen. Remember Me Rescue placed 36 retired race horses in new homes in 2009, some of which were rescued from slaughter by the couple, but new horses on coming in constantly.
“We have to build a new barn at our facility because I refuse to stop taking in new horses,” Donna Keen said.
Others were also confident in Rachel Alexandra’s chances, including Fair Grounds-based trainer Bobby Barnett, who was leading conditioner for several years at Oaklawn.
“I don’t think there’s any way they’ll beat her here tomorrow,” Barnett said, “and I don’t think she’ll get beat up there either. It’s always been her track up there, but I really think she takes her track with her wherever she goes.”
The two-part question was put to Frank Bernis, longtime assistant to Fair Grounds’ nine-time training champion Tom Amoss.
“No chance,” said Bernis, speaking of any potential upset Saturday at Fair Grounds. Concerning the possible meeting with Zenyatta, Bernis added, “That’s a tough call, but when Rachel’s at her top she’s a lot better horse than Zenyatta.”
New Orleans native Al Stall Jr., a three-time trainer champion at Fair Grounds, was less definitive — but only slightly.
“They all can be beat,” Stall stated. Concerning Rachel’s possible future face off with Zenyatta, he added, “We’ll have to see how their comeback races go and how they (each) come back out of those. They’re very close.”
Eddie Johnston, one of the hottest trainers on the grounds in recent days, was more definitive when asked if Rachel Alexandra could get beat Saturday.
“No,” he said. Asked about Rachel’s next possible assignment, Johnston added, “The biggest question is, does she get enough out of the race tomorrow? If she does — she’ll beat Zenyatta. I think she’s just a better horse.”
“Not the way she’s been training,” agreed Ruth Schmidt, assistant to Canadian-based trainer Josie Carroll. What about the next race, if it happens? “That’s a tough one,” Schmidt said. “It depends on how the race sets up. They’re both obviously stupendous fillies.”
Finally, the two questions were put to Evan Downing, now an assistant to trainer Greg Foley but formerly an assistant at the Asmussen barn.
“I think she (Rachel) is probably the best horse in the race tomorrow,” Downing said, “but if there’s a day she could get beat, it would be tomorrow. I love Rachel, and I like Steve and Scott Blasi, but I’m also a big Zenyatta fan. I saw Rachel get really tested in the Woodward last year, and I saw what it did to her. I haven’t seen Zenyatta nearly as much, but from what I’ve seen, it looks like nothing that she has faced has ever bothered her.”
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