Racehorse TALK

Rachel rules the roost in Mother Goose

Rachel Alexandra crushed the competition to extend her winning streak to seven (Melissa Wirth/Horsephotos.com) With the scratches of Hopeful Image (Gulch) and Don't Forget Gil (Kafwain), superstar filly RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) was left with only two rivals in the $270,000 Mother Goose S. (G1) at Belmont Park on Saturday and, as anticipated, the 1 1/8-mile event turned into a virtual walkover for the massive bay. Malibu Prayer (Malibu Moon) led for the blistering opening half-mile, setting fractions of :22 2/5 and :44 3/5 with Flashing (A.P. Indy) pressing the pace to the outside and just behind. Rachel Alexandra and regular pilot Calvin Borel, in the meantime, were loping along four lengths behind the front runner. Just as Malibu Prayer posted three-quarters in 1:08 4/5, Rachel Alexandra began catching up and split her two competitors rounding the turn. The future champion was never asked for her full run, and Borel began pulling her up long before the wire made an appearance. Nonetheless, Rachel Alexandra set a new stakes record for the Mother Goose when finishing up over the fast dirt in 1:46.33. The final margin on the line was 19 1/4 lengths. "How about that!" co-owner Jess Jackson exclaimed. "I am a modest guy. I was hoping for maybe 10 lengths. She is a special filly, she is a champion, she is a lady.

"We don't know where her bottom is. She has beauty combined with speed, so fast. I think she's the best three-year-old right now. She just broke a track record and she wasn't even asked."

Sent off the prohibitive 1-9 favorite, Rachel Alexandra paid $2.10. Place and show wagering were canceled, as were the exacta and trifecta. Malibu Prayer was easily second best, finishing 12 1/4 lengths in front of Flashing to add a Grade 1 second to her lifetime record in her stakes debut.

"(Trainer) Steve (Asmussen) told me 'Ride your race. You know her as good as me and I think she's a kind of a grinder,' and I said 'Yes sir, that's what she is," Borel said. "I think she's just a wonderful animal, she grinds fast, you don't have to be in front, you know, you can take her back.

"She's a racehorse, this is a racehorse. Believe me, she's not normal; I'm telling you, she's unbelievable. I nudged (her) on the turn for home around the quarter-pole but that was it. To make sure she'd get something out of it and do something for me. She set a new track record; believe me, she's not normal. I'm telling you, she's unbelievable."

Rachel Alexandra has now won nine races, seven of those in succession, and pushed her earnings to $1,798,354 to go along with her 12-9-2-0 career line. Her only off-the-board run came in her career debut at Churchill Downs in 2008, but she immediately followed that up with a 1 1/4-length maiden special weight score under the Twin Spires. Second in the Debutante S. (G3) in her black-type bow, the bay lass next up tried Keeneland's Polytrack and recorded a three-length allowance victory. She returned to Churchill to finish out her juvenile campaign, recording a second in the Pocahontas S. (G3) and beginning her current win streak with a 4 3/4-length score in the Golden Rod S. (G2).

That latter race appeared to be a turning point for the filly. She made her three-year-old debut in the Martha Washington S. at Oaklawn Park, running clear by eight lengths on the wire, and continued on to school her rivals in the Fair Grounds Oaks (G2) and Fantasy S. (G2). Rachel Alexandra was a standout in the Kentucky Oaks (G1), taking over in the stretch and drawing off to a record 20 1/4-length win in that prestigious event, which would turn out to be her last start under the expert tutelage of trainer Hal Wiggins.

Following her win in the Oaks, Rachel Alexandra was purchased by Jess Jackson's Stonestreet Stables of Curlin fame and Harold McCormick from the partnership of Michael Lauffer and breeder Dolphus Morrison, and subsequently switched from Wiggins to Asmussen's barn. Future plans for the filly also changed, as her previous connections had announced after the Oaks that Rachel Alexandra would point for the Acorn S. (G1) on the Belmont S. (G1) undercard on June 6.

Instead, Jackson entered his new star against the boys in the Preakness S. (G1) two weeks later. That move resulted in Borel taking off his Kentucky Derby (G1)-winning mount Mine That Bird (Birdstone) to ride the filly. The move paid off as Rachel Alexandra held off a rallying Mine That Bird by a length to take the second jewel of the Triple Crown. Rested since that effort, she added to her growing legend while making her return in this spot.

The Kentucky-bred Rachel Alexandra is the first foal out of the stakes-winning and Grade 2-placed Lotta Kim (Roar), who has also produced an unraced juvenile colt by Empire Maker named Empire Ruler. Lotta Kim is a half-sister to 2001 Pocahontas S. winner Lotta Rhythm (Rhythm), who was third in that same year's Golden Rod, as well as last year's Tejano Run S. victor High Blues (High Yield). Also included in the female family is 1991 Miss Preakness S. heroine Missy's Music (Travelling Music) and Grade 3 winner Devil Diamond (Devil's Bag).

Zenyatta shows her class in Vanity

Zenyatta made a mockery of her 129-pound burden (Benoit Photo) Jerry and Ann Moss' ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) overcame her toughest assignment to date on Saturday when giving 13-16 pounds to her rivals in the $287,000 Vanity H. (G1) at Hollywood Park. Going for a title defense in the 1 1/8-mile test, the dark bay mare had to carry 129 pounds for the first time in her career and, for a brief moment in the stretch, appeared on the verge of suffering her first loss. Once again settling near the rear of the field when the gates opened, Zenyatta was allowed to lope along as Mike Smith tried to conserve her strength. Briecat (Adcat) set the early pace in :24 2/5, :48 and 1:11 1/5 with Allicansayis Wow (Street Cry [Ire]) tracking to the outside and Dawn After Dawn (Successful Appeal) running just in behind along the rail. The rest of the field began catching up nearing the turn, and Smith gave Zenyatta the signal to begin her rally.  Allicansayis Wow couldn't sustain her run and began to fade, leaving the way open for Dawn After Dawn to move up and takeover the mile split from Briecat in 1:35 2/5. Zenyatta was on the outside and Hot n' Dusty (Unusual Heat), who had been tracking in fourth early, was putting forth her best effort as well.

The reigning champion older mare seemed to stall for a moment in midstretch, but then her ears pricked forward and she kicked it into gear. Overtaking her rivals, Zenyatta was 2 1/2 lengths clear on the wire and completed the Cushion Track feature in 1:48.

"It's just amazing. She's just incredible," Smith said. "It was a short field and she had a lot of weight on her and I didn't want her to have so much to do, so I stayed a little closer than normal. Dawn After Dawn ran a great race, she kind of skipped away from me. I was trying not to hit the front too soon and she got away from me a good three-quarters to a length. But when I asked (Zenyatta) she lengthened her stride and it was pretty much over then.

"I watched Rachel Alexandra's race in the (jockeys') room before I went to the paddock. I thought she ran dynamite. Maybe down the road we can have a little race together. It would be nice and it would be great for racing, I believe."

Sent off the 1-5 favorite, Zenyatta gave back $2.60 and $2.10 while starting the $7.10 exacta ($1). Briecat re-rallied to take second over Dawn After Dawn by three parts of a length on the line, returning $5.80 at 10-1. Show wagering was canceled, but the $1 trifecta with the 9-1 Dawn After Dawn paid $36. Hot n' Dusty took fourth by a head over Allicansayis Wow and ended the 8-6-1-4 superfecta ($1) that totaled $134.20. Modification (Vindication) trailed the field all the way home after You Lift Me Up (Lord Carson) and Forest Melody (Forest Camp) were scratched.

Zenyatta's fans came prepared to show their support (Benoit Photo) "She's a big strong horse and obviously we weren't afraid of the extra three pounds," trainer John Shirreffs stated. "She's a champion and that's what champions do. You can't run from it. Embrace it. She was very steady throughout the race. Mike (Smith) said he timed his ride. He didn't want to move too soon. He didn't want to try to open up. I thought that she responded to everything he asked of her. She has one of the best closing kicks in any horse I've been around. If she's close, then she has a chance." Zenyatta was making just her second start of the year in this spot, having ended 2008 with a 1 1/2-length score in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1). That race easily wrapped up the Eclipse Award for the dark bay, as she also captured, in succession, the El Encino S. (G2), Apple Blossom H. (G1), Milady H. (G2), Vanity, Clement L. Hirsch H. (G2) and Lady's Secret S. (G1) during her four-year-old campaign.

Originally scheduled to make her 2009 bow in the Louisville Distaff S. (G2) on Kentucky Oaks Day, Shirreffs opted to scratch his charge because of the off track. Zenyatta was then rerouted to a title defense in the May 23 Milady H. (G2), and with this one has now gone undefeated from 11 starts and earned $2,414,580.

Bred by Maverick Production Limited in Kentucky, Zenyatta is out of the winning Vertigineux (Kris S.), making her a half-sister to multiple Grade 1 queen Balance (Thunder Gulch), a juvenile colt named Souper Spectacular (Giant's Causeway) and a 2009 filly by Bernardini. Zenyatta, who is from the same family as 2001 Canadian champion turf mare Sweetest Thing (Candy Stripes), was a bargain at only $60,000 for her owners at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale.

Shirreffs mentioned that Zenyatta could go for yet another title defense in the July 30 Clement L. Hirsch S. (G1) at Del Mar.