What's Going On Here : rachel alexandra

Great - Chel - By Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 17:36:00 GMT

It is what every person who has worked in the horse industry, ever watched a horse race, or ever tossed away a losing ticket, waits to see: greatness in the Thoroughbred.

Those within the industry, who come from so many special interest groups that they never seem to agree on anything, can surely agree on this. Rachel Alexandra defines greatness in the Thoroughbred.

For a few moments the very real and pressing needs of an industry in sharp decline vanish as Rachel Alexandra reminds us again of why we love this sport so much. Seeing jockey Calvin Borel holding a loose rein, realizing he doesn’t really even have to ask her to run, we forget all that is wrong in horse racing and remember all that is right.

During the telecast of the Haskell Invitational Stakes (gr. I), the TVG announcers pondered which performance of Rachel’s had been the most dazzling, which is like trying to figure out which of Michael Jordan’s dunks was the most spectacular. Her 19 1/4-length tour-de-force in the Mother Goose Stakes (gr. I) was mentioned, as was her victory over males in the classic BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I).

After the 3-year-old daughter of Medaglia d’Oro beat males again, taking the Aug. 2 Haskell by a facile six lengths, one of the commentators immediately wanted to change his vote. And who could blame him? Borel and Rachel moved by Summer Bird, the winner of the Belmont Stakes (gr. I), and Munnings, winner of the Tom Fool Handicap (gr. II), in the turn for home and opened up by four at the head of the lane with seemingly little effort.

From this viewpoint, however, the moments of greatness Aug. 2 were not in the turn for home or at the wire, but prior to those moments. The first came as Rachel Alexandra walked out of the tunnel and toward the racetrack. With Monmouth Park fans pressed against each other to see her, waving signs while clapping and cheering, Rachel never turned a hair. She was cool, calm, and focused on the business at hand.

The second came just a few moments later, when, during the post parade, Rachel was shown walking toward the TVG camera. It was hard not to notice the size and scope of the filly’s hindquarters, the breed personified in her muscular yet confident walk.

Rachel Alexandra won the Haskell just a few minutes drive from the Atlantic Ocean while another that illustrates greatness in the Thoroughbred, Zenyatta, who is undefeated in 11 starts, was safely in her stall at Del Mar, the Southern California track from which you can see the Pacific Ocean.

Like Rachel, Zenyatta embodies special qualities quite evident to even the casual racegoer. When walking from the paddock to the racetrack, Zenyatta drops her head in a regal manner, and reaching the racing surface, paws at the track in fanciful fashion. Her competitors know they are in trouble.

A 5-year-old mare by Street Cry, Zenyatta also projects an imposing figure, standing 17 hands tall and rippling with muscles.

Rachel Alexandra versus Zenyatta is the match-up racing fans everywhere are clamoring for, though the odds of that happening appear much longer than either filly has been in their recent races.

Zenyatta, last year’s champion older female, has raced outside California only once. Her owners, Jerry and Ann Moss, and trainer, John Shirreffs, have indicated she will make her next starts in California, where the Breeders’ Cup World Championships will be held for the second straight year in early November.

Rachel Alexandra has won eight straight and 10 of 13 overall, and her co-owner, Jess Jackson, has made it quite clear that he and trainer Steve Asmussen do not intend to run her on a synthetic surface, which rules out the Breeders’ Cup.

With Zenyatta not leaving California and Rachel Alexandra not running on synthetic surfaces, we have a stalemate.

Perhaps Fair Grounds, which opens around Thanksgiving and would be a good neutral site, should start working now on a race that could help define true greatness in the Thoroughbred. Or at least give racing fans what they most want to see.

Hard to Predict - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 18:39:00 GMT

Another Triple Crown season has come and gone, and as usual it did not disappoint. Many of the happenings would have been impossible to predict, however, such as:

• A 50-1 shot winning the May 2 Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). It looked like Quality Road, The Pamplemousse, and I Want Revenge would all bring solid credentials to Churchill Downs for the Derby, but they fell by the wayside. At the end of the day, a new star was born when Mine That Bird came through on the rail under the master of such rides, Calvin “Bo-Rail” Borel, to wear the roses.

• The trainer of the Derby winner, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., winning the race with his first-ever starter in a graded stakes race. Woolley proved there are good horsemen at every track in the country, just waiting to get their hands on a good horse. Two things stand out about Woolley: 1) He was incredibly accommodating to the media and fans, doing hundreds of interviews and signing hundreds of autographs. This from a guy surely worn out from hobbling around on crutches since breaking his leg in a motorcycle accident. 2) Over and over and over again, Woolley took little credit for the Derby win, BlackBerry Preakness (gr. I) second, or Belmont (gr. I) third. He credited the horse.

• A filly winning the Preakness for the first time since 1924. Those who witnessed the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) were left speechless by Rachel Alexandra’s dazzling 20 1/4-length procession the day prior to the Derby and left wondering if she would have beaten the boys had she run Saturday instead of Friday. Her owners (Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer) did not want to run against males, but the next week she was sold (to Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick), switched barns (from Hal Wiggins to Steve Asmussen), and was headed to Baltimore for the middle leg of the Triple Crown.

• A jockey giving up the mount on the Kentucky Derby winner. In an unprecedented but completely understandable move, Borel stuck with the filly and made the right choice as she won the Preakness, holding off Mine That Bird and jockey Mike Smith. Borel and his longtime agent, Jerry Hissam, were put in an unusual situation but did what was right for the rider’s business.

• Borel regaining the mount on Mine That Bird; Borel becoming a media sensation. Calvin with Jay Leno; Calvin with David Letterman; Calvin on Good Morning America; Calvin ringing the opening bell on Wall Street as traders chanted his name. It’s Calvinmania. What is President Obama waiting for? Calvin Borel is a sweet, warm, down-to-earth person you can’t help but love, and every appearance helps Thoroughbred racing. If we could be so lucky as to have Mine That Bird turn into the next John Henry, we could ride this show for years to come. Again, Woolley showed complete class, knowing the jockey had to make the choice he did and putting him back on for the Belmont. It appeared Borel moved too soon in the Belmont, but after acknowledging that, the trainer said he would “be the first to pat him on the back.”

• Another trainer winning his first graded race in a classic. While it was not his first start in a graded race—it was his seventh—Tim Ice won the Belmont with Summer Bird for his first graded victory. A 15-year assistant, Ice learned his lessons well, skipping the Preakness, shipping to Belmont Park early, and saddling the colt to win the “Test of the Champion” in only his fifth start.

• Two classic winners for a sire in his first crop. We’ve seen numerous sires get one classic winner lately in his first crop, but Gainesway Farm stallion Birdstone notched two in Mine That Bird and Summer Bird. They carry C.V. Whitney bloodlines, and that leading to success is the one thing that could have been predicted to have turned out as it did.

The Art of the Deal - by Dan Liebman

Blood-Horse Staff — Tue, 19 May 2009 13:42:00 GMT

Bloodstock agent John Moynihan has bought and sold many good horses, seen many top individuals at sales, and witnessed many impressive performances on the racetrack.

But he had never been completely blown away until May 1, 2009.

Wine mogul Jess Jackson did not attend the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I) that day, but his wife, Barbara Banke, watched the race at Churchill Downs with Moynihan, the agent for their Stonestreet Stables.

“The performance by Rachel Alexandra was one of the most impressive, if not the most impressive, by a racehorse that I have ever seen in real life,” Moynihan said May 17, the day after the filly won the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (gr. I). “She won by 20 lengths (for the record 201⁄4), but what struck me was that when the outrider picked her up, she was at the five-eighths gap. I thought to myself, ‘She just galloped out faster than they will run in the Belmont (gr. I).’ It struck me as awe inspiring.”

Moynihan accompanied Banke and Jackson to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I), and noticed the buzz created by the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro.

“Everybody was talking about it; everybody was talking about Rachel,” he said. “Then after the Derby, you had this feeling like the best 3-year-old in the country didn’t run on Derby day, but had run the day before. Everybody was saying that.”

On May 4, two days after the Derby, Moynihan called Dolphus Morrison, who bred and co-owned Rachel Alexandra, to inquire if she might be for sale.

She was, but there was a short-window of opportunity because Morrison and his wife were preparing to leave for a two-week vacation in Hawaii.

Moynihan needed to speak to Jackson and Banke immediately. The only problem was they were enjoying dinner at Dudley’s in Lexington to celebrate their anniversary.

Hey, for a horse deal, anyone can be interrupted at any time. Moynihan crashed the party.

“Yeah, I busted in on the party,” Moynihan said, chuckling. “I told them the situation; we discussed the pros and cons and the opportunities for the filly.”

The couple wanted to sleep on it, always good advice in a business where many deals are made on the spur of the moment.

As we now know, they decided to pursue it.

Moynihan got back in touch with Morrison and a deal was consummated, pending veterinary exams for racing soundness and breeding potential. The morning of May 6, Rachel Alexandra was vetted and passed with flying colors. Moynihan called Morrison, and he and his partner, Michael Lauffer, hopped in the car and started driving from Missouri to Kentucky.

The group had dinner, signed the papers, and the following morning at 5:15, Rachel Alexandra was walked from the barn of Hal Wiggins to Stonestreet’s primary trainer, Steve Asmussen.

The timing, Moynihan said, was crucial.

“They were not intending to run her until the Acorn (gr. I, June 6), so they were just walking her,” he said. “Had the deal been done a day later, it could have been too late to get her ready for the Preakness.”

Moynihan also engineered the deal to purchase a majority of two-time Horse of the Year Curlin after his first start, but this was different. This was buying a horse that had just won a grade I race by more than 20 lengths.

“With Curlin, I thought he had the ability to be a top racehorse, but he had to prove it,” Moynihan said. “She had already proven it, but she was a big gamble because we thought she was the best horse in the country—but to put your money where your mouth is, to push the envelope, to have her prove she is the best…

“The thing that is gratifying is that we knew we were buying a great horse, but we went off to achieve something she had not previously achieved. As (co-owner) Harold (McCormick) said, we raised the bar, and we cleared it pretty good.”

If they keep raising the bar, this could be an exciting year for racing.