Rachel Alexandra, Mine That Bird breeze; filly’s Belmont
status pending
Preakness S. (G1) victress RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) and Kentucky
Rachel Alexandra cruised a half-mile in :50 1/5 under exercise rider Dominic
Mine That Bird had jockey Calvin Borel, who piloted him to a 6
Two major questions remained without answers following the Memorial Day
And, if she does not
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Majority owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables said a decision of the
Belmont S. status of Rachel Alexandra would not be made until next week at the
earliest. Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to work then, and her camp would know
more after that effort.
“As I have said before, it is up to her,” Jackson said. “She will blow out
next Monday, and that will tell us more.
“She’s recovering nicely and I think, for the time that’s elapsed, only nine
days, she’s right on — but we can’t make a decision until we know,” he
continued. “My concern is her attitude. She thinks she can run through a brick wall,
so her attitude has to be monitored. If anything, we have to hold her back a
little bit because she’s so eager to run.
“We have to monitor her and make sure that we preserve her because she’s so
special; the principal concern is the horse herself keeping her sound and
letting the public enjoy her,” Jackson added. “She is special. I don’t
want to push her past her limits.
“It’s not necessary that she go in
the Belmont. She’s got a whole season ahead. She’s been running the whole year
so we have to monitor that very carefully. It might not be as soon as you’d
want, but we’re still considering the Belmont.”
Jackson said that if Rachel Alexandra does not run in the Belmont, he would
consider running her in the $300,000 Mother Goose S. (G1) for three-year-old
fillies going nine furlongs at Belmont Park on June 27.
“The Mother Goose would give her a little extra time if she needs it,” he
noted. “The Belmont would be a full (effort) for her right now.”
Jackson also spoke of a possible clash with the undefeated champion older
mare ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]), who advanced her record to 10-for-10 in
Saturday’s Milady H. (G2) at Hollywood Park.
“I look forward to facing Zenyatta,” Jackson said. “But I want to keep her
(Rachel Alexandra) on the East Coast. If Zenyatta wants to come east, come on. I
don’t want to run a horse on synthetic (surfaces).”
So, does this mean Rachel Alexandra would not go to the Breeders’ Cup World
Championships that will be held November 6 and 7 on the Pro-Ride surface at
Santa Anita?
“Unless there is no other frontier to conquer. If she runs on the plastic,
she can beat the boys in the Classic (G1) — not the Ladies’ Classic (G1),”
Jackson averred.
Rachel Alexandra came on the track shortly before 6:30 (EDT) Monday,
accompanied by a pony with assistant trainer Scott Blasi aboard, and walked
around to the paddock runway. At 6:35, Rachel Alexandra eased her way down the
half-mile pole and began her move.
A brief, but heavy, rain shower started to
pelt the track as she entered the far turn, just about the time she clocked :12
3/5 for her opening furlong. With the rain pouring down, she continued through
splits of :25 and :37 1/5 and galloped out five furlongs in 1:04 1/5.
The move was uncharacteristically slow for Rachel Alexandra, who typically
worked fast for former trainer Hal Wiggins. It is fairly routine, however, for
the Steve Asmussen stable, which rarely sends its horses out for fast works. Asmussen said he was pleased with
the work.
“She looked beautiful, like Rachel does,” the reigning Eclipse Award-winning
conditioner commented. “The weather was not exactly cooperating this morning. We
had a pretty good shower right in the middle of her breeze, but she handled it
well, like she does everything else. She looked beautiful moving, went under the
wire well and came back very happy. She came back very relaxed and looked good.”
Following her work, Jackson huddled with Borel, who has ridden Rachel
Alexandra throughout her winning streak of six consecutive stakes races, and
Jerry Hissam, Borel’s agent. Jackson said that Robby Albarado, the rider of his
two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, could be called on to ride Rachel Alexandra
if the decision was made to run the filly in the Belmont and Borel already had another
Belmont riding commitment.
“Calvin is a great jockey and I hope he’d be willing to go with her,” Jackson
said. “He has to make his decision for himself, and if we’re in there together
and he’s not on our horse, it’ll probably be Robby Albarado, who was with us
with Curlin.”
Meanwhile, as Rachel Alexandra’s team continues to mull the Belmont, Mine
That Bird’s trainer, Bennie “Chip” Woolley Jr., said he was extending
the deadline for Borel to decide which horse he’ll ride in the Belmont. Woolley
and co-owners Mark Allen and Dr. Leonard Blach will now wait a few more days
before making a decision.
“He won me a Derby — he deserves the time it takes for him to make the
conscious, right decision,” said Woolley, who originally had set a Memorial Day
deadline for Borel. “And nobody knows really if that filly’s going to be running
in the Belmont, so it could work out where that’s not even a decision
for him. I think a little bit of time’s not too much to ask.
“I am going to hold off a few more days out of respect for Calvin. I
am going to talk with Mark Allen and Doc and give it a little more time
and see how things develop. It is possible I could wait until next
Monday.
“I’d like to have closure on this, but it is the nature of the
business,” Woolley observed. “You’ve got two good horses vying for the
same rider. Nobody likes to be in this situation. Both horses are at the
top of their game, and it is a tough choice for the rider, and it is
tough for the trainers.”
Woolley also noted that he was happy with Mine That Bird’s Monday move, which came shortly
after the mid-session break for track maintenance.
Walking to the track without a pony and equipped with four new shoes
that were put on Sunday afternoon, Mine That Bird backtracked to the
paddock runway and then went about his business, posting fractions of
:13 3/5, :26 2/5, :38 2/5 and galloping out five-eighths in 1:04 1/5 and
six furlongs in 1:18 2/5.
“It was perfect,” Woolley said. “I didn’t want anything like the :49 of
before the Preakness. The work was super and Calvin was really happy with it. He
had a little more wrap on him this time.
“I just wanted him to stretch his legs a bit. He will step it up next Monday
and then fly to New York on Wednesday. He will walk tomorrow and then go back to
the track the next day.”
The day’s other Belmont work came at Belmont Park, where Santa Anita Derby
(G1) runner-up CHOCOLATE CANDY (Candy Ride [Arg]) breezed seven furlongs in
1:27.34 on the fast main track.
Going out right before 6 a.m. with exercise rider Lindsey Molina
aboard, the Jerry Hollendorfer trainee was caught in splits of :24.63, :48.87
and 1:14.02.
“We wanted the workout to be nice and steady, which is what he got,” said
Hollendorfer, who flew in from the left coast to supervise the move and then
immediately left to saddle a horse Monday afternoon at Hollywood Park. “It was
his second-to-last work. I’m going to blow him out a half-mile or five-eighths
either Monday or Tuesday, and maybe Garrett (Gomez) will go up on him.”
Chocolate Candy, who is coming off a fifth-place finish in the Kentucky
Derby, will pick up the services of Gomez in the Belmont.
Hollendorfer said he was happy with his decision to ship Chocolate Candy in
early to prepare for the Belmont. Monday’s move was his third over the main
track, having gone a half-mile in :47.84 on May 11 and six furlongs in 1:13.44
on May 18, with Gomez up for the second work.
“It was suggested to us to train over at Belmont for a while before you run,”
Hollendorfer said. “I didn’t want to leave him on the road that long, but it’s
worked out OK so far. He’s been very happy here.”