Rachel Alexandra gets in final Woodward prep

Rachel Alexandra seeks to make history in the Woodward (EquiSport Photos) Just before sunrise Monday morning, RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) worked a half-mile in :49 in preparation for her attempt to rewrite racing history in Saturday’s $750,000 Woodward S. (G1). Clockers for The New York Racing Association caught the three-year-old filly going the first quarter in 25 2/5 and galloping out five furlongs in 1:02 1/5 in her final serious move before taking on older males for the first time in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward. Regular exercise rider Dominic Terry was aboard for the breeze, the 15th fastest of 44 at the distance, over the fast Oklahoma training track. “She was very happy, came back very loose,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “If she’s happy, we’re happy. It was a nice, cool, crisp morning, and the racetrack was in great shape. I can’t say enough about (Director of Racing Surfaces Glen Kozak) and the job he’s done. She looked as good as we could have hoped. “She was extremely impressive,” he added. “We were teasing about it, making a training video and putting it in everyone else’s stall to say, ‘Try to do it like this.'” Rachel Alexandra is trying to become the first female ever to win the Woodward. A leading candidate for Horse of the Year honors with an eight-race win streak, she has already defeated three-year-old males in the Preakness S. (G1) and the Haskell Invitational (G1).

The Woodward, won last year by two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, is
included on the resume of more than a dozen other past Horses of the
Year, including Saint Liam (2005), Ghostzapper (2004), Mineshaft (2003),
Cigar (1995-96), Holy Bull (1994), Alysheba (1988), Spectacular Bid
(1980), and Affirmed (1979).

“It’s great to have an opportunity to run her on the stage that is
Saratoga, one I think she is deserving of,” Asmussen said. “To run her
in a race that Curlin was fortunate enough to win last year, we realize
what a tall order it is for her. Most likely Saturday, it will take a
career effort for her.”

A throng of onlookers, some wearing Rachel Alexandra T-shirts and
caps, was on hand for the work, among them Barbara Banke, wife of
Stonestreet Stable owner Jess Jackson.

“She did it so easily,” Banke said. “It looks like she’s just loping
along, and (later) you see how fast she did it.”

Rachel Alexandra, who has not lost since November 29, 2008, is
scheduled to school at Saratoga Thursday afternoon during the fifth
race, a session which should be well-attended.

“I think she knows she’s a star,” Asmussen said. “I think she accepts
the pressure that’s put on her, and she thrives on it.”

Kentucky Derby (G1) winner MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone), meanwhile,
breezed in :51 over the fast main track to stretch his legs as he
prepares for a cross-country trip that will take him back to New Mexico,
where he will lead the post parade for Monday’s All-American Futurity, a
Quarter Horse race at Ruidoso Downs.

The three-year-old gelding is scheduled to depart Saratoga at 3 a.m.
(EDT) Tuesday on a van to Newark International Airport, where he will
board a FedEx cargo plane bound for El Paso, Texas. He will later be
vanned to his home track in New Mexico, Sunland Park, which is across
the state line from El Paso.

It will mark the first time Mine That Bird and trainer Chip Woolley
have been home since they departed for the 1,200-mile journey to the
Kentucky Derby back in April.

“I’m looking forward to sleeping in my own bed,” Woolley said.