THOROUGHBRED BEAT
SEPTEMBER 10, 2009
by James Scully
Rachel the Great: RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) made history in
Saturday’s Woodward S. (G1), becoming the first filly ever to win the
prestigious event for older horses, and sealed the deal for Horse of the Year
honors. It was a remarkable performance.
After breaking alertly under Calvin Borel, she contested an opening
quarter-mile in :22.85, a suicidal early fraction for a 1 1/8-mile trip at
Saratoga. One race earlier, Grade 1 sprinters ripped through a first
quarter-mile in :22.48 in the seven-furlong Forego and the front-runners folded
their tents by the stretch run, with the top three spots going to closers. We’ve
seen tracks on big Saturdays play toward fast times, resulting
in a speed-favoring oval that yields multiple wire-to-wire winners, but only
one horse went wire to wire in five dirt races on the Woodward undercard. It was
setting up for a closer as Rachel Alexandra reached the half-mile mark in :46.41
with a one-length lead.
BULLSBAY (Tiznow) and ASIATIC BOY (Arg) (Not For Sale) were in full flight on
the far turn, advancing steadily toward the filly, and Stephen Foster H. (G1)
winner MACHO AGAIN (Macho Uno) was beginning to find his best stride from
farther back. Rachel Alexandra entered the stretch with a tenuous advantage, as
her rivals began to bunch up behind her, and Borel made a heady play at
this point, resisting the urge to ask for her best. He tapped her on her front
right shoulder a few times before going to work on her in midstretch, and Rachel
Alexandra responded, spurting clear momentarily. She was all heart the rest of
the way to the wire.
Macho Again made a desperate run in deep stretch, whittling the margin to a
head in the best performance of his career, but he couldn’t catch the
one-of-a-kind filly. Rachel Alexandra persevered in gigantic fashion.
Rest time: Rachel Alexandra will likely head to the sidelines for the
rest of the year with a nine-race winning streak in tow. She went eight-for-eight in 2009, earning century-topping BRIS Speed ratings in each start, and
posted a phenomenal 100 BRIS Late Pace rating in Saturday’s Woodward following
her grueling early exploits. Her best Speed number was a 116 for the Haskell
Invitational (G1).
The only chance of her running again would be in a match-up against ZENYATTA
(Street Cry [Ire]) in the October 3 Beldame S. (G1). It’s a race every
Thoroughbred racing fan would love to see, but it’s not going to happen. And
while it’s a bitterly disappointing situation, the logic’s sound. The Breeders’
Cup has been Zenyatta’s target all season, so why jeopardize her chances at
Santa Anita by shipping to Belmont Park in October? If she got beaten soundly in
the Beldame, Zenyatta could go off form in the Breeders’ Cup. She’s got a much
better chance of winning the Classic (G1) on Pro-Ride than beating Rachel
Alexandra on dirt, and a victory over males would be a glorious way for her to exit
the stage unbeaten.
So we’ll have to wait to see Rachel Alexandra again in 2010, and it’s going
to be an exciting build-up toward her return. It figures to be a wild season,
one never seen in modern times, if she makes it to her ultimate goal, the
Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. Every Grade 1 event on dirt for older
horses is a possible target, as Jess Jackson and Steve Asmussen have the
flexibility to navigate between races for females and males, and she’ll scare
off competition anywhere she goes.
Richard’s upset: RICHARD’S KID (Lemon Drop Kid) closed extremely wide off of
the far turn and ran past nine rivals in the stretch to earn his first graded
win in Sunday’s $1 million Pacific Classic (G1), surprising most folks at 24-1.
It was easy to quickly dismiss the upset as another byproduct of the synthetic
tracks, where horses who aren’t near Grade 1 caliber on the dirt can suddenly
revitalize their racing careers with major victories on controversial new
surfaces, but the rush to judgment was premature.
Richard’s Kid clearly took to the Polytrack at Del Mar, finishing second by a
nose in the 1 1/2-mile Cougar II H. prior to Sunday’s shocker, but the
four-year-old had the right to move forward on any surface. There’s a long line
of late-blooming horses who became a major factor in Grade 1 dirt races after
toiling for a couple of seasons at a lower level. 2005 Horse of the Year Saint
Liam is a lofty example — he couldn’t win the Iowa Derby and finished sixth
in a 1 1/8-mile dirt allowance at Saratoga during his three-year-old campaign.
After launching his racing career in 2007, Richard’s Kid didn’t break his maiden
until less than a year ago at Laurel Park. The Maryland-bred displayed plenty of promise when capturing his stakes debut in
February, earning a 106 BRIS Speed rating for a one-length score in the John B.
Campbell H. over Bullsbay, who would go on to win the Whitney H. (G1)
this summer. Richard’s Kid didn’t show much in his next two starts, finishing up
the track in the New Orleans H. (G2) and Harrison E. Johnson Memorial H., but
both races came over sloppy tracks. Freshened until the 1 1/16-mile William Donald
Schaefer S. (G3) on the Preakness S. (G1) undercard, he offered a belated rally for
fourth off a slow pace.
With only four stakes starts to his credit, Richard’s Kid was shipped to Bob
Baffert in California. The dark bay colt tried the grass in the Eddie Read S.
(G1), recording a dismal seventh, and made his synthetic debut in the Cougar
II. Richard’s Kid must still prove that the Pacific Classic was no fluke, but
he’s the type of horse who might back it up.
Baffert: On a holiday weekend loaded with stakes action, Bob Baffert
was the king of Del Mar, sweeping the final three Grade 1 events, and he wound
up with five of the nine Grade 1 trophies during the entire meet. ZENSATIONAL
(Unbridled’s Song) lived up to his billing in Sunday’s Pat O’Brien S. (G1),
recording his third straight important win over elder rivals and
confirming his status as the favorite for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint (G1) with a 2
1/4-length victory. He’s registered commendable BRIS Speed ratings
of 102-104-103 on the synthetic tracks. Baffert capped the huge weekend with LOOKIN AT LUCKY (Smart Strike), who gave him a ninth title in the Del Mar
Futurity (G1).
The recently inducted Hall of Famer holds a strong hand for the Breeders’
Cup. The unbeaten Lookin at Lucky should appreciate longer distances similar to
2008 Futurity winner Midshipman (Unbridled’s Song), who capped his championship
season with a victory in Breeders’ Cup Juvenile (G1), and the silver-haired
conditioner could have viable contenders in at least five of the 13 Breeders’
Cup races. His stable is firing on all cylinders presently.
Sleepy Debutante: Following her smashing 6 1/2-length victory
in the Sorrento S. (G3), MI SUENO (Pulpit) delivered a workmanlike effort in
Saturday’s Darley Debutante (G1), re-rallying in midstretch to win by a length
in a tight finish. The first foal out of Grade 1-winning millionaire Madcap
Escapade (Hennessy), the Eric Guillot-trained filly will look to keep her momentum going
through the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1).
Madcap Escapade made her mark as a sprinter, capturing the 2005 editions of
the Princess Rooney H. (G2), Shirley Jones H. (G2) and Madison S. (G3) at
shorter distances, but her biggest career victory came in the 2004 Ashland S.
(G1) at 1 1/16 miles. She also finished a respectable third in the nine-furlong
Kentucky Oaks (G1). Mi Sueno should get endurance from sire Pulpit, and she’ll
have the opportunity to stretch out to two turns for the first time in the Oak
Leaf S. (G1) at Santa Anita on October 4.
Even though she earned only a 88 BRIS Speed rating in the Darley Debutante,
Mi Sueno looks like a standout in a thin juvenile filly division out west.
Dominant Dixie: She was 1-5 off of a spectacular 6 1/4-length victory
in Schuylerville S. (G3), and HOT DIXIE CHICK (Dixie Union) ran to her odds in
Sunday’s Spinaway S. (G1) at Saratoga, posting a comfortable 1 3/4-length
decision for Asmussen. Her pedigree isn’t encouraging for longer distances, but
it would be no surprise to see the Grace Stables colorbearer stretch out
successfully to 1 1/16 miles this season. Indian Blessing easily captured the
2007 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies before shifting her focus to shorter
distances last season.
The Breeders’ Cup makes sense for Hot Dixie Chick. It will enhance her legacy
while guaranteeing championship honors, and she’ll be the horse to beat if she
handles the transition to Pro-Ride. But that’s the problem. Her owner, Barbara
Banke, is the wife of “Plastic-Hater” Jess Jackson, and Hot Dixie Chick could be
kept out of the Breeders’ Cup due to sheer spite for the oval at Santa Anita.
Rachel Alexandra, who actually won her lone start on a synthetic track as a
two-year-old, has already wrapped up Horse of the Year and divisional honors.
It’s easy to understand why she’ll skip the Breeders’ Cup, but it’s a different
situation for Hot Dixie Chick. Eclipse Award voters will have other options if
her connections elect to stay away from California in order to compete against
small fields of overmatched rivals on the dirt this fall.
The decision to schedule two consecutive Breeders’ Cup at Santa Anita was a blunder, but we
have to deal with it once more before getting back to traditional surfaces that
don’t penalize dirt horses. Jackson has every right to dislike the
synthetic tracks following the experience of Curlin, who suffered the only
unplaced finish of his career in the 2008 Classic, but Hot Dixie Chick deserves the chance
to win the Juvenile Fillies. Some horses can handle both surfaces, with Indian
Blessing being a prime example. A Grade 1 winner on dirt and synthetic, she
garnered her 2008 Eclipse Award with a strong performance in last year’s Filly &
Mare Sprint on Pro-Ride.
Hot Dixie Chick is the star everybody wants to see in the biggest race of the
year for her division, and Jackson will further enhance his reputation for
sportsmanship by giving her the opportunity on Thoroughbred racing’s
championship day. If it doesn’t work out, she’ll get the chance to kick butt
again on dirt next year.