RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) arrived at her winter base of Fair Grounds
without incident late Friday afternoon. The Horse of the Year candidate traveled
from Churchill Downs in to New Orleans along with four of her stablemates.
“She’s okay,” trainer Steve Asmussen said outside his Fair Grounds barn
shortly after Rachel Alexandra was settled in a stall. “She just found her a
spot (in the trailer) and stayed there, very comfortable.”
Rachel Alexandra was the first to walk off the trailer, led by Asmussen. The
trainer walked her into his barn before passing the filly to groom Juan
Gonzalez, who led Rachel Alexandra around the shed row several times. As she
passed the barn door, Rachel Alexandra repeatedly cocked her head and obliged
appreciative photographers from the local media gathered outside.
“She’ll walk (Saturday),” Asmussen said of his immediate plans for Rachel
Alexandra. “She’ll tack-walk at least a day, and if she drops her head and walks
around the barn good we’ll start again taking her and jogging her.”
Rachel Alexandra was jogging at Churchill Downs earlier this week, her first
light exercise on the track since winning the Woodward S. (G1) against older
males at Saratoga on September 5.
“I was going to wait until we got here to jog her, but I just thought with
her being at Churchill quite a bit it would be better just to take her out and
jog her on the track there,” Asmussen said. “We did that maybe three days,
knowing we were coming (Friday). Once we decided what day we were going to leave
there on, the weather’s been nice and everything, we just decided to jog her up
there. We took her on the track with the pony, went one the wrong way with her,
she jogged, and that was it.”
Asked about a time frame for Rachel Alexandra’s return to the races, Asmussen
responded: “For a time-frame I would say no sooner than March, April. At this
time of year you’re talking about weather and holidays and all that.”
For now Asmussen is more concerned about how Rachel Alexandra is progressing
on a daily basis.
“Everything will be about her physical condition from one day to the next and
will culminate with racing, but it’s going to be about what she’s up to today.
You don’t want her to be stale or disinterested and you don’t want her doing too
much.”