Rachel, Mine That Bird work over wet Churchill track

Rachel Alexandra puts in one final Kentucky work before traveling to Saratoga (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) Reigning Horse of the Year RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro) completed a solid body of work during the spring and early summer at Churchill Downs with an easy five-furlong workout over sloppy footing on Monday. Rachel Alexandra covered the distance under jockey and regular work partner Shaun Bridgmohan in 1:03 in her final major training before she travels north on Wednesday to summer at New York’s Saratoga Race Course. Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra worked over the wet track around 6:30 a.m. (EDT). She covered the distance in fractional times of :12 4/5, :25 3/5, :38 2/5 and :50 3/5. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:17. Trainer Steve Asmussen was pleased with the move and the said the sloppy track condition after overnight rains was no reason for concern as Rachel Alexandra stepped onto the one-mile main track for the training move.

“She handles it really well,” Asmussen said. “She went good. We’ve
got travel plans this week and want everything to go smoothly.”

Asmussen had originally planned to ship Rachel Alexandra and most of
his Churchill Downs division to Saratoga next week, but moved those
plans up a week because of the heat wave that has settled over the Ohio
Valley in recent weeks.

“It’s time,” Asmussen said. “I’ll be very happy when she’s settled in
there and we can get into our routine up there.”

Rachel Alexandra is coming off a 10 1/2-length victory in the
$200,000 Fleur de Lis H. (G2) at Churchill Downs on June 12, her first
victory of 2010 following back-to-back upset losses in the New Orleans
Ladies S. at Fair Grounds and the La Troienne S. (G2) at Churchill. Her
12-4-0 record in 17 races includes earnings of $3,216,730.

The 2009 Kentucky Derby winner turned in a bullet work in advance of a probable start this weekend (Churchill Downs/Reed Palmer Photography) MINE THAT BIRD (Birdstone), upset winner of the 2009 Kentucky Derby (G1), turned in a sharp five-furlong work in preparation for a possible return to racing at the historic track this weekend. Jockey Calvin Borel was in the saddle as Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine’s four-year-old gelding zipped over a muddy track for Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas in a bullet :59 4/5, the fastest work of 26 at the distance. Churchill Downs clockers caught Mine That Bird in fractional times of :12 1/5, :24 1/5, :36 1/5 and :47 4/5. He galloped out six furlongs in 1:14 3/5. The track had been listed as sloppy earlier in the morning following overnight rains, but was drying out by the time Mine That Bird stepped on the one-mile oval at around 8:30, just after the mid-session break for track maintenance. “I told Calvin we needed to let him do it with no prompting today, just let him do it on his own,” Lukas said. “I told him I’d like to see him finish up and if he’d get it in a minute to 1:01, that would be about right. Once I turned him loose and I rode over by the rail to see how deep it was, I thought ‘If he does that, he’s going to be really going good.’ And then he goes 59 and four.”

“He’s just blossomed out,” Borel said. “How good is he? I don’t know
— but we’re going to find out. I think he’s a good horse. I don’t care
what anybody says — he wasn’t a fluke.”

“I couldn’t be happier,” Lukas said. “Every step has been right down
the line. I like the way that he’s changing — mentally and physically.
That’s the big thing. We know he can run if everything’s right.
Physically, he’s so much stronger — he might be 150 pounds heavier than
he was last year. And mentally, he’s really getting good.”

Mine That Bird has not raced since a ninth-place finish behind
unbeaten Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]) in last year’s Breeders’ Cup
Classic (G1) over Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride surface, but Lukas is
ready to see the winner of Derby 135 wear one of his signature white
bridles for the first time. The closest opportunities for a return to
racing come this weekend at Churchill Downs: a 1 1/16 mile allowance
race on the main track on Saturday or the $175,000 Firecracker H. (G2)
over a mile on turf on Sunday, the closing day of the 42-day spring
meet.

“We’d like to start him here,” Lukas said. “I used that Firecracker
as a back-up. I know he’s never been on the turf. I really don’t want to
ship him. I have the Salvatore Mile ([G3] on Saturday) at Monmouth, but
I’d like to just leave him in his own stall and try him. If he gets
beat, this first one is a means to an end.

“We’ll wait and see how the next two days look. I have no reason to
believe he won’t bounce back from this work. He does every one of them
so easy. He has amazing efficiency of motion. I’ve had some pretty good
horses that I thought could get over the ground. I don’t know if any of
them got over it lighter than he does.”

Mine That Bird has failed to win in five races since his 50-1 shocker
in the Kentucky Derby. He finished a length behind Rachel Alexandra in
the Preakness  S. (G1) and finished third to eventual 2009
three-year-old champion Summer Bird in the Belmont Stakes (G1) after
grabbing a clear lead in the homestretch. But he faltered in his final
three starts of the year, finishing third in the West Virginia Derby
(G2) at Mountaineer Park and sixth in the Goodwood S. (G1) at Santa
Anita before his dull effort in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

His career record stands at 5-2-2 in 14 races with earnings of
$2,196,581.