Jackson Adamant: No Breeders Cup for Rachel

Jackson Adamant: No Breeders' Cup for Rachel | BloodHorse.com

I'll admit to a couple of things here:

1.) I'm thrilled that two of the most exciting horses out there right now are fillies--major kudos to both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta (and their respective connections) for the class with which I think they handle these two athletes.

2.) I'm fascinated by the turf vs dirt vs poly debate.

Since I've only ridden horses on your general and basic ground (read as dirt, grass, bridle paths) I'm very curious as to the pros and cons of the dirt vs polytrack discussion. I was at the New England Turf Writers banquet a couple of weeks ago and even when querying the most experienced horse people, no one could really say what the benefits of one was over the other or how if really impacts the horses.

Understandably (and just as humans have preferences for various types of tracks/surfaces when they run) some horses are more comfortable or confidant on one surface than another. I get that. What I don't get is what the X-factor is for arguing against the polytrack.

It seems to me (begging the pardon of Monsignor Habiger for the use of his opening line) that the safety and well-being of the horse is paramount. So if polytrack isn't any safer for the horses...what is it for? Did the officials in California jump to conclusions when they put the surface down at their tracks?

There are still catastrophic injuries to horses and jockeys and I haven't seen any evidence that the poly surfaces mitigate that fact at all. Rather, what I do see are the European (especially UK and France) courses being much safer for horse and human alike. In many cases the races themselves are over long distances (albeit on grass) and even in jump-racing the horses seem to fare better over longer hauls then some horses do here in the US.

I'm partial to turf racing, something about the lush green grass and the way the horses move over it. And the sandy, wide turns of Belmont, well, I love 'em.

All this to say that I understand fully Jess Jackson's decision to not run Rachel on the poly track at Santa Anita. Although she's proven she can run on it (she did, after all, win the Kentucky Oaks in great style on the polytrack) he clearly feels it's not her best option. Too boot, I'm thrilled that he wants to keep her running for another season, giving us all more opportunities to see her compete. I fully support (for whatever it may be worth, LOL) the choice to do what's best for the horse. It is after all, about the horse. She's a highly trained, highly skilled athlete and to all appearances that is how she is being looked after. I hope that's the case because she's special, in the same way Ruffian and Regret were special. (Photos at the top are of Regret and Ruffian, respectively.)

I for one will be glued to the television this weekend for The Haskell at Monmouth, not just to see Rachel, but some of her fellow competitors. She'll face Belmont winner Summer Bird as well as Papa Clem and some other talented boys. Should be a wonderful race!

For a little further reading--and really good reading at that--go to Steve Haskin's article on European vs American racing. Even the follow-up comments are educational and interesting.

Let's hear it for the girls!!

Above photos are Rachel Alexandra (with Calvin Borel up) as she comes out of the tunnel from the paddock to the track. Second photo is Rachel is after her dazzling win with the blanket of pink carnations trailing behind her.

It was a great day for racing, today, with Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta both adding to their already impressive records. I didn't get to see Zenyatta's race until I was home from Belmont, but she blew by her competitors with such style and grace. My proverbial hat is off to Zenyatta, she's undefeated and nearly unchallenged.

Rachel herself is something to see. I'll probably write more about my "day at Belmont" tomorrow, but just a little perspective on how good Rachel Alexandra is. And yes, she has been defeated, but not recently. And even though her victory today was only against two other fillies, she set a stakes record for the Mother Goose. How impressive is her time? The first 1/4 mile was in something insane like 22.55 seconds. The 1/2 split was an equally insane 44 seconds and change. Now I was standing by the finish line watching the backstretch on the jumbo-tron and worried that this pace was just too much for her. (I'll also say that as much as I adore Calvin Borel, and I do think the world of him, I was very glad to see that he had a couple of other mounts today which gave him a little more experience on those wide Belmont turns...but I digress) This is blistering speed here, folks, and it wasn't any too cool today, either. As the trio rounds the corner and heads down the home stretch, Calvin steered Rachel between the other two horses and that was it. You would have thought that he had a gear shift and just shifted down the way she moved. After that it was over. Rachel blew by them like they were standing still. And the crowd roared. There were over than 10,000 people at Belmont today, more than a usual summer weekend, and they cheered this lovely filly like a rockstar when she made her way from the paddock out to the track. Calvin, too. He was smiling and waving and you could just tell that both and Rachel were there to take care of business. And take care of it they did...and with style and grace, and they made it look easy. He eased her up before the finish line. So the final time? 1:46.33. In addition, the 19 1/4 lengths which she won by shattered the 13+ lengths record formerly held by the great Ruffian.

Rachel's in amazing company. Consider that the 9 furlong record for Belmont was set by none other than Big Red himself, the immortal Secretariat, at the Marlborough Handicap in 1973 where he ran a blistering 1:45.40.

This means she was a little less than a second away from Himself.

Other highlight of the afternoon? Walking over from the near the winner's circle I cross paths with Steve Asmussen (and a little girl I believe is his daughter) as he heads toward the winner's circle. He's a little past me and I turn and say "congratulations." He turns back and says, "thanks." Very cool :)

Other cool highlight was to see so many kids, especially little girls out for the race today with their parents. Most wearing pink (there was a lot of pink at the track today partly because the Jackson's are donating some of Rachel's winnings to The Susan G. Komen foundation) and one adorable little girl wearing a pink Rachel Alexandra hat and clutching her stuffed plush pony as she waited for Rachel to make her appearance.

It was a beautiful day in Queens and one certainly fit for a queen...one who wears the crown pretty easily, it seems. Drink a toast to Rachel on the the East Coast and one to Zenyatta on the West Coast--two classy dames who got it done today, and in splendid fashion.

Still wearing my Rachel Alexandra pink bracelet...