The 2009 WoodWard Trip - Part I

WoodWard Weekend Thoughts - Part I

What will this weekend be like I thought to myself as I boarded the plane, heading from Little Rock to O'hare in Chicago, looking at all of the travelers who were making their way from terminal to terminal boarding flights to destinations. All of these people were probably heading to holiday destinations and have had their trips planned out for months. The flight from Chicago to Albany didn't take that long, but a nice interesting conversation began with a woman who was from Saratoga Springs and had seen a number of the running’s of the Travers and the WoodWard Stakes. "Why are you heading to New York", I was asked over and over again by a number of passengers, "To see history made in the Woodward Stakes at historic Saratoga Race Course", wow was the response from about 5 or 6 patrons on the plane, they all looked as if they knew I wasn’t just coming to see a horse race or two. “Isn’t that girl horse running against the boys?” “Yes”, I replied, as one of the ladies told me that she was from the Saratoga area and that I needed to take in all of the sights and sounds of Saratoga Springs. She stated that her father had taken her to see the running of the Travers and Woodward ever since she was 12. She knew exactly where I was going and why, I knew that this was going to be a special weekend.

The Morning Of. – The morning of the Woodward came very quickly, into the shower and then dressing for the day, there was this excitement that was pulsing through my veins. It has been a very long time since I felt like that. Walking out the door and down the corridor to the elevator people were talking about “Rachel”. “Rachel Who” I asked jokingly, they looked at me and said: “The filly running today, it’s going to be special,” riding through the country side in New York and seeing the sign that said Saratoga Springs led me to think back to the very first time I stepped into a race track. My hometown Oaklawn Park, known for developing Champion 3 year olds that go on to become darlings of the horse racing world.

At Old Saratoga – The sign said Saratoga Springs, and I could feel how close I was to such a historic venue, I thought back to my great grandfather who introduced me to the sport, I thought about all of the people who had a hand in giving us the opportunity to watch these majestic creatures strut their stuff. I thought about the legendary race track known as the “Graveyard of Champions”. Could that possibly have an effect on Rachel’s career, would she leave today known as a Champion Race Horse, or as another horse that couldn’t quite get it done due to a number of different factors. What I thought about most was one thing “Rachel being able to walk back to her barn after the race, and enjoy the accolades of a wonderful historic win, or a very well respected effort on the track.” Either way the only thing that stood out to me at that time was the fact that we were pulling into the parking area of Saratoga Race Course.

Union Avenue- As we exited the vehicle, we could see down a path, a path of barns, and it felt so surreal to be so close to the living quarters of these champion race horses. We walked the path down a dirt road and came to a security guard, and asked how close we were to Steve Asmussen’s barn. The guard advised that we were not far from Asmussen’s barn but that we would need credentials to be able to visit the area. Then it hit me that I was on Union Avenue as we came to a clearing, at that point I looked to my left and there was the most handsome horse heading to training at the main track. He walked slowly past us and all traffic stopped as they allowed for the horses to have the right of way. He pranced slowly across the street and was led into the track area, we stopped for a moment to take in the sounds of the horses that were already mid flight and in full gallop around the main track. What a sound that was to hear the power of these animals as they went about their business doing something they love so very much.

The Saratoga Entrance & Rachel Pins – Looking up at the entrance to the track, I realized and it set in that I was here, a place that I had watched plenty of times in the past on television, I recalled in my memory the sound of Tom Durkin’s race calls and thought to myself, in not but a few hours I will hear this legendary announcer call a live race. I walked up to the gate and paid my general admission fee and I received my pin. My friend walked through and paid and received his also, I turned around and thought about all of my message board friends and thought some of them might want to partake or have a little piece of something, a day that is going to go down in history as a legendary day for the world of horse racing. Politely I walked back to the admissions window and stooped down low and asked the man, “How much for me to get, let’s say 15 of the Rachel pins”, he looked at me and said “what, what do you have going on”, I said “message board friends”, he said “how many do you want”, I said “15”, he pulled a hand full out of the bag and gave them to me. I felt so good that I would be able to share this special day with my friends. Both from http://www.rockportharbor.com/ and also http://www.horseracingmania.com/in-loving-memory-of-eight-belles-t172.html. I walked into the gate and it was time to get focused.

Training Ends – The last horses that were out during training hours were wrapping up their workouts and gallops. The jockeys brought the horses close to the rail and the gate to allow onlookers to be able to see the horses up close and be able to see what it’s like to deal with these large individuals. Families are there early, its only 11 a.m. and children are running around enjoying the vast expanse of the standing room only area. People were walking in with their breakfast food and finding their seats. The sun was out in full glory and it was a beautiful day, we found our seats and watched the videos of some of the greats that have run at Saratoga.
Famous fillies on display in the video were: Davona Dale, Lady’s Secret, Shuvee, Personal Ensign, Go For Wand, Azeri, and at the end of the video every race of Rachel’s current Win Streak was shown on the big screen. It was great to see all of the all-time great fillies and mares that had run at Saratoga that they were featuring. To see the mystique of such incredible champions all of the female version, and to realize that the filly “Rachel Alexandra The Great” was the reason we were all there.

Rachel Alexandra - The Grade 1 Mother Goose

Rachel Alexandra, Rachel Alexandra, Rachel Alexandra! She is the absolute darling of the horse racing world, and for the connections of fillies & colts & yes even for that monster out West, let me give all of you a clue about what is going on. "She is Still Learning", lets quickly break down the Mother Goose and see what actually transpired. Rachel A, broke very alertly and she ran the first quarter in approximately 23:37 seconds and then she followed with a 2nd quarter of 22:09 with a 3rd quarter breather of 24.20. These are extraordinary splits for a horse that is able to hit the Belmont straight and win by almost 20 lengths. Most horses would be gased after these type of fractions. Rachel Alexandra was hardly breathing in the winner's circle. Calvin Borel is quoted as saying: "She's Not Normal", I would tend to agree in every way shape form and fashion. Borel made an impressive request to his filly on the turn, and he split horses and urged the filly a few times to go on, and then the race was over. Just like a future hall of famer, Borel put his stick on the filly’s shoulder blade a couple of time to allow her to get something out of the race and that is where her public workout began. She was able to run what would seem to be 1/16th of a mile and then he put the brakes on her. She begin to slow up and when she stopped the timer it read 1:46.33. Pretty good time huh, well not if you are up on the history of the race, the time was .25 faster than the race run by Lakeway in 1994, and less than a second slower than the track record set by Secretariat. The margin of victory bested the previous record by more than 6 lengths. And again I state that Rachel Alexandra didn’t break a sweat in this race.
Lets break down the competition that Rachel Alexandra faced, in the filly Malibu Prayer she faced a Allowance horse that previously won an allowance race by 7 ¼ lengths in a time of 1:44 and change. In the filly Flashing, she faced a graded stakes winner who has won 4 races and has shown a great deal of ability. Enough ability that people actually wagered on her and thought there was a chance that she could upset Rachel Alexandra. It wasn’t in the cards for Flashing that day. Now in comparison Zenyatta was out west beating up on an allowance and optional claiming field of horses that have not come close to winning a graded stakes event, Zenyatta struggled to get past the field as Mike Smith had to vigorously go to the whip on Zenyatta . Did the weight have something to do with the lackadaisical effort, its very possible? Could it be that Zenyatta is just not the same horse, I really don’t know, she is still very impressive but has no credentials for Horse of the Year thus far.

Where should Rachel race next, at this point all plans to run her against the boys should be scrapped until a meeting with Zenyatta. How many people realize that if she is asked to extend herself as she did in the Preakness, let’s say in the Haskell or Travers, then that would set up a vulnerable Rachel Alexandra. The next stop on The Rachel Alexandra tour should be in the Coaching Club American Oaks on 7/25/2009 at 1 ¼ mile, and then possibly the Alabama on 8/22/2009 at 1 1/8th mile, this would set her up perfectly to meet Zenyatta with 6 weeks rest until the Beldame which is on 10/3/2009 and at 9 furlongs which is a distance both connections want to race their mares. Here is the catch though, Rachel would seem to get a bit of a breather at some point this summer again, the freshener that she received after the Preakness did her good, she seems very ready to put together a nice summer run, and that would be the real question for Jess Jackson to answer. Are you really not going to send her to the Breeders Cup, if so there is absolutely no reason to race her after her meeting with Zenyatta on October 3rd. That would be the end of her season and she could rest and get the winter off, come back to Oaklawn Park, and prep and get ready to run in the Apple Blossom. And then take off from there and try to possibly repeat HOY honors depending on what the rest of the year holds.

Comparing the 2 Champions – This is a touchy subject for some, there are certain members of certain message boards that feel that California racing is just as competitive and has the same quality of racing as the East Coast. Your heart may try to tell that because you are naive or just ignorant of the fact that California racing has been invalidated by the synthetics, but when a Grade 1 winner and defending Eclipse award winning mare runs against a field of optional Claimers, well facts are facts. California racing means very little in the overall scheme of things as verified by HOY voting in 2008. A horse winning meaningless races doesn’t have a shot at winning HOY and my statement is validated by what Mr. Jerry Moss had to say earlier today. As mentioned in the newly posted DRF: “"We can't do what we did last year," Moss said. "We have to find a bit of a variety. She ships very well and we wouldn't mind shipping. "If you're going to run against the boys, you might as well do it in the big one," Shirreffs said. "The Breeders' Cup is at Santa Anita."
At this point there is no reason for debate as to who the best horse is, we’ll let them figure that out on the track but at this point my thoughts go back to the class of competition that has been kept thus far by the 2 mares. Zenyatta has run against 1 Grade 1 winning horse thus far in 2009. Thus far Rachel Alexandra has faced 1 filly that is a grade 1 winner, a grade 3 winner, 3 Grade 2 winning and a number of Grade 1 winning males. The current record in 2009 Zenyatta 2-0 1 G1, 1G2. R.A. 6-0, 3 Grade 1, 2 Grade 2 races. And so I ask you thus far who is the front runner for HOY. That one is easy, but apparently not so much for those on the msnbc horse racing board. If the horse they enjoy has not won a race you can catch an argument for that horse and its HOY credentials. Sad but true. I enjoy being away from the California Queen of editing, but she doesn’t know anything about horse racing, you know who you are, I enjoy not having to deal with the hatred by the board follower, sad that your jealousy of Jess Jackson causes you to be such an idiot. And last I must say that I enjoy not having to deal with the meaningless that never really say much but want to chime in to the come to the defense of others. Please take some classes to try to learn and understand horse racing because you continue to embarrass yourselves with your idiotic statements. How far off were you with your HOY thoughts last year, amazing how the naive can keep that feeling as if they actually know something. Well you don't. You don't know much at all, there are some sites out there that can help the amateurs. View them, learn something. It may help you in the future, and yes that goes for you also Mrs. "I do bet on racing and have followed it for many decades." Rank Amateur at best is where you rank. As for the other member of the board that feels that they need to continue to mention my absence, it makes me feel good to see how bitter some menial people are. If by some chance you had business of your own Mrs. "thanks to the absence of a certain board member we can all enjoy these fillies in peace" maybe you wouldn't have to worry so much about what I do. Its great to see that you have not progressed much more than your usual rants about how great west coast racing is and how one horse is better than the other. Its lovely to see the credit I get for all of the immature statements made on the board within the last year or so during the Curlin vs BB saga. All my fault, sure, I'll take that but at the same time I'll take to the bank the fact that I have an opinion that I'll share at any and all times. You on the other hand, you are basically like the previous follower mentioned, a degenerate, someone who likes to hear a statement, certainly not an original thought of your own, but any statement and run with it as if it were yours. Some of you are sad people, hold your grudges, as long as u need to. But remember that just causes stress and a long hard life for people like you.