Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra returned to the
track Wednesday morning for an easy gallop three days prior to her 4-year-old
debut in Saturday’s $200,000 New Orleans Ladies. On Tuesday, the Medaglia d’Oro
filly walked the shed row in trainer Steve Asmussen’s barn, the normal
routine on the morning following a workout. Wednesday’s exercise came over a
fast track on a breezy morning with temperatures in the low-60s.
“She came out at 6:20, turned and went the right way, then
galloped about three-quarters of a mile,” said Fair Grounds clocker Billy
Pettingill, who has observed Rachel Alexandra’s progression on a near-daily
basis since the filly arrived at Fair Grounds in late November. “It was pretty
easy. Then they picked her up with the pony and she was off the track at 6:28.
They didn’t even gallop her a whole round, they just let her stretch her legs a
little bit. They turned her loose about the three-eighths pole and she went
from there, through the stretch, and back to about the five-eighths pole. Scott
(Blasi, assistant trainer) picked her up and they let her jog out a
little bit, then turned around and went off. She looked terrific.”
Aboard for the exercise was Dominic Terry, who
continues to elicit praise from Rachel Alexandra’s connections as well as
observers for his deft handling of a strong filly who has been eager to run
this winter. “Dominic, man, he’s got her down pat,” Pettingill said, “she just
about does whatever he needs her to do.”
New Orleans
Ladies Post at 5:15 p.m. CST Coordinated to Fit with Zenyatta’s Santa Margarita
Saturday’s $200,000 New Orleans Ladies featuring Rachel
Alexandra is Race 10 on Fair Grounds’ 11-race program and will go off at
5:15 p.m. CST, a time that was set in cooperation with Santa Anita Park, where
Champion Older Female Zenyatta will make her 2010 debut in the Grade I
Santa Margarita at 5:40 p.m. CST.
“Everyone involved agreed it would be best to have both
races within the same hour,” said Fair Grounds Vice President and General
Manager Eric Halstrom. “There is such intense interest in these two
great females and we want to make it easy for racing fans all over the country
to see both of them run.”
Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are expected to meet April 9
in the Grade I Apple Blossom Invitational, a race that would be worth $5
million if both superstars start.
Undercard Races Offer Quality Horses and Good Betting
Saturday’s New Orleans Ladies is the highlight of a very
good overall card, with 105 horses entered for 10 other races, an average of
more than 10 entrants per race. Two top-quality allowance contests for older
horses at 1 1/16 miles, one on the main track and the other on turf, feature
several stakes regulars. The dirt race, set as Race 6, includes Secret
Getaway, second to Macho Again in last year’s Grade II New Orleans
Handicap; Coragil Cat, a multiple Arlington
Park
stakes winner; and King Dan, last year’s Texas Mile runner-up. The turf
race, carded as Race 9, features graded stakes winners Gran Estreno and Free
Fighter
NEW ORLEANS
LADIES AND RACHEL ALEXANDRA FACTS AND FIGURES
Horse of the Year Winners at Fair Grounds
Rachel Alexandra is only the second reigning Horse
of the Year to run at Fair Grounds, joining Whirlaway, who won the 1942
Louisiana Handicap. The other two Horse of the Year winners to have run at Fair
Grounds were John Henry, the great gelding who raced in Louisiana many
years before he evolved into a two-time Horse of the Year (1981 and 1984), and Mineshaft,
who won two races at Fair Grounds en route to being named Horse of the Year in
2003.
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