Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra
worked six furlongs in company Tuesday morning, blowing past her stablemate
nearing the eighth-pole and finishing in a final quarter-mile of :22 3/5 to
post an official final time of 1:13 3/5, breezing, over a fast main track. Fair
Grounds clockers caught fractions of :13, :25 3/5, :38 2/5, :51 and 1:02 1/5.
The 4-year-old Medaglia d’Oro filly galloped out seven-eighths in 1:26 2/5 and
one mile in 1:41 1/5.
Regular exercise rider Dominic Terry
was aboard Rachel Alexandra, while Brian Hernandez Jr. was aboard
workmate Depaul, a 3-year-old colt who most recently finished fourth in
a Feb. 15 first-level allowance.
Rachel Alexandra, preparing for her
first start of the year in the March 13 $200,000 New Orleans Ladies, came onto
the track at 10:30 a.m., a half-hour after regular training hours and following
a renovation break.
The final time was slower than trainer Steve
Asmussen had been hoping for, but he was nonetheless delighted because of
the fast yet effortless final quarter-mile.
“I was hoping she’d go a little
quicker,” Asmussen said at his barn shortly afterward. “She settled off the
other horse really nicely. She stayed with her left lead trying to stay with
the other horse, then she switched to her right lead and accelerated. We’re
happy with where she’s at. The main thing is she’s healthy and this is a step
in the process to getting her back to her previous level.”
Rachel Alexandra and Terry came onto the
track accompanied, as usual, by assistant trainer Scott Blasi aboard his
pony. The workmate, accompanied by a pony with assistant trainer Jamie
Radosevich aboard, stepped onto the track first and led the quartet as they
jogged around the far turn and through the stretch. The ponies broke off near
the finish line as Rachel continued to follow her stablemate and ranged closer
as they galloped around the clubhouse turn and picked up speed approaching the
three-quarters pole. Rachel Alexandra started her work about one length behind
the workmate.
“She was a little keen early,” Asmussen
said. “She was very aggressive and hard-held early. For him (Terry) to still
have control with one in front of her was very impressive. It was a little
slower from the five-eighths to the three-eighths.”
Terry kept Rachel Alexandra behind her
stablemate into the stretch but once she was allowed to roll at the
three-sixteenths marker the filly effortlessly moved to the lead and hit the
wire about six lengths in front of Depaul, who was timed for six furlongs in
1:14 4/5.
Today was the first time Rachel
Alexandra has worked in company this year. “The concern was that her last work
was so smooth and easy that she didn’t get enough out of it,” Asmussen said.
“The other horse is a variable that ensures that she gets more out of it.”
Rachel Alexandra’s final official
workout before the New Orleans Ladies will come Monday, according to Asmussen,
and will be a an easy half-mile. “We built up to this point and from here we
need to back off and let her catch her breath,” he said. “We won’t be looking
for speed, just fluid and relaxed.”
Rachel Alexandra normally works around
6:30 a.m. but concerns about the weather and track condition following last
night’s heavy rains prompted Asmussen and Fair Grounds Vice President
and General Manager Eric Halstrom to consider alternatives in order to
provide the best possible surface for the superstar filly. An agreement had
been reached to train Rachel Alexandra in the afternoon to give the main track
more time to dry out, but the surface was in such fine condition by this
morning that there was no need to wait.
“I can’t say enough about what the Fair
Grounds has done,” Asmussen said. “A big thank you to Fair Grounds for allowing
us to get this in. We’re still on course for the New Orleans Ladies and we’ll
need to get something out of that to move forward.”
Rachel Alexandra is preparing not only
for the New Orleans Ladies, but also the Grade I Apple Blossom at Oaklawn
Park
on April 9, where a date with Champion Older Female Zenyatta would be
worth a $5 million purse.
Rachel Alexandra established herself as
one of the all-time great fillies last year with historic wins in the Grade I
Kentucky Oaks and Grade I Preakness, as well as six other stakes races,
including the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks. Her three Grade I victories against
male horses—in the Preakness, the Haskell Invitational and the Woodward—helped
to establish a new standard for excellence by a female racehorse in the modern
era.
Rachel Alexandra—2010 Workouts
Date, Fair Grounds track condition,
distance, final time (fractional times, when available), breezing or handily
March 2, Fast, Six furlongs, 1:13 3/5
(:13, :25 3/5, :38 2/5, :51, 1:02 1/5), breezing
Feb. 24, Fast, Six furlongs, 1:14 (:13,
:25 1/5, :37 3/5, :49 4/5, 1:02), breezing
Feb. 18, Fast, Five furlongs, 1:00 1/5
(:12, :23 4/5, :35 3/5, :47 3/5), breezing
Feb. 12, Sloppy, Five furlongs, 1:03 4/5
(:13 2/5, :26 1/5, :38 3/5, :51 3/5), breezing
Feb. 6, Fast, Four furlongs, :50 3/5,
breezing
Jan. 31, Fast, Four furlongs, :52,
breezing
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