Mother Goose Stakes 2009

Rachel winning the Mother Goose by 19-1/4 lengths

On June 27, 2009, in front of a crowd of 13,352 and as the 1-9 favorite in a three horse field, Rachel Alexandra won the 1-1/8 mile $300,000 (Grade 1) 53rd year of the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park, in Elmont, New York. With Calvin Borel as jockey and facing only two other rivals, she broke clearly from the 3rd post and ran 4 lengths off the pace, a place where she doesn't usually run, and then split horses on the turn for home to take the lead. 

"When I asked her to run," Borel said, "I knew it was over."

Borel was just a passenger as he glanced back at the rapidly diminishing horses behind him. She won the race by 19 1/4 lengths with a time of 1:46:33 on a track listed as fast. Rachel Alexandra broke two stakes records: the record for winning margin and the record for finishing time. The prior record for winning margin was 13-1/2 lengths set by Ruffian in 1975, 34 years ago. She also came within 1 second of almost breaking Secretariat's (you heard me -- SECRETARIAT) track record of 1:45 2/5 set in 1973. This is her fastest 1-1/8 mile race she has run so far. She earned a Beyer Speed Figure of 111, three points higher than the figures she earned winning the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness.
Video: Mother Goose Stakes 2009
Video: Wins with Eeeeeeease!

"Believe me, she's not normal. I'm telling you, she's unbelievable," jockey Calvin Borel said of Rachel Alexandra. "She is, I don't know, like a Secretariat or a Seattle Slew."

Rachel Alexandra's victory created a rare minus win pool. Of the $726,260 wagered, $598,576 was bet on Rachel Alexandra, who returned $2.10, resulting in a $18,698 minus pool that has to be paid by the tracks and anyplace else that took wagers on the race.

Jess Jackson pledged to give a percentage of the filly’s future winnings to the breast cancer non-profit organisation Susan G. Komen Foundation’s Race for the Cure foundation, and made the first contribution of $10,000. And Rachel Alexandra will continue to contribute to the foundation as her career unfolds. Women were admitted free, and pink rubber Rachel Alexandra bracelets were given out to the first 10,000 through the turnstiles in support of the decision.