Haskell Invitational 2009

Rachel wins the Haskell by 6 lengths on a sloppy track

The forecast for rain kept the crowd, which had been expected to approach the track record of 53,638 down to 37,090. It was the first Haskell since 1999 in which the crowd was not over 40,000. Then, sure enough, just before the 4th race, heavy rain turned the Monmouth main track into a sea of slop and the turf track unusable. There were two spills in two consecutive races that resulted in injuries to jockeys, but at no time did the connections of Rachel Alexandra consider scratching her from the race.

The boy in the paddock held a sign saying: "Yeah, I run like a girl. Try to keep up."

On August 2, 2009, in front of a wet crowd of 37,090 as the 1-2 favorite in a seven horse field, Rachel Alexandra ran the 1-1/8 mile (bumped up from $1 mil purse of) $1.25 million (Grade 1) Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, Oceanport, New Jersey. Toting 117-lbs, Rachel Alexandra broke a step slow and then took up a stalking position outside of Munnings and even with Summer bird. Around the far turn, Rachel Alexandra accelerated past these two colts by the quarter pole and was 4 lengths in the lead by the top of the stretch then as her lead turned into 6 lengths, Borel eased her in the final 16th. She won by 6 lengths in a time of 1:47.21 on a listed sloppy track which was just 0.21 seconds off the stakes record and 0.41 seconds off the track record. This impressive speed on a very sloppy track gave her a phenomenal Beyer Speed Figure rating of 116. This is the highest Beyer Speed Figure of any horse in North America in 2009. In the 42 runnings of the Haskell fillies have won just twice: Serena's Song in 1995 and now Rachel Alexandra.

The final results:
1- Rachel Alexandra
2- Summer Bird
3- Munnings
4- Papa Clem
5- Duke of Mischief
6- Atomic Rain
7- Bunker Hill

When asked if it was as easy as it looked, Borel replied, "Yes it was. She is unbelievable"

After the race, Borel handed over a half-dozen pairs of goggles he had just worn for Jackson’s charity to auction off in its effort to fight breast cancer. According to one report, not a single one had a speck of dirt or splatter of mud.

The high speed on the wet track earned her Beyer Speed of 116

Video: Haskell Invitational 2009

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