La Troienne - Rachel comes in second by another narrow margin

This is not easy to write:

On April 30, 2010, in front of a record crowd of 116,046, as the 1-5 favorite, Rachel Alexandra came in second by a head, to the winner Unrivaled Belle, in her second race of the 2010 year in the Grade II, 1-1/16 mile $418,800 La Troienne at Churchill Downs in Louisville, KY. Rachel Alexandra broke well and headed to the lead. Be Fair, was there to put pressure on her and the two traded leads with Rachel running on the outside. However, Rachel was caught wide going into the first turn, which may have lost her a few lengths. Unrivalled Belle then swept around her going into the stretch, and the two had a strong and long battle in which they exchanged leads inside the eighth pole before Unrivaled Belle finally surged ahead in the final strides. The third place finisher Morena was 5 lengths back. The final time was a very fast 1:42.97, a little over a second away from the track record. The fast finish by Rachel, although in second place, gave her a high Beyer Speed Figure of 103. Unrivaled Belle also received a 103 speed figure, a career best for her.

Rachel came in 2nd by a head in La Troienne 2010

Rachel just isn't fast right now and hadn't been fast all week in workouts, trainer Steve Asmussen said after the race. "She's just not been as fast as last summer. What we have to realize is there has been improvement since her last race."

"Calvin did absolutely nothing wrong today. I thought he got along with her great today. There's an old adage in racing: ‘You get paid for what you do, but you pay for what you do.' I think there's some hangover."

Regarding Rachel's two losses this year, Jess Jackson her owner commented, "I'm not disappointed in either race. She is still not 100% back. She could be 10 lengths better than she was today. This didn't define her as 100 percent, that's for sure. It's part of the foundation you have to build, race by race. Steve and I are both satisfied, most importantly, that she came out healthy, nothing wrong with her. I don't know that we used all of her in this race and that's not necessarily true that we should... After a six-month layoff, you don't ask a horse to come back [at 100 percent]. Now we have to see, when she gets back to her peak, what she can do this year. I'm not pushing her. We love her, she's going to improve, and I expect she will."

Rachel Alexandra’s owner, Jess Jackson, said his star filly would not be retired.

“She went right to the shed. She’s on her toes. She ate her oats. She’s happy and sound. We’re happy with her. We love her anyway,” he said. “We’re not trying to break track records yet. She needs another race or two under her belt, I think, before she’s back. And that’s what our hope is.”