Who are the people (and pony) in Rachel's life?

Who are the current people (and pony) in Rachel's life? You may have seen them at her races but may not have known what role they play. Here is the breakdown:

Her (majority) owner Jess Jackson:

Her trainer Steve Asmussen:

Her jockey Calvin Borel:

Her assistant trainer Scott Blasi:

Her exercise rider Dominic Terry:

Her owner's wife Barbara Banke (also a co-owner):

Her bodyguard Amy Kearns:

Her groom Javier Espinoza:

Her hotwalker Juan Gonzalez:

Her stable pony Dakota:

There you go! So when you see videos of her races and wonder who those people around her are, now you will know!

WORKOUT 4-19-2010

On Monday morning April 19, 2010 at about 6:30am, with regular rider Dominic Terry aboard, Rachel Alexandra worked six furlongs in a lightening 1:11.40 over a fast track at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. She set fractional times of 12.40 for the first furlong, :24.40 for the quarter mile, then :36.20 for 3 furlongs, :48 for the half mile, then :59.40 for 5 furlongs, and galloped out seven furlongs in 1:24.10, and a mile in 1:37.80.

The digital clocker from Daily Racing Form reported splits of 12.56, 24.28, 36.16, 47.67, and 59.29 seconds, and six furlongs at 1:11.22 before galloping out seven furlongs in 1:24.41 and a mile in 1:37.76.

Rachel gets freshened up after her workout

“She worked crazy good,” Asmussen said in a release."The racetrack obviously was playing very quick this morning." “She’s had three works here since she’s been here and they have been extremely ‘Rachelesque.’ I’m happy to see her putting in work like she did last year.”

Her work was the fastest of seven at that distance on the track. This is the 5th workout since her last race.

WORKOUT 4-12-2010

On Monday morning, April 12, 2010, at about 6:30am, Rachel Alexandra worked six furlongs in 1:12 over a fast track at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. She set fractional times of 12.80 for the first furlong, :25.40 for the quarter mile, then :37.20 for 3 furlongs, :48.40 for the half mile, then 1:00.20 for 5 furlongs, and galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.20.

“I was very pleased with her work,” said Asmussen. “She looks happy and she cooled out great. It was a very strong move.” Asmussen said his team would be looking at how she recovers in determining her next race. “I’m very anxious to see her attitude off of the work,” said Asmussen. “How she acts, how she rests in her stall, and if she’s comfortable with everything we’re doing. From a work standpoint it was very impressive and fast, which she is.” “We’re trying to get her back in the rhythm that she had success with last year, because we were very unsuccessful in trying to alter that,” said Asmusen.

I suspect that last comment might possibly be referring to how Asmussen was trying to train Rachel to run off the pace even though she wanted to run in front. Trying to rate a horse that does not want to rate is taxing on both the horse and the rider. This proved true in the New Orleans Ladies.

Her work was the fastest of seven at that distance on the track. Steve Asmussen also said he plans to work her every Monday until further notice. This is the 4th workout since her last race.

Who is that white pony we frequently see with Rachel?

Who is that white pony we frequently see with Rachel Alexandra?

Rachel with white mystery pony

That was my question recently, as Rachel has not raced for a while, and I had time to examine pictures closely. Could it be Pancho, Curlin's stable pony?

Curlin with Pancho

I did some research and found out it is NOT. This white pony that is with Rachel has darker markings on the mane and tail than Pancho. Well, it turns out to be assistant trainer Scott Blasi's pony: Dakota. He is the escort for Rachel you sometimes see at her races. Why is he called a "pony"? He sure is big! Well, on a race track, a "pony" is any horse that is not a thoroughbred or racehorse who is there to serve a particular purpose (other than racing). His purpose is to calm down racehorses, especially famous ones, who have higher stress because of the excitement and pressure surrounding them such as noisey and imposing crowds, photographers, writers or fans.


Dakota's calming effect can be used in a variety of settings including on long-distance trips in a trailer:

Can you spot Dakota in the trailer that Rachel Alexandra had just left?

Well there you go! It has become crystal clear! Do not get Dakota mixed up with her previous stable pony from Hal Wiggins barn:

Rachels previous stable pony (also white!)

Dakota is actually considered a grey, and also has a darker mane:

Closeup of Dakota

So there you have it. It might be very confusing because there are 3 DIFFERENT white-ish ponies hanging out to confuse us: Curlin's pony Pancho, Rachel's former pony from her Hal Wiggins days, and Dakota.

Isn't this fun? Stay tuned to this blogsite because in my next article, I will have a description of all of Rachel Alexandra's human connections.

Rachel - still one of the CONSISTENTLY fastest fillies ever!

So you are disappointed that Rachel came in second in the New Orleans Ladies? DON'T BE. She had a relatively high Beyer Speed Figure considering she was reportedly only 85% in shape!

You've perhaps heard that Rachel Alexandra scored the highest Beyer Speed Figure (116) of ANY North American racehorse last year - 2009? Well, here are her breakdowns for Beyer Speed figures for her most recent races:

2010
New Orleans Ladies           100

2009
Woodward                         109
Haskell                               116
Mother Goose                     111
Preakness                           108
Kentucky Oaks                    108
Fantasy                              101
Fair Grounds Oaks              103
Martha Washington             100

To give you an idea of what this means, Zenyatta's career best Beyer Speed Figure was when she beat the boys in the Classic last year (2009), at 112. Here are some other recent 3 yo filly champs and their top BSFs during their 3 yo filly season:

2008 Proud Spell – Tops of 101, 99, 99, 97
2007 Rags to Riches – Tops of 107, 104, 98, 96
2006 Wait A While -Her accomplishments came on turf. Dirt top of 90
2005 Smuggler - Tops of 98, 94, 93, 92 in season that ended in July.
2004 Ashado – Tops of 106, 103, 103, 102
2003 Bird Town -Tops of 101, 100, 100, 100
2002 Farda Amiga -Tops of 103, 103, 100, 95

As far as older fillies & mares, clearly they have run faster due to maturity, but what Rachel is capable of putting out this year remains to be seen.

FYI - Male horses may have higher BSF than female horses. Here are some famous horses and their BSF, just for comparison:
Bernardini- Career high 117
Big Brown - Career high 109
Discreet Cat- Career high of 115
Invasor- Career high 113
Lava Man- Career high 120
Lawyer Ron- Career high 105
Monarchos - Career high 116
Perfect Drift- Career high 117
Smarty Jones - Career high 118
Secretariat - if there was speed figures back then, he would have got 139 in the Belmont
 
According to Andy Beyer himself, Ruffian was probably the fastest filly ever. He guestimates that Ruffian's career high BSF would probably be 120+ scored during one of her 2-year-old races. ...But Rachel comes a pretty close second!!!