Rachel Alexandra has arrived at Saratoga - she's a "pro" at traveling!

Rachel Alexandra arrived at the Albany International Airport today. She was on a flight from Louisville, Ky. with 19 other thoroughbreds from trainer Steve Asmussen's training stable. They are headed for Saratoga Race Course. (Photo taken by Skip Dickstein)

Video of Rachel disembarking off the plane

"We left Churchill Downs at 7:15am and we got here at 11:15am; four hours from track to track is pretty impressive," said Blasi. "She's at Saratoga and everything is good. The air is good; the water tastes good. It's all positive. She looks fabulous right now. I am looking forward to getting her back to the track tomorrow." Blasi said that Rachel will most likely have her first breeze at Saratoga on Monday, July 5. "She's the ultimate pro as far as traveling," he said. "She's great at everything she does."
Unlike some other horses who might be apprehensive about traveling, Rachel is an old pro at moving around and has no problems with being shipped:

As a yearling, she was shipped from Kentucky to Texas to get broken in, then she was shipped back to Kentucky.

As a two year old, she stayed in Kentucky and was raced three times at Churchill Downs and once at Keeneland then two more times at Churchill Downs.

As a three year old, she was shipped to Oaklawn Park in Arkansas, then shipped to Fair Grounds in Louisiana, then shipped back to Oaklawn Park, then shipped back to Churchill Downs, then shipped to the East Coast to Pimlico in Maryland, then shipped to Belmont in New York, then moved to Monmouth in New Jersey, then moved to Saratoga in upstate New York, then shipped to Fair Grounds in Louisiana for the winter. (Whew!)

As a four year old, she was shipped from Fair Grounds in Louisiana back to Churchill Downs in Kentucky, and now she has been shipped to Saratoga in upstate New York again.

Rachel is anticipated to have her next start in a race on the East Coast.

Critics of Rachel Alexandra's Fleur de Lis win: Don't Underestimate Rachel!

BIG DEAL. Rachel Alexandra just won a grade 2 race against a bunch of former claimers. Some Rachel critics and doubters love to point that out. But here is a sound warning: Don't underestimate Rachel Alexandra. The Fleur de Lis win gave Rachel Alexandra a speed figure of 109, which is the HIGHEST speed figure for any filly or mare this year so far. That race also ties her for 4th best speed figure this year of any horse male or female in a race longer than 1 mile. (Quality Road 121, Understatement 115, Redding Colliery 111, were ahead of her.) And she's only starting to roll.

Many of the Rachel-critics come from the Zenyatta group of fans. I like Zenyatta the horse (who is currently number one in the NTRA polls), but a few of her fans can become quite obnoxious in their critical attacks on Rachel. To set matters into perspective, let's do a simple comparison of Rachel's and Zenyatta's Speed Figures for the past 2 years:


                                       BEYER SPEED FIGURES

Rachel Alexandra                                   Zenyatta

2010 (4 y.o)                                  2010   (6 y.o)
Fleur de Lis            109                Vanity                       103
La Troienne            103                Apple Blossom            95
New Orleans Ladies 100                Santa Margarita        102

2009  (3 y.o)                                 2009  (5 y.o.)
Woodward               109                Breeders Cup Classic 112 (highest)
Haskell                   116 (highest)   Lady's Secret            97
Mother Goose          111                Clement Hirsch          99
Preakness               108                 Vanity                     104
Kentucky Oaks         108                 Milady                    103
Fantasy                   101
Fair Grounds Oaks   103
Martha Washington  100

Speed figures show different aspects for different running styles. Speed figures for front-running horses like Rachel give us a glimpse of her capabilities because she usually gives her best effort regardless of the competition (thus, at times winning by a head and other times winning by 20+ lengths). Speed figures for deep closers like Zenyatta show how tough (or weak) the competition is because she usually gives just enough effort to win. You will not usually see deep closers winning by 20 lengths. The above comparisons of their Beyer Speed Figures are simply to show that, regardless of the competition (whether they be former claimers or not, as in the Fleur de Lis), Rachel still performs like the champion that she is and should not be gauged by her competition, as a deep closer like Zenyatta would.

It is interesting to look at the career best BSF for the two. Both Rachel and Zenyatta had their career best speed figures last year: Rachel at the Haskell and Zenyatta in the Breeders Cup Classic. Rachel's was higher by 4 points. To give you an idea of how high a speed figure of 116 is, let's do a comparison with the Beyer Speed Figures for Haskell winners going all the way back to 1991:

2009 Rachel Alexandra (116)
2008 Big Brown (107)
2007 Any Given Saturday (113)
2006 Bluegrass Cat (106)
2005 Roman Ruler (108)
2004 Lion Heart (109)
2003 Peace Rules (109)
2002 War Emblem (112)
2001 Point Given (106)
2000 Dixie Union (111)
1999 Menifee (110)
1998 Coronado’s Quest (110)
1997 Touch Gold (114)
1996 Skip Away (113)
1995 Serena’s Song (110)
1994 Holy Bull (115)
1993 Kissin Kris (108)
1992 Technology (108)
1991 Lost Mountain (107)

Historically over the past 18 years of the running of the Haskell, Rachel Alexandra achieved the highest BSF over females and males. Please look over the list of well respected horses she beat. Some of them are legends in their own right. But she topped them all. Stop and think about it. That was last year, but she is now older, bigger, stronger, and already picking up speed in each and every succeeding race this year. What will the future bring? More excitement for Rachel fans I'm sure!

WORKOUT 6-28-2010

On Monday morning, June 28, 2010, at about 6:30am, Rachel Alexandra worked five furlongs in 1:03 over a sloppy track at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. It rained hard overnight, so jockey Shaun Bridgmohan was careful as he guided her over the slop in fractional times of 12.80 for the first furlong, :25.60 for the quarter mile, then :38.40 for 3 furlongs, :50.60 for the half mile, then galloped out six furlongs in 1:17, according to the Churchill Downs clocker.

Rachel tied for 16th fastest of 26 horses running at that distance. Rachel ran on a "sloppy" track but as the day progressed the track condition improved to "muddy". Mine That Bird was one who worked out 2 hours later on the now "muddy" track and ran over 3 seconds faster than Rachel, coming in at :59.80. He came in 1st place of the 26 horses. The main difference between "sloppy" and "muddy" is that "sloppy" tracks are the risk factor for all the horses and jockeys, wheras "muddy" tracks are sometimes beneficial for some horse. A sloppy track tends to be more slippery due to standing water accumulating. Many trainers choose to run their horses slower and more carefully on a sloppy track.

Where racehorses are concerned, running on a sloppy or muddy (ie: wet) track has advantages and disadavantages. In addition to being slippery, mud is also heavy, and horses which run in it for long distances tend to tire more easily than they otherwise might have. On the other hand, because mud is softer, it's easier for horses which are sore to run on, at least in some cases.

Asmussen was pleased with the move and said the sloppy track condition after overnight rains was no reason for concern.

"She handles it really well," Asmussen said. "She went good. We've got travel plans this week and want everything to go smoothly."

Asmussen will be sending the champion and many others of his horses to historic Saratoga on Wednesday. The hot weather in Louisville convinced Asmussen to ship to upstate New York a week early.

"It's time," said Asmussen. "I'll be very happy when she's settled in there and we can get into our routine up there."

Rachel Alexandra to be shipped to Saratoga, New York soon

Saratoga Race Course

"Oklahoma Track" at Saratoga, where Rachel will be training this summer.

Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Rachel Alexandra announced today that she will be shipped out of her Churchill Downs (KY) base ahead of schedule to a more northern climate at Saratoga (NY) in the next week or so.

Rachel Alexandra worked out early this morning around 6:30 am, but the heat had already crept up to 81°F.

“It’s a ridiculously hot morning, you know. That’s a big concern. It’s time to get out and go north. I think we’ve got to get out of this weather," said trainer Steve Asmussen,"She acts like the rest of us do right now – it’s hot. Her weight’s good and she’s very sound, and her strength is good. But it’s hot. We’d all feel better if it was about 20 degrees cooler.”

Even though the high today in Louisville will be near 95°F, the humidity made the heat index over 100. Unfortunately, tomorrow the temperature will escalate further.

Saratoga Race Course is located in upstate New York, and is expected to have temperatures about 10-15 degrees cooler than Churchill Downs. Specifically, she will be based out of the "Oklahoma Track" which is about 1/3 mile from the main course, and is used for warmups and training. The Saratoga Race Course would be an ideal spot for Rachel to stay because two of her possible next races are there: the Ruffian Handicap (on 8/1/2010) and the Whitney Handicap (on 8/7/2010).

Rachel trained there last summer, too.

WORKOUT 6-21-2010

On an already hot (81F) and muggy Monday morning, June 21, 2010, at about 6:30am, Rachel Alexandra worked four furlongs in :51:20 over a fast track at Churchill Downs in Louisville Kentucky. Under a tight hold from jockey Shaun Bridgmohan, she set fractional times of :12.40 for the first furlong, :25.20 for the quarter mile, then galloped out five furlongs in 1:05.20, according to the Churchill Downs clocker. She ranked 44 out of 55 horses on that track running at that distance.