Why Rachel Alexandra is finished for the year · 20.09.09

Just over a week ago, Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson confirmed that his “super-filly” would not run in the Breeders’ Cup over the “false” synthetic track at Santa Anita, and that she was in fact finished racing for the year. “Rachel has already completed a brilliant and long campaign [and] she deserves a rest”, he said.

Some have complained that it’s too soon to turn her out for the year. There’s supposedly plenty of time to give her a rest and prepare her for the Beldame or Clark or some other race where she can please her fans, maintain her high profile, and potentially attract new fans to racing through her sheer star power. I admit that at first I leaned in this direction — but something in the back of my mind kept bothering me. Then I remembered a similar situation, dating from far back in the mists of time….

Watching Rachel Alexandra’s Woodward reminds me of what William Nack wrote about Riva Ridge’s win in the 1972 Hollywood Derby: “He was like Olympic quarter miler Lee Evans running against a good high school sprint relay team”. All else being equal, a relay team will tend to run a faster time than an individual running the same distance — each team member only has to race part of the distance, and so can run all-out, while the individual runner has to pace himself for the entire distance. When they face each other in the same race, to use another analogy, it’s like a wrestling champion facing a tag-team:

Finalista made two runs at Riva Ridge, Royal Champion took one close look early before calling it an afternoon, and finally Bicker ran at him in the final yards. Riva Ridge just lasted to win. The race exhausted him, leaving him dead on his feet, and many believe he never was the same horse again all year.

Compare that to Rachel Alexandra’s performance: Da’ Tara, Past the Point, Bull’s Bay, and finally Macho Again each in turn came at her. While none of them are in her class, together they were almost enough to keep her out of the winner’s circle. Was she “dead on her feet” — who knows? While she looked almost as strong as ever at the end of the race, only her connections know for sure how much that race took out of her. If Jackson and trainer Steve Asmussen feel that she needs the rest, they probably know something that her fans don’t. And maybe they had an historical example to to help guide their decision.

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What do you think?

  1. Much akin to Hard Spun, this one is severely distance limited. Watch, and more to the point, listen to what Borel said about her in the Preakness in that she was almost staggering at the end.

    The public, in its constant attempt to make heroes out of good performers when their is a void of real champions, is again, too quick to anoint greatness to simple brilliance. This one is no different to many good flash in the pans which have come down the line over the years.

    Also, alone on the lead makes many a horse look better than they are.

    — Dr. Timothy Yatcak · Sep 21, 09:54 AM · #

  2. When TRUE champions are not available, there is a tendency, as in this one’s case, to LOWER the bar on greatness to include those that the PRESS, and not the thoroughbred community, anoint with the mantel that should only be applied RARELY or the word becomes diluted to the point of being meaningless.

    It takes understanding of the entire history of the breed and reviewing those horses really deserving of GREATNESS before one can judge accurately.

    — Dr. Timothy Yatcak · Sep 22, 09:46 AM · #

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