Rachel Alexandra

Strange ride on the doubtful stayer Munnings as well?

It is a real shame that her sporting owners are not taking on Zenyetta (I think RA would beat her) and have already ruled out the Classic (a loss in it would have no effect on her reputation whatsoever).
 
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Rachel will be aimed at the BC in 2010 at Churchill Downs ..owners do not like the surface at Santa Anita...shame all the same
 
Dubai World Cup will also be run on an artificial surface (Tapeta is the favourite) from now on.
 
Thanks that's what I was getting at wasn't sure what surface they had decided to go for at Meydan. Maybe they will change their minds after that performance about trying a different surface. What have they to lose?
 
Jess Jackson is bottling the BC this year as his boy was beaten by beaten by better horses last year - he was one of the biggest advocates of using synth's for racing. Funny as he didn't think she'd be taking on the best with her previous owner and that's one of the main reasons he bought her but this year he's bottling it big time.

Expect the Euro runners to be overbet by the US public since they're all convinced that the synth's provide a huge bias towards turfers.
 
Irish Stamp said:
Expect the Euro runners to be overbet by the US public since they're all convinced that the synth's provide a huge bias towards turfers.
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Depends on what you mean by "overbet"...bar the other mare (and I think she is very beatable) the Euros are in a different league.
 
"Overbet" as in if you rate it as a 4 or 5/1 chance you'll likely get half that IMHO - at least on the US pools.

The horses the Yanks will back will be Mine That Bird as the Derby winner, Zenyatta (unbeaten) and then Sea The Stars (turf) and Rip Van Winkle (turf).

There'll be the usual $2 "pretty pony punters" who'll back horses that look cute or have a big following - Pyro would be one such horse if he makes the race, Quality Road is another.
 
Rachel Alexandra rated 122 (not sure of the rating post Haskell) and Zenyatta is rated 125.

Am i missing something here? Rachel has beaten the colts comfortably this season, often more comfortably than comfortably, yet Zenyatta who has yet to face a colt is rated 3lb superior? I have to admit that I have never seen her race but I find it hard to believe she is 3lb superior to a filly who is probably the best i've seen... The only rationale I can see is that the 3yo colts this year are poor.

I know some people on here think Zenyatta is the female pegasus so perhaps they could enlighten me!!
 
Zenyatta's form is stronger IMO - it's not a vintage year for the colts with Pioneerof The Nile (Derby runner-up) injured and retired, the AP favourite for the Derby (Quality Road) not contesting any of the TC races and the fillies she's beaten have been ordinary to say the least, Justwhistledixie would probably be the best of them.

I agree in part though Aragorn - I fail to see why they aren't at least rated equal.
 
Do people think there'll be a massive number of European trained horses sent over, to contest almost every race this year after the success last time out?
 
I'd say the Americans will back them if they do go. Would hope to see a few appear in the Juvi and Juvi Fillies in particular - think our horses are seriously lacking in race hardiness in a race like the Sprint but I don't see why we shouldn't have a go at the other "dirt" races.
 
HughC said:
Do people think there'll be a massive number of European trained horses sent over, to contest almost every race this year after the success last time out?
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It will be a huge turn out because the surface is favourable (plus it will probably be the last chance of a Classic win for a while) and also because the European trainers seem to love Santa Anita and the facilities...rave about it.
 
Would be great to see a massive brigade go over i think. Although if dominated by europeans i wonder how it will effect the widespread introduction of such surfaces.
 
If it's massively dominated by European's the next 10 years of BC's will go Churchill-Belmont-Gulfstream (repeat 3 times) and there'll be hardly anything for the West-Coast horses since they won't have a suitable surface to race on or the adequate facilities to handle the crowds and horses.
 
Definitely the right decision....they should have ran her in the Breeders Cup last year. Impossible to take the risk of holding on to a mare and expecting her to be in the same form in a years time.
 
Her fans must be terribly disappointed, but it seems a sound decision. She's proved herself over and over, and it'd be sad to see her reduced in status. Let's hope she relaxes well after her vibrant career and becomes a good broodmare.
 
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