throw some money into the show pool and hope to god Rachel runs a bad race
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not great .. but working
slight delay thoughComment -
how im in the uk how did you do that?Comment -
Thank you sooooo much jwComment -
and she losttttttComment -
$ 1/4 million in the win pool just went *poof*
The $1 million + in the show pool is safe
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Wow she didnt look fit at allComment -
****ing idiots betting the win on RAComment -
now to watch a true championComment -
Haha, Zenyatta's trainer beats RachelComment -
you bet 10 dollars to win 1, which doesnt seem worth the trip to the tellerComment -
I wanna see the Zenyatta Dance!Comment -
Another huge show pool on Zenyatta, but I won't make that mistake betting against her.Comment -
That woman announcer is an idiot, Zenyatta's a mare, not a filly.Comment -
another $1/4 million in the win pool again .. some people never learn ...
... looks like Mike Smith tried to throw it - but couldn't - what an idiot having her in that position .. VERY poor ride.
i'm wondering if the head-to-head will even take place now.
wow - returned 1/5 this time. I guess they got the extra by betting the win this time - I suspect half of them would have gladly changed their bet to "show" coming into the straight.Last edited by jw; 03-13-10, 06:48 PM.Comment -
A true championComment -
Long live the queenComment -
even with the bad trip, she made it look easyComment -
Rachel will not run against Zenyatta. There is no question who is the real best horse, and that is Zenyatta. She would crush Rachel, who did not have it today. Rachel's owners and trainer know this. They will find an excuse to duck out of their April 9th meeting, just like they will find an excuse to duck out of any meeting with Zenyatta. We know who the true champion is.Comment -
Not sure there will be a 5 million dollar purse for the Apple Blossom since Rachel lost.........I still hope Rachel and Zenyatta can still be in the same race.....Zenyatta will be the big favorite now and Rachel should be like a 7/5 second choice.
Fair Grounds | Posted 3/13/2010, 11:38 pm
Zardana spoils Rachel's comeback
By Marcus Hersh Louis Hodges Jr. Zardana edges Rachel Alexandra in the New Orleans Ladies. NEW ORLEANS - Rachel Alexandra was Horse of the Year in 2009, but before a packed house Saturday at Fair Grounds, all eyes trained on her 2010 debut, Rachel was not the horse of the day, going down to a three-quarters of a length defeat at the hands of Zardana in the inaugural running of the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies.
The defeat put in some doubt Rachel Alexandra's participation in the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said shortly after the Ladies.
"If I thought she'd get beat I wouldn't have run her today," Asmussen said. "We'll have to be cautious. We want to do what's right for the mare."
Rachel Alexandra had been on accelerated schedule all winter in an effort to make the Ladies and use this race as a springboard to the Apple Blossom and a potential race against champion Zenyatta, who won her comeback Saturday at Santa Anita in the Santa Margarita. She had made all her scheduled works, packed just six days apart since early February, but her major breeze for Saturday's race, on March 2, did not go as planned, producing a slower time than Asmussen wanted. And in the end, it would appear, Rachel Alexandra came up short Saturday.
Asmussen and Borel walked tightly together all the way from the winner's circle to the jockeys' room, which Borel entered without speaking to the media.
Later, he told Fair Grounds publicity officials that Rachel had gotten tired.
"She needed the race, that's all," said Borel. "She needed the race more than anything."
That assessment was echoed by Asmussen, who blamed himself for Rachel Alexandra's defeat.
"The filly's lacking fitness," he said. "It was my job to have her there, and I didn't do it."
Zardana, making her first start on dirt since being imported from South America, and winning for the first time on a dry dirt track, ran well in victory. Breaking outward and into Unforgotten, Zardana was taken in hand by David Flores, settling in third as Fighter Win, urged to the lead, set splits of 23.84 seconds for the first quarter, and 47.72 to the half. The half-mile split was especially fast, since the second quarter of the 1 1/16-mile Ladies was run into the teeth of a strong wind, and Rachel was no more than a length away from the leader there. Earlier on the card, a high-level allowance race at the same distance produced a half-mile split of 49.15 seconds.
Rachel Alexandra, who handled herself well while being saddled in front of a noisy crowd, broke alertly and tracked Fighter Wing's pace all the way to the second turn. There, Borel gave a glance back, and let Rachel Alexandra roll to the lead.
Borel said he rode to instructions, and would have preferred to have let Rachel take the lead earlier.
"I wanted to go on past the speed horse early," Borel said. "I'd have got by her anytime and my filly could have gone on, but they wanted me to wait and not get into her until the sixteenth pole."
When Borel made his initial move, Flores let Zardana out a notch, too, and past the three-eighths pole, midway around the far turn, Zardana attacked aggressively to Rachel's outside. She drew even with Rachel Alexandra as the two horses straightened away, but Rachel Alexandra, cornering slightly better than her opponent, regained the advantage.
"I thought she was going to pull away from me," Flores said.
Instead, Zardana quickly came back on even terms with Rachel Alexandra, pushing past her inside the final furlong, and gradually edging clear.
"She's a very strong filly, as small as she is," said Flores.
Zardana, owned by Arnold Zetcher and trained by John Shirreffs, stopped the timer in 1:43.55, and paid $21 to win. Unforgotten finished third, more than 11 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra, with Fighter Wing fourth, and Clear Sailing a distant last of five.
Rachel Alexandra is far from the first Horse of the Year to lose the first start of the next season. And Borel said she went down fighting Saturday.
"You know how I know she's a real racehorse? She was beat when that other horse went by her, but she didn't quit," he said. "She dug in and fought right back and stayed with the winner the rest of the way. That's the kind of racehorse she is."Comment -
Matchup won't have the same feeling to it at all now. Even if it happens, Zenyatta will be the clear-cut favorite on any surface. The closing kick she has is just unnnnnnnn--belieeeeeeeeee-vable!Comment -
Anyone who knows anything about horse racing knows that horses right off the shelf are barely beginning their training cycle and take a few months to get tight. The difference with Zenyatta is the crop of horses out West isn't at the same level, so the competition level was truely weak. The owners of these horses wouldn't say it publicly, but privately they wouldn't even bet on their horse for two reasons. One....the payoff is horrible, and two they realize their horses aren't are going to have their accelerators pressed to the floor.Comment
