I don't follow horse racing much, but I sure do love to watch the Triple Crown races.

I saw a video yesterday of a beautiful filly named Rachel Alexandra run in the Kentucky Oaks. The owners decided not to run her in the derby.. but I bet now they wish they did. SHe won by 20 lengths.

I found this... much better video

LOL - looking at youtube... she even has tribute videos...

She is the Janelle of the horse-racing world!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSupt0rmzBQ&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6DyGjCeI78

Ever get this feeling that you're talking to yourself....??

JUST KIDDING, Nancy!!! I am not a horse-racing fan, but I like hearing about the Kentucky Derby. I think I would love to go sometime - not that I'm a big hat girl, but I do think I could be a mint julep girl! It will be interesting to see how Rachel does in her next race.

I only watch the Triple Crown races. So much joy and sadness over the years. A lot of horses have been scratched for this race (thankfully!)

I Want Revenge is out of the Kentucky Derby, the first morning-line favorite to scratch the day of the race.

The 3-year-old colt was scratched Saturday morning after trainer Jeff Mullins discovered a hot spot on the horse's left front ankle.

May 2: Kentucky Derby (G1), Churchill Downs, 1 1/4 miles.

May 16: Preakness (G1), Pimlico, 1 3/16 miles.

June 6: Belmont Stakes (G1), Belmont Park, 1 1/2 miles.

Chocolate Candy for the win!

Mappy, ever get this feeling that you're talking to yourself...??


JUST KIDDING!! I'll always pull for Chocolate Candy to win anything!!

OK.. well Mine That Bird won ( 50 to 1 shot)... jockey the same ( Calvin Burrell )who won yesterday on Rachel Alexandra in the Oaks! LOL

and... another interesting tidbit.. Rachel Alexandra's father was trained by Bobby Frankel.. who is the father of Bethenny Frankel of Real Housewives NYC

Wow, that jockey just got a pay raise, huh?!! And interesting about the Frankels. Has she talked about her parents on the show? It seems like she's mentioned them, but nothing specific comes to mind.

Now that's what I call a race! From the rear, weaving in and out, almost riding that rail, 50-1 odds and the jockey is a good ol' boy. DH and I recognized him immediately from two years ago when he won.

I'm proud of Chocolate Candy. Didn't win, place, or show but made this chocoholic very happy lol

I love to watch races but when I watch them live, I watch through my fingers. I'm always so worried for the horses. They're bred to run and they love to run but when the jockey asks them to go, they give everything they've got ..... sometimes with tragic results.
Today's race was fantastic! I love a long shot. Calvin Burrell rode Mine That Bird perfectly, didn't he? He is the reigning 2-year old champion in Canada and he was bought as a yearling for just $9,500! That's unheard of.

Wow, CJ - quite the bargain, huh??

LOL, Mappy - I was just being goofy after doing the same thing to Nancy! I am just excited about the Rainbow weekend, and find myself silly-posting all over the place!

Always good to be appreciated by a fellow smartass!

I watched the Derby yesterday and I was so moved by the performance of the winner. I got all teary eyed listening to the jockey talk about his parents. I am such a sap for those things. 50:1 ..sure wish I had placed a bet on that one! Cha CHing!

The whole story is so heartwarming. Little guy makes BIG! WOOHOO!!!

Just saw a TV ad... Rachel Alexandra is going to run in the Preakness.
I don't know what they are going to do about the jockey, since her rider, Calvin Burris, was on the Kentucky Derby winner.

LOL - guess I'll go google and find out

How good is champion filly Rachel Alexandra? Enough to make jockey Calvin Borel do something almost unthinkable. Borel who won both marquee races at Churchill Downs last week with victories in the Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby has committed to ride Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness Stakes. That will leave the "Run for the Roses" champion Mine That Bird in need for a rider in the "Run for the Black-Eyed Susans".
“It came down to the facts that he knows and loves this horse, that he knows how to get the most from her and he knows how to win,’’ Jess Jackson told Bloodhorse.com a day after purchasing the filly for an undisclosed price. “They were an amazing team at the Kentucky Oaks—winning by over 20 lengths. We think this is a perfect match of rider and horse.’’
Jackson added:
"If she continues to be in perfect condition, our intention will be to run her in the Preakness."
The final decision will come next week whether or not she takes on the boys in the second leg of the Triple Crown.
If the three year old filly does indeed enter in the prestigious race she will be the first female entrant in over a decade. Rachel Alexandra will also be vying to become the first filly to win the race Nellie Morse won the race in in 1924. Rags to Riches proved that the girls can sometimes top the men after she won the Belmont Stakes in 2007 and Eight Belles, of course, finished second in the Kentucky Derby but that race was marred with tragedy after the filly took a bad step following the race and had to be put down with a shattered leg.

Well I'll be damn...

just now news is out that they may not let her run.. the other horse owners are conspiring to keep her out

http://blog.timesunion.com/horseracing/this-isnt-right/1300/

So, now, maybe Rachel Alexandra won’t get into the Preakness. If she doesn’t get in, something is very wrong with horse racing.

It was announced earlier on Sunday that the filly, who crushed her own kind by 20 1/4 lengths in the Kentucky Oaks, was being pointed to Saturday’s Preakness.

Great news for a sport starving for some great news.

But Rachel was never nominated to the Triple Crown races, her former owner believing that he wanted colts to run against colts and fillies to stay with fillies. Fine. But, now, Rachel has a new owner in the sportsman Jess Jackson and Jess is all for his filly trying the colts.

Not so fast. Mark Allen, who co-owns Mine That Bird with Dr. Larry Blach, said he is going to enter a maiden named Indy Express in the Preakness. Indy Express can’t win the Preakness but he can help keep Rachel in the barn on Preakness Day.

The first four finishers in the Kentucky Derby (Mine That Bird, Pioneerof the Nile, Musket Man and Papa Clem) automatically make the Preakness field because they earned purse money in Louisville.

The next three in the field, based on graded earnings are General Quarters, Friesan Fire and Big Drama. Terrain, Flying Private, Take the Points and Hull qualify in the next category (earnings in all non-restricted stakes).

The final three spots are currently filled by Luv Gov, Tone It Down and Indy Express based on total lifetime earnings. All 14 were pre-nominated to the Triple Crown prior to the Kentucky Derby. If they all go, Rachel doesn’t.

“Since it’s Mother’s Day, I wish I could announce to all mothers everywhere that this incredible filly is entered to take on the boys, but Triple Crown rules may prevent us from sending her to Pimlico,” Jackson said in a statement. “I want the fans to know that we are prepared to enter here and I’m hopeful that her entry will be accepted. I know that we all want the thrill of seeing her race next weekend.”

Allen also contacted Ahmed Zayat, owner of Derby second place finisher Pioneerof the Nile, and tried to get him to enter another horse to the Preakness. Zayat has 22 horses nominated to the Triple Crown. Zayat originally showed some interest, then wisely backed off.

Allen, on the Horse Racing TV Network, had this to say when asked if this was the sporting thing to do:

“Well, um, I’ll tell ya’. I don’t think that we caused the uproar,” he said. “I think that … this filly being bought and them supplementing her into this race caused the uproar. You know and I’d just like Calvin back on my horse ’cause it’s his horse and I’d like, you know, Pioneerof the Nile and Papa Clem and them, they think they can outrun me on a good track and they want a shot at it. With the same, you know, with the same riders and everything. Heck, I’m glad to give ‘em a shot at it.”

If that’s the case, why not let Rachel Alexandra join the party?

Calvin is Calvin Borel and rode Mine That Bird in the Derby but choose Rachel if she got to run in the Preakness.

Sounds to me like Allen is very much afraid of Rachel Alexandra. If he wants to show the world that Mine That Bird’s Derby win wasn’t a fluke, then he should want the biggest, strongest Preakness field in history.

But he is taking the cowardly road on this one. Enter another horse to keep the big filly out so he has a better chance of winning? Geez, sends these guys back to New Mexico already.

Hey, I’m as competitive as the next guy but don’t you want to beat the best to be the best? Just asking.

Derek Ryan, the trainer of Derby third place finisher Musket Man, has no problem in seeing Rachel in the Preakness.

“I’m glad she’s in there,” Ryan said Sunday. “Why not? She’ll keep Big Drama pretty honest on the lead and if you get beat by her, you’ll be getting beat by one of the best (fillies) of all time. If you beat her, you’ve beaten one of the great ones of all time – plus, plus.”

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas, who will send Derby last place finisher Flying Private to the Preakness, could start Luv Gov, owned by Saratoga socialite Marylou Whitney, who also owns Birdstone, sire of Mine That Bird.

However, John Hendrickson, Marylou’s husband, said Sunday that if comes down to the filly not getting in because of Luv Gov, they won’t run.

“We love the sport,” Hendrickson said. “If we are the deciding factor, we will not enter. She (Rachel Alexandra) is good for the sport and for the sake of the sport, we would withdraw.”

John Hendrickson was the only voice of reason to come out on a confusing, frustrating day of horse racing.

Here’s hoping Rachel gets to run on Saturday. It will make for a great, great Preakness.

LOL this is like a Soap Opera

-------------
May 10, 2009, 7:35 PM
Whitney to Rachel Alexandra’s Rescue
By JOE DRAPE
News Analysis

How many ways can horse racing shoot itself in the foot? It appeared to find a new one Sunday when the owner of the Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile appeared on television and said he was considering colluding with other owners in an effort to keep the super filly Rachel Alexandra out of the field of 14 for the 134th running of the Preakness Stakes.

The scheme was derailed Sunday night, however, when Marylou Whitney said that if Rachel Alexandra was still 15th on the eligibility list she would not run her colt, Luv Gov, who her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, had entered earlier in the day.

“We think Rachel Alexandra is wonderful,” said Whitney’s husband, John Hendrickson. “We entered our horse because we thought we had a shot. But if we are the deciding factor on whether or not Rachel Alexandra getting in, then we’ll withdraw, and wait until the Belmont. We’re for sportsmanship and what’s best for the game. It is lady’s first for us.”

Soon after Whitney made her intentions known, Mine That Bird’s co-owner Mark Allen decided not to enter Indy Express, who was winless in nine career starts, as he told HRTV (Horse Racing Television) earlier Sunday. Whitney and Hendrickson own and campaigned Mine That Bird’s sire, the 2004 Belmont Stakes champion Birdstone.

Allen conceded he had thought about entering Indy Express in the hope of keeping Rachel Alexandra out and retaining the services of Calvin Borel, who guided Mine That Bird from a stunning Kentucky Derby victory at odds of 50-1 with a brilliant rail-skimming ride. Borel, who is Rachel Alexandra’s regular rider, has committed to riding the filly who won the Kentucky Oaks by more than 20 lengths if she got in the second leg of Triple Crown.

“It’s just not the thing to do,” said Allen by telephone Sunday night. “I do want my rider back, but not this way.”

By the end of the day, Zayat, too, had backed off his threat to enter another horse so Rachel Alexandra should be eligible not only to make the race but go off as the likely favorite.

Still, it ended a day of intrigue that is terribly unflattering to the sport. Horse racing has already endured the public outrage after the fatal breakdown of the filly Eight Belles at last year’s Derby as well as Congressional scrutiny of its drug and safety policies.

Zayat told HRTV’s RaceDay America on Sunday that Mark Allen had called him and they discussed entering other horses to exclude Rachel Alexandra.

Rachel Alexandra was not nominated to the Triple Crown but could run in the Preakness if her new owner, Stonestreet Stables, paid a $100,000 supplemental entry fee and one of the 14 positions in the starting gate was available.

Suddenly on Sunday, the Preakness field swelled to 15, including 14 Triple Crown nominees and Rachel Alexandra.

Jackson purchased the filly early last week and transferred her from the trainer Hal Wiggins to Steve Asmussen. She covered four furlongs in 48.40 seconds Sunday morning, and Jackson confirmed that he planned to enter Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness.

“Rachel Alexandra had an impressive workout today and she is ready to run in the Preakness,” Jackson said in a statement. “Since it’s Mother’s Day, I wish I could announce to all mothers everywhere that this incredible filly is entered to take on the boys, but Triple Crown rules may prevent us from sending her to Pimlico.”

Fittingly Whitney, one of the grand doyenne’s of horse racing, has all but assured Rachel Alexandra a chance to take on the boys in Baltimore.