Odds and Ends
– This is taking fear too far:
Rachel Alexandra became a household name last Saturday when she took on the best colts in the country, including the top four finishers of the Kentucky Derby, and when she crossed the finish line first, the point was well proven.
She is the simply the best, so please, do what is best for her and thoroughbred racing, not what’s best for the Belmont Stakes or TV ratings.
Let her final racing picture be in the Preakness winner’s circle.
– But if Rachel Alexandra retires now, we’ll never see her meet this challenge:
In order for fillies to be regarded as the greatest of their generation, they must prove their worth on two counts: knocking off colts, then disposing older females later in the season. Rachel Alexandra accomplished the former with her Preakness victory; however, the second part of the equation will be the tougher of the two tasks, as she’ll have to knock off undefeated champion Zenyatta, most likely on that one’s favorite surface at Santa Anita.
– Jess Jackson is looking forward to the two meeting at the Breeders’ Cup.
Let’s be clear about one thing: If Rachel Alexandra isn’t at her absolute peak, she shouldn’t run in the Belmont. If she struggles at all to recover from the Preakness, if she shows any lingering fatigue, if she is in the smallest way unfit, she should race another day. But if the argument against it amounts to “she’s a filly, and the Belmont is too hard,” well, that’s nonsense. The reason her owners bought her and entered her in the Preakness in the first place was to prove that she is “a champion horse, not a champion filly.”
– Taking bets on whether she’ll go, or not. Mike Smith says no:
“I bet you they won’t run her against him again,” Smith said. “I bet you she doesn’t run in the Belmont. I can almost predict it.”
– What’s certain is that Mike Smith won’t be riding in the Belmont. He’s jumping off Mine That Bird to honor a commitment elsewhere.
– Undeniably true (see: Superfecta re: the first point, Beyer for the second):
Still, it’s been hard not to detect a slightly patronizing tone in some of the coverage of the jockey, as if he’s some magical bayou Zelig, a la Forrest Gump. What’s gotten overlooked is what a ruthless, Jordanesque competitor he is.
– What might have been … Larry Jones has it right: “That might have been our Triple Crown winner if they had run her in the Derby.”
1 Comment