JC / Railbird - Hustling for a Meeting

Hustling for a Meeting

… between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra. From the Times-Union:

“NYRA generally does not sweeten pots or provide incentives but this could be a situation that might warrant that consideration,” NYRA president and CEO Charlie Hayward said in an e-mail.

And the New York Post:

“As you know, Mr. Moss opened the door to running in the East, and we will be spending this week to find out exactly what that means,” NYRA president Charles Hayward told The Post. “As you also know, we have two great older filly races at Saratoga [where Rachel Alexandra is now stabled], the [Aug. 2] Go For Wand and the [Aug. 30] Personal Ensign that might have some appeal to the parties. Early days, but we will stay on top of it.”

The two at Saratoga? Can’t imagine anything better. Good luck, NYRA.

Posted by JC in Racing on 06/29/2009 @ 10:11 am / Tagged Distaffers, Go For Wand, NYRA, Personal Ensign, Rachel Alexandra, Saratoga, Zenyatta / Follow @railbird on Twitter

6 Comments

Too bad Zenyatta’s pointing towards the Clement Hirsch, I would pass out if they met in the Go For Wand!

http://www.ntra.com/content.aspx?type=news&id=40180

Posted by dana on June 29, 2009 @ 11:30 am

But is she? Shirreffs sounds certain about that plan, yet Moss sounds open to other possibilities. There might be room for a deal …

Posted by Jessica on June 29, 2009 @ 11:35 am

There’s really no need for RA to run against older this summer with much more sweeter pots and prestigious races to be won in the restricted 3YO races.

And frankly, Saratoga doesn’t need a shot in the arm as far as attendance and general excitement goes. While I wouldn’t discount Monmouth from out hustling NYRA, Belmont in the fall is what I think will eventually happen or maybe Churchill post- BC.

There’s no reason to rush this matchup, let it simmer all summer and it could be parlayed into a TC-like television event for the game in the fall.

Posted by o_crunk on June 29, 2009 @ 11:54 am

I do not think the match up will ever happen. Not at Monmouth Park and not in New York.

Zenyatta’s next race the Clement Hirsch will be the key to how this will play out.

Should Zenyatta lose her perfect record then her Horse of the Year aspirations are out the window. Then the Mosses will have to come east and try to topple Rachel Alexandra head to head as a last resort. The latter is staying on the east coast no matter what. Make no mistake about that.

Posted by The_Knight_Sky racing blog on June 29, 2009 @ 9:04 pm

Moss is now saying no meeting before the Breeders’ Cup:

“Weâ€™d like to meet her, but we donâ€™t want to swerve out of our program, because we still have the Breedersâ€™ Cup foremost in our sights.”

Well, it was fun to dream about …

Posted by Jessica on June 29, 2009 @ 9:44 pm

Fun? Why that was torture!

Similar to dangling freshly washed carrots to a group of hungry baby rabbits. ;-)

Posted by The_Knight_Sky racing blog on June 30, 2009 @ 9:11 am

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