JC / Railbird

Life Is Sweet

Shake Up

Rachel Alexandra hasn’t previously appeared in my top 10 Kentucky Derby prospects list, but she’s now #1 after winning the Fair Grounds Oaks yesterday with style and ease and in a final time of 1:43.55, barely 1/10 of a second slower than Friesan Fire finished the Louisiana Derby. Surely, she could have met or exceeded that time with little effort, if Calvin Borel had kept to the task instead of showboating through the final sixteenth, gearing the filly down and throwing back exaggerated glances at the trailing competition.

Before Saturday, trainer Hal Wiggins allowed there was a possibility Rachel Alexandra could be a late Triple Crown nominee. As of this morning, though, her connections seem set on their original plan of going to the Kentucky Oaks. “We have too good a filly to risk her future in a 20-horse field of brutal, man, macho colts,” said co-owner Dolphus Morrison (Courier-Journal). Oh, man. I’ll let that quote speak for itself, and hope Morrison et al reconsiders.

Following his facile victory in the Louisiana Derby, Friesan Fire moves from #3 to #2, ahead of Desert Party, while Old Fashioned, formerly #1, sinks to #6. In his New York Times wrap-up today, Joe Drape offers a few excuses for the colt’s second-place finish in the Rebel Stakes:

[The crowd] watched Old Fashioned stagger in the stretch after contesting wickedly fast fractions. He chased Silver City through a rapid half mile in 46.07 and three quarters of a mile in 1.11.67.

Maybe. I’ll wait to see how he does in the Arkansas Derby, but the Rebel reminded me of how Old Fashioned tired in the stretch of the Southwest, which was then marked up to it being his first start of 2009.

The list for 3/17/09 PDI: 1. Rachel Alexandra 2. Friesan Fire 3. Desert Party 4. Pioneerof the Nile 5. I Want Revenge 6. Old Fashioned 7. Quality Road 8. Dunkirk 9. Imperial Council 10. Papa Clem

Hot Derby prospects weren’t the only horses running on Saturday. At Santa Anita, Life Is Sweet won her third straight stakes this year and her first G1 when she scored the Santa Margarita with a determined stretch run:

Not that the rest of the field didn’t know Life Is Sweet was coming: “They were all looking back at me,” said jockey Garrett Gomez. “I was laughing at the three-eighths pole” (ESPN). Impossible to tell he’s doing that in the video, but I can believe it, because the way the filly rolled up on the outside, tough and graceful, looked like a fun ride.

Life is Sweet is a great example of a late-blooming horse, and her handling has been of the patient sort we don’t seem to see much of these days. Although she won her first race as a 2-year-old in her second start at Belmont back in October 2007, Life Is Sweet struggled through her 3-year-old season to do better than second, running against fillies like Proud Spell and Little Belle in races such as the Ashland and Sands Point Stakes. Since returning this January, she’s emerged as trainer John Shirreff’s other distaff star, second only to Zenyatta. Asked if the 4-year-old filly might meet her champion stablemate on the track sometime this year, owner Martin Wygod replied, “Who knows?” Racing fans can wish.

Posted in Racing on March 15, 2009 / Tagged Derby Preps, Derby Prospects, Friesan Fire, Kentucky Derby, Life Is Sweet, Lists, Old Fashioned, Rachel Alexandra