No sign of Zenyatta clash with Rachel Alexandra
Ask any racecourse executive in America about what would be at the top of their wish-list and the names of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are likely to come bursting forth faster than a sprinter breaking from the gates.
The latest course trying to engineer the first meeting between the two queens of stateside racing is Monmouth Park. They achieved part of their goal when they enticed Rachel Alexandra’s owners away from Saratoga.
However, the match-up that officials and racegoers had been hoping for is, it appears, still on a drawing board somewhere, quite possibly in Louisville, Kentucky.
When Rachel Alexandra arrived at Saratoga earlier this week, it had been assumed that her trainer, Steve Asmussen, was preparing for the filly to run in either the Ruffian Handicap on August 1st or the Personal Ensign Stakes four weeks later. However, Jess Jackson, who owns Rachel Alexandra in partnership with Harold McCormick, then said that filly will run next in the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park July 24th.
The Lady’s Secret forms part of a potential racing programme that could take in Grade One options at Saratoga of the Personal Ensign Stakes on August 29th or Woodward Stakes on September 4th, which Rachel Alexandra won last season, or the Grade Two Molly Pitcher Stakes at Monmouth on the same day as the Personal Ensign.
So far so good for the personal agenda of Monmouth, whose general manager, Bob Kulina, explained that the thinking behind the filly’s connections choosing the Lady’s Secret was because it fitted well with their plans which centre on the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on November 6th.
Speaking to the Thoroughbred Times, Kulina said: “They’re very interested in keeping Rachel on a five-week schedule. They worked back from the Breeders’ Cup because that’s their objective, and July 24th worked well for Steve’s pattern. The distance of 11/8 miles was what they wanted. We had contact with them long before this and told them we’d do whatever to make a race work with their schedule. We’re pretty excited that we’re able to do this.”
However, Monmouth’s attempts to tempt the Zenyatta camp out of California were unsuccessful. Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, who is both wife of trainer John Shirreffs and racing manager for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, ruled Zenyatta out of running in either the Lady’s Secret Stakes or Molly Pitcher. “They had reached out to us, but we graciously declined,” she said. “They were nice about it, and they did call, but it didn’t fit into what we want to do at this point in time.”
The next prospective run for Zenyatta (pictured), when she will attempt to extend her unbeaten career run to 18, could be Grade One Clement Hirsch Handicap on August 7th, although Ingordo-Shirreffs said that the condition of the synthetic track at Del Mar would be a major factor. “We’re still making a decision. We’re waiting to see how the surface is at Del Mar. That’s one of the considerations, to see what the surface is like.”
Kulina would not elaborate as to what the prize money would have been for a race that featured both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, although he intimated that it would have been substantially more than the $400,000 currently on offer for the Lady’s Secret if Rachel Alexandra starts.
When Oaklawn Park was trying to arrange the clash for the Apple Blossom Handicap in April the figure quoted was $5million. “If both horses had committed, we’d have made it worthy of both horses,” Kulina said. “We knew it was a longshot, and we took it.”
Ingordo-Shirreffs reiterated that Zenyatta will defend her title in the Classic, which she won at Santa Anita last year, while Jackson has not specified between the Ladies’ Classic or the Classic. Reflecting on Monmouth’s unavailing efforts Kulina said: “Obviously, I think that’s the idea of everyone who has a racetrack—that’s the race we’d all love to see. Hopefully, the industry will see them somewhere down the road.”
Quite possibly Louisville in November.
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