Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra back on track
Six months down the line and the big match seems no closer to happening but American racing is gearing itself up for some fascinating races in the meantime.
The clash between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra, which has been mooted ever since Zenyatta (pictured) returned from one of the briefest sporting retirements in January, had been on the back burner following defeats for Rachel Alexandra in her first two starts of the year.
Normal service was resumed when Rachel Alexandra won the Grade Two Fleur de Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs on the same weekend that Zenyatta took her unbeaten record to 17 with a third victory in the Grade One Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park.
At present there appears little progress towards the two queens of stateside racing meeting on the track. The proposed clash in the Apple Blossom Invitational Handicap Oaklawn in April was derailed when Rachel Alexandra hit the buffers in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes the previous month.
There could be a chance that the pair will now not meet until the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November but in the meantime there are a couple of colts who could be around to make things a little more interesting.
Whoever decided to name Lookin At Lucky was probably tempting providence. He was voted champion juvenile colt last year but a car-park draw in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile contributed to something of a nightmare run where he missed out by just a head to Vale Of York, and it was a similar story in the Kentucky Derby.
This time he was drawn in stall one, hit more traffic than the M25 on a Friday night and trailed in sixth before everything fell right when he won the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico last month. The bad luck seems to have revisited, with Lookin At Lucky kept on the easy list by trainer Bob Baffert since a workout nine days ago. “He got sick this week,” Baffert told the Daily Racing Form over the weekend. “He got a temperature the day after he worked. We'll know more about how he's doing when we got him back.”
However, Baffert is still making plans for his next race, the Grade One Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on August 1st, which puts him on a collision course with Kentucky Derby winner Super Saver, whom trainer Todd Pletcher has also nominated for the race that Rachel Alexandra won last year.
As for Rachel Alexandra, the reigning Horse of the Year was out on the track at Churchill Downs yesterday for a five-furlong breeze, her last before travelling to Saratoga for their summer meeting. Her trainer, Steve Asmussen, has Grade One options of either the Ruffian Handicap, run on the same day as the Haskell, or the Personal Ensign Stakes on August 29th.
Over on the west coast Zenyatta breezed a half-mile in 49.60seconds at Hollywood Park on Sunday, her first workout since her win in the Vanity. “It's been two weeks, and it's time to let her stretch her legs,” her trainer, John Shirreffs, said. “We don't want to give her too much time off.”
Whether he will admit to it or not Shirreffs must now be feeling the weight of history bearing down upon him. The mare is now one victory ahead of such luminaries of the US racing scene as Cigar, the Dubai World Cup and Breeders’ Cup Classic winner of the 1990s, and the 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation – and Hallowed Dreams and Mister Frisky. Zenyatta has equalled the winning streak of Hong Kong star Silent Witness and is two behind Peppers Pride, who raced from 2005 to 2008.
Peppers Pride retired with an unbeaten record of 19 but can anyone aside from connections name many of the races she won down in New Mexico?
Shirreffs has not confirmed a next race for Zenyatta but, if he intends staying in California, the upcoming Del Mar summer meeting looks the best bet with the Grade One Clement Hirsch Handicap on August 7th that could bring a rematch with St Trinians, who was a half-length second in the Vanity. “We haven't really discussed it yet,” Shirreffs said. “We've got lots of time.”
On the surface the Clement Hirsh, which Zenyatta has won for the past two years, would seem an ideal race. However, the Del Mar's Polytrack surface has been called into question of late and the trainer will wait until he has had time to decide how it performs in the early weeks of the meeting, which begins July 21st, before committing Zenyatta.
When Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra will be committed to race against each other is anyone’s guess.
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