Asmussen concerned about Rachel Alexandra’s fitness level
- 03.08.10
- Rachel Alexandra
- 4 Comments
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Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra is making steady progress toward her season debut, but trainer Steve Asmussen expressed concern
that she might not be in ideal shape from a fitness standpoint for her first start since September 5.
The Medaglia d’Oro filly is scheduled to kick off her four-year-old campaign in the New Orleans Ladies Stakes on Saturday at Fair Grounds.
“I’m very concerned about her fitness level,” Asmussen said.
The 1 1/16-mile race for four-year-olds and older is a prep race for the much-anticipated showdown between Rachel Alexandra and
unbeaten two-time champion Zenyatta in the $5-million Apple Blossom Invitational Stakes (G1) on April 9 at Oaklawn Park, a race that
is being billed as the “Race for the Ages.”
On Saturday, Rachel Alexandra turned in a strong gallop under regular exercise rider Dominic Terry and visited the paddock at Fair Grounds.
“This was a dress rehearsal for the dress rehearsal,” Asmussen said of the paddock schooling during the seventh race on Saturday. The trainer
expects to school Rachel Alexandra in the paddock again during Friday’s live card.
Rachel Alexandra is slated to have her final breeze Monday in preparation for her 2010 debut. She has not raced since defeating older males in
the Woodward Stakes (G1) on September 5 at Saratoga Race Course
“Her gallops have been very strong,” said Asmussen, who trains Rachel Alexandra for owners Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick. “She’s not 100%
fit for this and we’re aware of that. She’s had six works in six months. But she’s a very physical horse; she is Rachel.”
Last year’s champion three-year-old filly and Horse of the Year defeated males three times during an unbeaten 2009 campaign, winning the
BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1), and Woodward. She also powered to record-setting wins in the Kentucky Oaks
(G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (G1).
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