With the racing world looking forward to an April 9 matchup between Rachel Alexandra
and the John Shirreffs-trained Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom, Rachel Alexandra failed
to handle the Shirreffs “B” Team on Saturday at Fair Grounds.

Zardana, Zenyatta’s much-less-heralded stablemate, inched past Rachel Alexandra in the
stretch of the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies and held off the comebacking Horse of the Year
to post the 9-1 upset under David Flores.

Rachel Alexandra and jockey Calvin Borel looked like winners down the backstretch, stalking
the pace of longshot pacesetter Fighter Wing. Rachel took the lead on the far turn of the
1 1/16-mile race and was almost immediately tackled by Zardana on the outside. Borel went
to riding the 1-9 Rachel Alexandra in early stretch and hit her several times in midstretch,
but Zardana wore her down for the victory.

Zardana, owned by Arnold Zetcher, paid $21 and ran the 1 1/16 miles in 1:43.55.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNjm7rU6mjo

The Fields:
10th (5:15)
New Orleans Ladies S.
1 1/16 Miles | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $200,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 Fighter Wing Lanerie C J Geier Greg 117 L 15-1
2 Rachel Alexandra Borel C H Asmussen Steven M 123 L 1-5
3 Zardana (BRZ) Flores D R Shirreffs John 121 L 5-1
4 Unforgotten Mena M Stewart Dallas 117 L 15-1
5 Clear Sailing Sellers S J Delahoussaye Glenn 117 L 6-1

7th (3:37)
Santa Margarita Invitational H. (G1)
1 1/8 Miles (All Weather Track) | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $250,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 Dance to My Tune Garcia M Hollendorfer Jerry 111 L 50-1
2 Pretty Katherine Rosario J Hollendorfer Jerry 111 L 50-1
3 Made for Magic Berrio O A Avila A C 111 L 50-1
4 Pretty Unusual Sutherland C Abrams Barry 113 L 12-1
5 Striking Dancer Solis A McPeek Kenneth G 115 L 8-1
6 Powerofvoodoo Kaplan T Abrams Barry 108 L 50-1
7 Gripsholm Castle Espinoza V Cecil B D A 112 L 12-1
8 Zenyatta Smith M E Shirreffs John 127 L 1-9
9 Floating Heart Talamo J Pletcher Todd A 111 L 12-1

Rachel Alexandra@1-5 and Zenyatta@1-9! I don’t know if there ever is a sure thing in horse racing
but this has got to be as good as it gets. There
is some question about Rachel’s fitness but Zenyatta is good to go.

by Mike Curry

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

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysO_Fhc8Fpw

“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).

www.youtube.com/watch?v=U8b8lmbwVnA