Rachel Alexandra was sold and her old trainer was quoted about her possibly starting in the Preakness …
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I don’t know how to feel about this. I feel terrible for Wiggins, but something’s definitely on the horizon considering her new connections. Negative Nancys on other boards think she was bought just to be retired and bred to Curlin next year, but I doubt Jackson’s going to retire her that quickly. Plus he’s gamer than many owners here in the US. It would definitely be something to see her in the gate for the Preakness.
She was bought to breed to Curlin next year, sure, but at this point, they might as well finish out the season, win as many races as they can, and increase the value of her foals.
I’d like to see her race at four, but…meh…these days?
I don’t feel like there’s quite the financial incentive with fillies as there is with colts to retire them early. The owners aren’t going to make mega bucks in stud fees and she could still make a lot of money on the track. So If she continues to stay sound and do well I would think they’d try and race her next year.
How could would it be to be able to advertise a foal as having two Preakness-winning parents?
I’m not saying it wouldn’t be, I’m just saying it’s not nearly as big as retiring a horse like Curlin was.
There’s not guarantee they won’t retire her but it much more likely she’ll race next year than compared to a colt.
On the other hand, their babies could sell for millions, in theory, so I think a high quality mare could make as much as a stud each year, and with less maintenance. (Azeri’s first colt was bought-back as a yearling for $7.7 million and sold as a 2yo for almost $2 million.) Granted, not every mare is Azeri, but still…Street Sense and Big Brown both stand for ~$60,000, so they would need a confirmed 30 mares to equal Azeri’s earnings in a year (and that, of course, is not counting the added labor of caring for 30 mares as opposed to just one.)
Just playing devil’s advocate. 
Hehe no I like a good debate.
I’m not saying that in the long run an amazing broodmare might not be worth more than a stallion, but the return on a hyped up stud fee is quicker and more dependable than a foal that may or may not sell for a huge amount and that’s if the foal even makes it to the auction ring. I guess there are just so many more things that can go wrong with one foal compared to a stud who can breed several times in a season. Who knows, maybe they’ll breed her and continue to run her.
Yes, that’s definitely true, when your eggs are all in one basket/foal rather than a few dozen/hundred, your risk goes up. I imagine your reward does, too, though.
Just for fun, I looked up some stats for some previous Derby sire winners. Elusive Quality stands for $75,000 (Smarty Jones, 2004). Holy Bull, Giacamo’s sire (2005), stands for a whopping $10,000. Distorted Humor, sire of Funny Cide (2003) stands for $150,000. And Our Emblem, who sired 2002 winner War Emblem, stood for $7,500 before getting sent off to Brazil to stand there permanently.
You’d think having a Derby winner would guarantee a stud a successful (financial, if not racing stat) career, given that there are only 135 of them. That’s not really the case, obviously, but I’m sure all of the Derby winner’s 1/2 sibs would bring in good money, unless they happened to be a conformational freak or had a massive injury or something.
Let’s not forget it’s also in Curlin’s owner’s best interest to ‘stack the deck’ and give him the best possible mares they can in his first few seasons… Smarty’s first crop was stellar largely because he was given some of the best producers in the country… And, while yes, Storm Cat will always be regarded as one of the best sires, look at the quality of mares that were bred to him during the latter half of his career.
Maria’s Storm, My Flag, Heavenly Prize, Tranquility Lake… No wonder he’s a sire of sires…
Given she stays sound I can see Jackson racing her as a 4yo. He has no need of the money he would get from selling a foal of hers and Curlin. I don’t think he would sell the foal either because I really doubt he would get that much for it, not exactly a fashionable pedigree for selling high at the auctions. 
So , according to this article. … Borel is riding Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness if she runs.
bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/ … -preakness
I think that says a lot about what he thinks of Mind That Bird.
Word is going out that other owners are going to try and fill the Preakness to keep Rachel out. Read Zayat’s take on the whole situation…disgustingly unsportsmanlike. Are we too sensitive over fillies and mares running against colts, stallions, and geldings? I thinks it’s how we train and breed our horses that’s causing all the problems because the rest of the world doesn’t even blink when a filly or mare appears in an open race.
So Rags to Riches was never right again after the Belmont. At least her owners tried. So Ruffian broke down in that awful match race. I think it was more her breeding and conformation that did her in.
I hope the owners come to their senses and give her a chance to run. How afraid of her are they? Seriously, I’ve never heard of a filly scaring the crap out of the others.
I don’t think it’s that they’re afraid that she’s rightly competitive… As a result of recent events over the past few years, I think every one is terrified of possible televised tragedy, and what that could potentially do to the future of horse racing.
I wouldn’t run her against the boys. What would it prove? She’s already amazing.
-K
I only care that if her new connections decide to commit her to the Preakness (no word yet, even though she had her final workout) that the other owners don’t fill in the race with crap horses to keep her out. Wherever her new connections point her, I hope they choose wisely and I hope that she comes home safe and sound each and every time. I also hope they keep her running next year instead of whisking her off to Curlin’s court.
At some point risks are going to be taken, especially if she keeps scaring off the fillies.
Also, why not run against the boys? She’s amazing, right? Why not take it to the open level? As long as she’s healthy and sound and has the potential I don’t see what the problem is. But from what people say fillies and mares tend to try harder, and dirt isn’t as forgiving as synthetic and turf, so already she’s got two knocks against her. But it would be nice to see her able to beat the boys and continue her winning ways throughout the rest of the year. It would be nice to see more fillies and mares take on the boys here.
I’m sure some people are worried about this, but the people trying to block her by filling the race with 0-9 maidens are just scared of her. And why run her against the boys? Well her first owner didn’t want to run in the TC races because he said he thought they were a showcase for the future studs. I think that’s exactly what’s wrong with American racing today. It’s all just a big lead up to breeding when it SHOULD be about the racing. So the Triple Crown should be for the best of the best three year olds, not just colts, and if she can beat them then they don’t deserve to hold the title of “Triple Crown or Preakness winner” or whatever. Plus it is good for the sport.
Don’t forget the filly who was second in the Derby last year and had to be destroyed, Eight Belles.
However, before you think I am only adding to the argument that fillies aren’t as strong as colts, I have one word to say about that…
Barbaro!!!
Actually, I am also going to add George Washington to that list, to show that Thoroughbred colts are just as fragile as Thoroughbred fillies.
I say that if Rachel Alexandra’s connections think she is good enough to take on the boys in the Preakness, let her do so and, if the other owners/trainers enter trash in the race in an attempt to keep her out, then they are nothing but a bunch of cowards and have no business being in horse racing. If she does run, good luck to her and her connections.
The other day I heard an announcer saying that entering Rachel Alexandra would be ‘showing disrespect’ to Mine That Bird because he’s a Derby winner. Um…by that logic, wouldn’t anyone who entered to race against MTB be ‘showing disrespect’? The reason the Triple Crown is so looked-for is because it’s an accomplishment. And what means more, something you win by striving against the best competition, or something that’s more or less given to you? Which shows you more respect? I admire MTB for what he did, and as far as I’m concerned, people should only race their best against him. It’s the only true way to see what he’s made of. And yes, I would say that ‘the best’ includes Rachel Alexandra.
She’s a great filly who could arguably compete well against colts. If her connections think it’s in her best interests to race her there, I’m all for it. Just as I hope that they’ll keep her out if they decide that it will put her in too much risk somehow. But honestly, injuries can happen anywhere…so short of wrapping her in cotton and putting her in a museum already, the most I feel anyone can do is just hope for the best.
Well that was an interesting Sunday, full of very unsportsmanlike attitudes…Rachel Alexander is in PP 13 and is the current favorite for the Preakness this Saturday. Borel is committed to her all the way, so Smith gets the mount on Mine That Bird.
Much as I would love to see a Triple Crown winner I’ll be backing Rachel and her jockey. Plus, with all the whining I find about Jackson being her new owner I love the man for saying that what this sport needs are good horses racing against good horses. Rachel’s scared off all the other 3YO fillies anyway.
You know what I’d like to see (besides her safely annihilate the boys) is a Rachel Alexandra vs Zenyatta race. Zenyatta was a power house last year 7 for 7.