Horse of the Year RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d'Oro) was in good order Sunday, the morning following her second-place finish to Zardana (Brz) (Crimson Tide) at Fair Grounds in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies, but will miss the April 9 Apple Blossom H. (G1) at Oaklawn Park, co-owner Jess Jackson announced. "Yesterday's race, while a disappointment, helped us define Rachel Alexandra's racing condition," Jackson explained. "While she is healthy, just as I had anticipated, she is not in top form. Therefore, I decided today she will not be going to the (Apple Blossom) Invitational on April 9.
"(Trainer) Steve (Asmussen) and I discussed this fully and we now regret we tried to accelerate her training in order meet the Apple Blossom schedule. We have a whole season before us to help define her greatness. She will tell us when her next race will be."
Plans were already in place before the New Orleans Ladies for Rachel Alexandra to leave the Crescent City on Monday for Hot Springs, Arkansas, where she was expected to meet dual champion Zenyatta (Street Cry [Ire]). The Apple Blossom was to carry a $5 million purse if both runners stated, but with Jackson keeping his star filly in the barn the race will revert to its original status, with a purse of $500,000.
"We tried and we really wanted to go (to the Apple Blossom)," Jackson said. "It's unfortunate but the timing just wasn't right. For the health of the horse. It's obvious she's not in top shape. The race (Saturday) was to define how far along she was. I repeatedly told people she was only 80 or 85 percent of what I thought was up to her top condition last year. That race proved it."
Jackson was noncommittal on the four-year-old filly's major goals for the year.
"It's up to her," he stated. "She has to show us that she's back up to her '09 form. We had progressively accelerated her conditioning and it didn't work, so we're going to gear back, let her develop at her own pace. I can't give you a prediction as to when but it might take a couple of months."
"We're disappointed that we're not going to be able to face each other in the Apple Blossom," said Zenyatta's owner, Jerry Moss. "Hopefully we can meet down the line. We respect both Steve and Mr. Jackson as horsemen and they're going to do what's right for their horse. That's all anybody could ask for.
"We'll go on to the Apple Blossom as planned," he added.
Rachel Alexandra was making her four-year-old debut in the New Orleans Ladies off a six-month break, having last raced on September 5 when taking the Woodward S. (G1). Her training schedule suffered many setbacks during the winter due to weather.
"She came back well," Asmussen said. "She ate last night, very sound this morning, walked the shed row well. I'm very pleased with that."
Reflecting on Saturday's race, in which Rachel Alexandra stalked the early pacesetter and assumed the lead around the far turn before yielding to the eventual winner, Asmussen was still "disappointed" but remains steadfast in his belief that she simply was not fit enough to win and has much improvement ahead of her.
"We had talked about her being 75 or 80-percent fit," he said. "The filly got tired but she cooled out fine and came back well from it; it's just a case if we can move forward in a positive direction fitness-wise, as well as with everything else. Yesterday's race is over. We can analyze it all we want, but her physical condition and her state of mind are what we need to concern ourselves with and we'll address that moving forward."
Asked to expand on her state of mind this morning, Asmussen said, "I was pleased with it today. She was relaxed in her stall. She went to her tub when we fed her last night and cleaned up everything. Walked well this morning and seemed very comfortable in her stall this morning."
