By Adele
Nine wins in a row. On September 5, Rachel Alexandra outran 7 older and stronger male horses to take the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga in New York. The 2008 Belmont Stakes winner, Da’Tara, challenged Rachel right out of the gate, but she never let him get by her. Watch her in action.
So let’s see…
This summer, she beat 2009 Kentucky Bird winner Mine That Bird by winning the second Triple Crown race, the Preakness, herself. Then beat Summer Bird in the Haskell. He was the 2009 winner of the third Triple Crown race, the Belmont. By default, that makes Rachel the unofficial Triple Crown queen.
In the Woodward, Macho Again made a mad dash in the final stretch and almost overtook Rachel, but jockey Calvin Borel helped her beat Macho back and she won by a head and made history. No filly has ever won the Woodward in 56 years.
Rachel was a huge crowd favorite, and their screaming before the race spooked her while she was walking to the gate. Borel jumped off her back to calm her down. Ordinarily, such an incident would not bode well, but Rachel regained her composure and did what she does best — win.
Now they’re saying she’s a shoo-in for Horse of the Year unless her nemesis, the unbeaten 5-year-old mare, Zenyatta, does something freakishly daring on the West Coast. Or Rachel and Zenyatta could have a showdown in the Beldame later this year.
Rachel granted an interview to TimesUnion.com and came off as a bit of a diva, but I’m hoping to score her first interview with a cat before the racing season is over.
