Rachel's Best Performance?

[keithw84]

With so many memorable races from RA this year, which one do you think was her best performance, and why?

[tzipi]

Rachels Woodward. Running fractions of 22 and change then 46 and change and then still holding on. They weren't running 6 or 7 furlongs!! C'mon that's class. Just like when Zenyatta(I know a RA thread but a shout out) let the girls walk slow upfront and still ran em down. Way to go girls! Love ya RA!

[Dahoss9698]

I think it was her Haskell performance.

[Stillriledup]

Ky Oaks.

One of the more prestigious races for 3 year old fillies she would have won by 50 lengths if Calvin needed to win by 50.

[11cashcall]

Ammmmmm......lets see.Runner -up to Zenyatta for HOTY Honors.

[joanied]

Visually, her Kentucky Oaks....but I have to pick the Woodward...they threw everything they had at her...but her class and courage was too much for them...absolutley an incredible, gutsy race. A lesser horse would have let macho go by...it was a championship performance.

[Stevie Belmont]

Don't forget the Mother Goose...

19 length win in a gallop...

[OTM Al]

6 (really 5) replies and there are 4 different answers. Says a lot.

[OntheRail]

Visually, her Kentucky Oaks....but I have to pick the Woodward...they threw everything they had at her...but her class and courage was too much for them...absolutley an incredible, gutsy race. A lesser horse would have let macho go by...it was a championship performance.

Could not of said it better... :jump:

[keithw84]

Don't forget the Mother Goose...

19 length win in a gallop...

And a stakes record!

...Although I would probably have to go with her Woodward. Still, I love watching her take off from the rest of the field and show how much she loves to run.

[cj]

I can't believe nobody said the Preakness. She started from the widest post in a field of 13, dueled through hot fractions while wide, then held off the Kentucky Derby winner, the horse that won the Derby by SEVEN widening lengths with a similar hot pace set up. Rachel went wire to wire while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers were 10th, 8th, and 13th after both the 1/4 and 1/2 mile calls.

She did all this coming off a two week rest from the monster Oaks performance. The others were good, but this one was really special.

[joanied]

I can't believe nobody said the Preakness. She started from the widest post in a field of 13, dueled through hot fractions while wide, then held off the Kentucky Derby winner, the horse that won the Derby by SEVEN widening lengths in with a similar hot pace set up. Rachel went wire to wire while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers were 10th, 8th, and 13th after both the 1/4 and 1/2 mile calls.

She did all this coming off a two week rest from the monster Oaks performance. The others were good, but this one was really special.

:ThmbUp: yes!! Ya know, cj...every one of her races were so special, it's hard to pick just one.
Let's hope she can give us all the same incredible thrills in 2010:jump:

[keithw84]

I can't believe nobody said the Preakness. She started from the widest post in a field of 13, dueled through hot fractions while wide, then held off the Kentucky Derby winner, the horse that won the Derby by SEVEN widening lengths in with a similar hot pace set up. Rachel went wire to wire while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers were 10th, 8th, and 13th after both the 1/4 and 1/2 mile calls.

She did all this coming off a two week rest from the monster Oaks performance. The others were good, but this one was really special.

Very true. I think a lot of people diminish this performance because "Mine That Bird almost passed her." I remember lots of talk about how if the race had been 1 1/4, he would've won. I disagree, but I think it's a ridiculous argument anyway, because if the race is 1 1/4 instead of 1 3/16 it's a totally different race. It's not like the horses or jockeys will do the exact same thing.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't Rachel the first to ever win the Preakness from the 13 post?

[PaceAdvantage]

I can't believe nobody said the Preakness. She started from the widest post in a field of 13, dueled through hot fractions while wide, then held off the Kentucky Derby winner, the horse that won the Derby by SEVEN widening lengths with a similar hot pace set up. Rachel went wire to wire while the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finishers were 10th, 8th, and 13th after both the 1/4 and 1/2 mile calls.

She did all this coming off a two week rest from the monster Oaks performance. The others were good, but this one was really special.The man makes an excellent case...

Rachel was THE freak of 2009. No ifs, ands or buts about it...

She deserves HOY hands down over the ONE RACE wonder that is Zenyatta.

But, I have a feeling Zenyatta is going to take down the award in a runaway...why?

Easy to figure, really...

Team Jackson has won HOY each of the last two years...they don't want to give him a third...
Zenyatta's racing career is over...they want to honor her somehow....
Rachel is set to race again in 2010, so the voters figure she has another shot at HOY while Zenyatta does not...
It will all add up to highway robbery any way you slice it.

It's such a shame that an historic, extensive and virtually nationwide campaign like Rachel Alexandra's is going to play second fiddle to Zenyatta, the Synthetic Wonder Horse who ran in one whole tough race the entire year (5 races altogether) while never venturing outside of SoCal.

A damn shame.

[cj]

It's such a shame that an historic, extensive and virtually nationwide campaign like Rachel Alexandra's is going to play second fiddle to Zenyatta, the Synthetic Wonder Horse who ran in one whole tough race the entire year (5 races altogether) while never venturing outside of SoCal.

A damn shame.


It certainly sets a poor precedent. Nothing surprises me any longer in this "sport".

[Cratos]

With so many memorable races from RA this year, which one do you think was her best performance, and why?

I am not sure about which of Rachel’s 2009 performances that I would consider to be her best, but if I had to make a choice, it would be her Mother Goose performance. In that race she was firing on all cylinders when she got the mile in 1:33.60 and blew away the field while getting the 1-1/16th mile in 1:39.93 and then cruising home for the 1-1/8 mile in a solid 1:46.33; this was Rachel at her very best.

However her Woodward performance would be a close second because she came out of the gate and ran her fastest first quarter of the year and dug in bravely the rest of the race to preserve a hard fought victory.