Rachel Alexandra

Rachel Alexandra defeated six rivals yesterday in the $400,000 Lady’s Secret Stakes for fillies and mares at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J. It was the second straight win for the reigning Horse of the Year following a pair of losses to start the season. Calvin Borel was aboard for trainer Steve Asmussen as Rachel Alexandra beat Queen Martha by 3 lengths with Ask the Moon third. The 4-year-old paid $2.20 to win. The time was 1:49.78 for the 1 1/8 miles on an oppressively hot afternoon.

The "new shooters" are all long shots in the Preakness Stakes on Saturday. The new-shooter angle has long been studied by handicappers analyzing the middle jewel of the Triple Crown. The theory holds that new shooters, horses who did not run in the Kentucky Derby two weeks earlier, hold a possible advantage. For starters, most new shooters are fresher, having had more time to recuperate since their last race. They are also not dinged up, having avoided the 20-horse stampede in the Derby.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. — Jockey Calvin Borel knew Rachel Alexandra was in trouble with a quarter-mile to go yesterday in the $300,00 Personal Ensign at Saratoga Race Course. The reigning Horse of the Year had just put away Life At Ten after a mile-long duel for the lead and was bearing down on the finish line. “I didn’t feel any acceleration and I got worried,’’ Borel said. “She wasn’t really there. I knew if anyone was running behind us, we were in trouble.’’ They sure were.

Filly Havre de Grace defeated the boys again, winning Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards on Monday night and becoming the third consecutive female to receive the honor in a year that lacked a superstar in thoroughbred racing. Havre de Grace joins Zenyatta in 2010 and Rachel Alexandra in 2009 — two horses that captured the general public's interest and imagination — as one of six females to earn the sport's top award. She received 166 first-place votes and 1,897 total points in balloting by members of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Rachel Alexandra is taking on a new challenge: racing against older horses in a bid to become the first filly to win the Woodward Stakes. After dominating the 3-year-old filly division with romps in the Kentucky Oaks and the Mother Goose, and beating the 3-year-old boys in the Preakness and the Haskell Invitational, Rachel Alexandra will run against older competition for the first time in the Sept. 5 race at Saratoga. The decision was announced yesterday by trainer Steve Asmussen following workouts by the filly and 3-year-old colt Kensei, both owned by Jess Jackson.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Rachel Alexandra will face seven older males and the long history of Saratoga Race Course as the “Graveyard of Champions’’ when the 3-year-old star filly tries to become the first female to win the $750,000 Woodward Stakes on Saturday. Rachel was made the 1-2 favorite and will launch her attempt to make history and win her ninth consecutive race from the No. 3 starting gate. Her opposition in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward includes Bullsbay, 5-year-old winner of the Whitney Handicap Aug. 8; 4-year-old Da’Tara, winner of the 2008 Belmont...

LOS ANGELES — Rachel Alexandra won’t be going to Arkansas next month to face Zenyatta in their highly anticipated $5 million showdown, leaving racing’s other female superstar to take on all comers. Rachel Alexandra’s owner, Jess Jackson, said yesterday that his 2009 Horse of the Year is not in top form after her defeat in the New Orleans Ladies at the Fair Grounds. So the scheduled meeting between racing’s most talked about horses is off, leaving the spotlight to Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park April 9. “[Saturday’s]

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra will not run in the Belmont Stakes, opening the way for jockey Calvin Borel to return to Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in his quest for a personal Triple Crown. Jess Jackson, Rachel Alexandra's co-owner, said yesterday the spectacular filly "deserves a well-earned vacation. " Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years, had been set to work out Monday at Churchill Downs, and no announcement was expected until after that.

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Zenyatta improved to 16-0 with a 4 1/4-length victory in the Apple Blossom Invitational yesterday, galloping effortlessly from behind in her usual style. The 6-year-old mare tied the modern mark shared by 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation and 1995-96 Horse of the Year Cigar in unrestricted races. Peppers Pride, who retired last year with a 19-for-19 record, and Hallowed Dreams, who won 16 straight, achieved some of their success in statebred stakes. Zenyatta beat four horses in the 1 1/8-mile race that didn’t include racing’s other...

What a gal! Rachel Alexandra turned on the speed around the far turn and rolled past the boys once again to win the $1.25 million Haskell Invitational yesterday and establish herself as one of the greatest fillies in thoroughbred racing. When the regal bay filly returned to the winner’s circle with Calvin Borel patting her neck, the crowd of 37,090 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J., cheered mightily for racing’s brightest star. Rachel Alexandra was not bothered a bit by the sloppy track and settled in behind the leader Munnings, with...

Drosselmeyer's upset victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic scrambled the picture for Horse of the Year, an award that went to Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta the last two years. Filly Havre de Grace (HA'-vur-duh-grays) would have wrapped up the honor with a victory in the $5 million Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday. She finished fourth. "She sure didn't do anything to tarnish her reputation," trainer Larry Jones said. Havre de Grace had already beaten the boys this year in the Woodward at Saratoga.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - A filly and a mare could crash the male-dominated second day of the season-ending world championships, with Havre de Grace and Goldikova strong contenders in their Breeders' Cup races against the boys. Havre de Grace will face 11 males in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic tonight at Churchill Downs. The filly was listed at 3-1 on the morning line behind 5-2 favorite Uncle Mo. Just before the Classic, 7-5 favorite Goldikova will go for a record fourth consecutive victory in the $2 million Mile on the turf, the European star's final race before...

Havre de Grace held off a late bid by Flat Out and defeated males in her first attempt yesterday in the $750,000 Woodward Stakes at Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. Ramon Dominguez was aboard the 4-year-old filly, the second female to win the Woodward in three years. Rachel Alexandra, a 3-year-old, defeated older males in this race two years ago en route to being voted Horse of the Year. The Larry Jones-trained Havre de Grace ran 1 ⅛ miles in 1:49.18, taking the lead with three-16ths of a mile to run and finishing 1 ¼ lengths clear.

Bob Baffert is coming to the Jersey Shore in the role of spoiler. Certainly, that's a change since the Hall of Fame trainer has won the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park four times in four tries with four favorites, including last year with Lookin At Lucky. This time, the white-haired Baffert will send out the late-blooming Coil to try and spring a surprise against the likes of Preakness winner Shackleford and Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. "He's training as good as any horse that I've brought in, but his resume is not as strong as the...

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - One rite of summer meets another as blistering heat is expected to blanket the 143d opening of Saratoga Race Course today. New York Racing Association officials said they expect a full program of races on opening day despite temperatures in the mid-90s and oppressive humidity. NYRA has only canceled racing once because of heat, in 2006, at the historic track. The marquee race of the 40-day meeting, the $1 million Travers Stakes, could pit Preakness winner Shackleford against Belmont Stakes winner Ruler On Ice. Kentucky Derby winner...

GEYSERVILLE, Calif. — Jess Jackson, founder of the Kendall-Jackson winery and a prominent thoroughbred owner, has died of cancer. He was 81. Caroline Shaw, a spokeswoman for Mr. Jackson’s company, Jackson Family Wines, confirmed that Mr. Jackson died at his home yesterday. In recent years, Mr. Jackson was one of horse racing’s leading owners. He campaigned two-time horse of the year, Curlin, and then purchased Rachel Alexandra, the sensational filly who was horse of the year in 2009.

CHARLESTON, W.Va. - First Kentucky, now West Virginia. Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird will attempt to add the West Virginia Derby to his résumé today in the gelding’s first race since the end of the grueling Triple Crown trail. “He seems to be on top of his game,’’ trainer Chip Woolley said, “so we’re pretty happy with where he’s at right now.’’ Mine That Bird is the 3-5 favorite in a field of six 3-year-olds, which includes 8-5 second choice Big Drama.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Calvin Borel is back on Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and he's thinking about another Triple Crown victory. "We're gonna win, no questions asked," Borel predicted after a workout yesterday at Churchill Downs, where the gelding did a half-mile in 50 seconds. That was his Derby-winning formula. "He worked in [at] 50 seconds and out in 1:02, just like before the Derby. He is doing everything the same," the jockey said. "After those two hard races [the Derby and Preakness]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Zenyatta pricked her ears and raised her head high, no longer undefeated after a narrow loss in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but still beloved by her fans and handlers. “She won everybody’s hearts,’’ an onlooker told his companion outside her Churchill Downs barn yesterday. Whether she wins Horse of the Year is another issue. Blame got a head in front of Zenyatta at the finish line of Saturday night’s 1 1/4-mile Classic, briefly silencing the 72,739 fans who had celebrated the superstar they hoped would end her career with a 20-0 record.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The nights before Zenyatta races are the toughest times for Mike Smith. The Hall of Fame jockey usually tries to occupy himself with a glass of his favorite wine or by watching football, anything to quiet his mind. He doesn’t want to think about Zenyatta’s winning streak, now 19-0. But eventually he caves and opens the Daily Racing Form, the industry’s bible of past performances and handicapping. “Then the floodgates open. What if this happens, what if this happens.