They did initially, then Cella moved the race back a week.

she is short and would still be short for the next one

zenyatta was supposed to retire but continued to work regularly schedule breezes since the classic and had missed no time in training over the winter

suppose you have two human runners and one works out from oct till present and the other starts 37 days ago , don't you think think that the one who has not missed a beat since oct is in better shape than the once who just started training 37 days ago? horses are not machines , they are a lot like humans in many ways

i agree with bob here kev

I was saying stop it to the all caps. That's reserved for true internet horsey board legends like your boy The Fat Man and his protege Zenyatta1985.

got it kev

Based on?

TALL PEOPLE USE IT - THEY CAN SEE IT BETTER FROM WAY UP THERE

What do you make of Steve Asmussen stating that Rachel Alexandra wasn't handling his "accelerated" training program the way he had hoped? He also seemed satisfied yet unimpressed with the 6f work in company a couple of weeks ago.

Does the contention that a decent (if disappointing) comeback race will help a horse "move forward" somehow negate all the lackluster training leading up to it?

O lets not forget the beyer, she ran lights out over Zen. RIGHT! She is toast now. Retirement soon!!!!

i sort of agree, but i think the "plan" for a 6 and 1/2 month layoff is more to blame. the horse ran a hard schedule but you can't let her rest for 6 months without training. that was stupid! she may never get it back. then some idiot agrees with you and blames zenyatta for not retiring. why? because sheriffs is smart enough to keep his horse interested and in shape....thats the difference here. the horse needed a rest but the way they did it, for a horse like that, was pretty dumb. I'm not the only one that questioned how rachel would come back. i can see the next press conference announcing her retirement....rachels not zenyattas.

Send Zardana to beat Zenyatta now also. New Uber horse?

Or rename the Apple Blossom the Apple Core... just kidding.

All yall never thought that RA would lose and then hide from Zenyatta.

So far John Sheriff has been right and all yall still doubt him when he says that Zenyatta is a better race horse on dirt.

As pompous as Jackson is, does anybody else find the whole Moss/Shireffs act to be downright offensive at this point?

I don't find either camp offensive. The Zenyatta connections have every right to be thrilled with their horse. They've got a once-in-a-lifetime mare who won the Breeder's Cup Classic and provides thrill after thrill with her stretch runs. I'd have a tough time being humble if I owned that horse.

As for Asmussen/Jackson, they made a effort to make the showdown happen. I applaud them for (1) not retiring her, and (2) trying to make the Apple Blossom. I can't fault them for backing off at this point.

--Dunbar

Yeah the Z camp are true sportsmen now. They ran a tough campaign last year.

Why? I am simply amazed that people want to blame one set of connections for the decisions another set made for THEIR horse. What happened to the word "no"? JJ/SA said initially that RA wouldn't be ready for the AB. No one would argue that. But, it didn't stop there. At any time, JJ could say she won't be ready when the pressure started to build for her to run. He didn't.
This is JM/JS' fault? They made choices for their horse only and they are being hammered because RA's connections have been so indecisive? Good grief.

I really want to believe that even if she dug in and held on to win that race, the result of scratching her from the AB would be the same. I'm guessing that they weren't looking for anything besides a paid workout and obviously she got much much more.
You would think that the race would serve as a tightener, but are they afraid of her doing too much in such a short time frame? Are they afraid that she could maybe could regress after a tough race that maybe she wasn't 100% cranked up for. Chuck what do you think, is the timeframe right, or do you think she would have enough time to be ready for the AB?

one camp is no better or worse than the other as far as this all goes. each is making a decision based on where they think their horse is regarding readiness. each could have made decisions to face the other last year, and neither chose to make that happen. there was talk of retirement, that thankfully didn't happen. each horse has done things to make people say wow, but neither has proven they are better than the other.

but i do know one thing-this has kept the typical spring weekly 'so and so is sure to win the ky derby' talk to the lowest posts ever. so, something to be thankful for.

How is it anybody's "fault?"

They are horses, and you know things don't always go as planned..

Derby Trial week would be perfect for both of them.

Will Churchill have the business savvy to make an offer?