Rachel Alexandra Retired

[2Hot4TV]

Originally Posted by miraja2

This is ridiculous. Go back and watch the fleur de lis again from this year and then explain to me why it is so much worse than most of her races last year, or how it is evidence that she "didn't want to race."
Just because she won the Oaks by a huge margin last year doesn't mean she ran better in that race than she did this year going 9f at CD. In fact, she basically ran the exact same race again except this year she ran a little bit faster while also carrying a couple of extra pounds.
Clearly she didn't turn in performances this year that were quite on par with what she did in the Haskell and Woodward last year, but her races this year stack up pretty well with what she did last year at Oaklawn, and in the Oaks and Preakness, etc. I think the idea that she fell out of form dramatically this year is completely wrong.

I'm not saying she fell out of form, she just failed to do what a filly with her ability and class will do.

WIN as a 4 yo. Some just no longer have a intrest in racing.

Even her trainer expressed concerns about "Keeping her happy" and not wanting to do anything to upset her routine. Hell he was walking on eggs to try and figure out how to get her to use that extra gear. Experianced horse people on this board told us that she was done and most didn't listen.