Rachel Alexandra - what would her odds be in the BC Distaff?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

How old is Jess Jackson?

Why the heck would he retire Rachel if he's just going to spend his last days looking for the exact same quality? Even a 90% Rachel is VERY difficult to find and you could spend a lifetime without finding a horse this talented.

Good luck with that JJ. What you want is already yours, and apparently you have decided to retire her.

The reasoning behind retiring the horse seems pretty simple. Jess Jackson knew that he and his filly were going to be overshadowed if she were to run in the Distaff and that she had no shot in the Classic. How much would it kill him if Zenyatta were to win the Classic and dominate the headlines regardless of what RA did??? So he decided to take his ball and go home.

[herkhorse]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The reasoning behind retiring the horse seems pretty simple. Jess Jackson knew that he and his filly were going to be overshadowed if she were to run in the Distaff and that she had no shot in the Classic. How much would it kill him if Zenyatta were to win the Classic and dominate the headlines regardless of what RA did??? So he decided to take his ball and go home.

ding ding ding, we have a winner!

[johnny pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

The reasoning behind retiring the horse seems pretty simple. Jess Jackson knew that he and his filly were going to be overshadowed if she were to run in the Distaff and that she had no shot in the Classic. How much would it kill him if Zenyatta were to win the Classic and dominate the headlines regardless of what RA did??? So he decided to take his ball and go home.

someone said this was a winner...but, i don't know. the woodward and the schedule as a 3 yo was a killer for her. i thought she would retire last year. after she lost and they did not run her in the appleblossom ...i thought she would not race again....but, she did and lost a couple more times to horses that could not touch her the year before. so face it, those saying she was 90% are not even close. she is probably like 80% the horse she was. jackson probably came to his senses (unlike the emotional fan base) and said this horse has had enough. i saw the race up here and we felt bad for her after...she ran her guts out. bullet work outs are meaningless if the horse does not have it in the afternoon. i really believe that jackson did the right thing for this horse....even though he was actually late doing it. he was riding the same emotions that all the people that are mad about it are still riding. it was pretty much over after last season.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

someone said this was a winner...but, i don't know. the woodward and the schedule as a 3 yo was a killer for her. i thought she would retire last year. after she lost and they did not run her in the appleblossom ...i thought she would not race again....but, she did and lost a couple more times to horses that could not touch her the year before. so face it, those saying she was 90% are not even close. she is probably like 80% the horse she was. jackson probably came to his senses (unlike the emotional fan base) and said this horse has had enough. i saw the race up here and we felt bad for her after...she ran her guts out. bullet work outs are meaningless if the horse does not have it in the afternoon. i really believe that jackson did the right thing for this horse....even though he was actually late doing it. he was riding the same emotions that all the people that are mad about it are still riding. it was pretty much over after last season.

Let me get this straight....the horse Rachel ran into the ground at Saratoga, just came back to cruise in the Beldame. But Rachel was like 80% of what she was last year? She has had enough? But her fans are the emotional ones?

I'll agree she wasn't as good this year as last. But she was still pretty good this year and her last race might have been her best on the year. If she was up the track I could understand this point of view, but at no point was she not competitive.

It's not about riding any kind of emotions and I'm almost positive Cannon isn't an emotional RA fan. It would appear you are letting your emotions about Zenyatta cloud your judgement. Or you just don't know what you are talking about.

[johnny pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

Let me get this straight....the horse Rachel ran into the ground at Saratoga, just came back to cruise in the Beldame. But Rachel was like 80% of what she was last year? She has had enough? But her fans are the emotional ones?

I'll agree she wasn't as good this year as last. But she was still pretty good this year and her last race might have been her best on the year. If she was up the track I could understand this point of view, but at no point was she not competitive.

It's not about riding any kind of emotions and I'm almost positive Cannon isn't an emotional RA fan. It would appear you are letting your emotions about Zenyatta cloud your judgement. Or you just don't know what you are talking about.

i did not even mention zenyatta. she does not even run at saratoga. so, you probably think i don't know what i'm talking about. even though my "job" is pretty much betting. but heres what i see. the horse is giving all she can and LOSING. cruising in the beldame was not a given...the horse that won (life at ten) was in there. another horse that beat rachel was in there. in all reality she could of very well lost again and i think her camp was not willing to allow that. like i said she looked awful running her guts out at saratoga...no, she was not up the track. but she lost to an inferior horse and rachel was walking at the end...i love that horse. for your information, i rented a car in virginia and drove 3 hours to see her win the preakness. why does zenyattta come up every time someone talks about rachel? those are the ones that don't know what they are talking about. by the way i thought rachel deserved horse of the year too.....

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

i did not even mention zenyatta. she does not even run at saratoga. so, you probably think i don't know what i'm talking about. even though my "job" is pretty much betting. but heres what i see. the horse is giving all she can and LOSING. cruising in the beldame was not a given...the horse that won (life at ten) was in there. another horse that beat rachel was in there. in all reality she could of very well lost again and i think her camp was not willing to allow that. like i said she looked awful running her guts out at saratoga...no, she was not up the track. but she lost to an inferior horse and rachel was walking at the end...i love that horse. for your information, i rented a car in virginia and drove 3 hours to see her win the preakness.

She looked awful at Saratoga but the horse she crushed came back to win the Beldame. Get the connection?

Life At Ten also lost to an inferior horse at Saratoga and came back to win. Get the connection?

She was walking at the end because the jockeys rode the race like a match race. She won the match. She just got run down by a longshot, who neither jock thought could beat them. I think Persistantly proved her win in the PE was a fluke with her showing in the Beldame.

The truth is she would have had a very good chance in the Beldame and the Distaff. No shame in running there....except for Jess Jackson.

[johnny pinwheel]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

She looked awful at Saratoga but the horse she crushed came back to win the Beldame. Get the connection?

Life At Ten also lost to an inferior horse at Saratoga and came back to win. Get the connection?

She was walking at the end because the jockeys rode the race like a match race. She won the match. She just got run down by a longshot, who neither jock thought could beat them. I think Persistantly proved her win in the PE was a fluke with her showing in the Beldame.

The truth is she would have had a very good chance in the Beldame and the Distaff. No shame in running there....except for Jess Jackson.

personally, i think he should of retired her before. thats what i was saying. heres the thing win or lose, what does it prove? the horse has proven greatness. sorry, about the "emotions" comment. i love the horse too. but, i felt she was in trouble after the woodward. just by the number of races i've watched and the long layoff. posted it here months and months ago and got attacked as some sort of zenyatta lover. i just call it like i see it. yes, i did attack some of the rachel "fanatics". because judgment becomes clouded by fandum. i sort of think people are killing the messanger (jackson) for telling them, its over. i don't think he ever wants to see another race like the last one. the connection is, someone might of dueled her into the ground the next time too. do you think they were going to concede the lead after they saw the last race?

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

personally, i think he should of retired her before. thats what i was saying. heres the thing win or lose, what does it prove? the horse has proven greatness. sorry, about the "emotions" comment. i love the horse too. but, i felt she was in trouble after the woodward. just by the number of races i've watched and the long layoff. posted it here months and months ago and got attacked as some sort of zenyatta lover. i just call it like i see it. yes, i did attack some of the rachel "fanatics". because judgment becomes clouded by fandum.

See I'm of the opinion that just because there is nothing left to prove, per se, that doesn't mean she should be retired. They aren't raced to prove things are they?

I don't see anything wrong with running as long as she is competitive. She was competitive. She was beat what, less than 2 lengths combined in her three races?

Was there anything left to prove for Cigar in 1996? Probably not, but I'm glad he came back. He wasn't the same horse late in that season, but he ran his eyeballs out in the JCGC and Breeders Cup and didn't disgrace himself at all.

When all is said and done we don't make the decisions, which is probably a good thing. But ego (on both sides) prevented a match up the fans called for, for over a year. And it feels like ego retired Rachel before she had a chance to finish out the year on a track she had one of her defining races.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

the connection is, someone might of dueled her into the ground the next time too. do you think they were going to concede the lead after they saw the last race?

It's all speculation, but I think she would have rated kindly off the pace, if Fragoso sent like he did.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by johnny pinwheel

i did not even mention zenyatta. she does not even run at saratoga. so, you probably think i don't know what i'm talking about. even though my "job" is pretty much betting. but heres what i see. the horse is giving all she can and LOSING. cruising in the beldame was not a given...the horse that won (life at ten) was in there. another horse that beat rachel was in there. in all reality she could of very well lost again and i think her camp was not willing to allow that. like i said she looked awful running her guts out at saratoga...no, she was not up the track. but she lost to an inferior horse and rachel was walking at the end...i love that horse. for your information, i rented a car in virginia and drove 3 hours to see her win the preakness. why does zenyattta come up every time someone talks about rachel? those are the ones that don't know what they are talking about. by the way i thought rachel deserved horse of the year too.....

Not to pick on you, because others have made similar statements, but....ummm....didn't she win some races too?
The way some people are writing about her this year I'm starting to wonder if the Fleur de Lis I thought I watched was really just a dream.