Rachel, Ruffian and the Amazon Roan

With the retirement of 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra (photo left), I found it interesting to compare and contrast her to other great fillies of our time – Ruffian and Winning Colors. For several reasons – not the least of which is simplicity – I restricted the comparisons to the two and three-year-old campaigns of each. Although Ruffian was by far the biggest star at two, it is their sophomore campaigns in which each filly seemed to shine the brightest, whether by popularity, fate, performance, or in the case of Ruffian, fatality.

Ruffian of course, ended her 3-year-old campaign tragically in 1975, crushing her right front sesamoids in a fatal match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure before 50,000 fans at Belmont Park and a July 4 national television audience. Both Winning Colors and Rachel Alexandra had forgettable 4-year-old campaigns and did not race at five. But all three gave us brilliance epitiomized, none perfected but worthy of greatness, history and glamour by any standard.

Ruffian (photo right) was the youngest to catch the eye of the national racing public, winning all of her five races as a juvenile of which four were graded stakes. Her last race of her juvenile season she won the grade 1 Spinaway at Saratoga by 12-1/2 lengths and was the landslide winner as Champion Two-Year-Old Filly of 1974. Winning Colors was undefeated in three starts as a 2-year-old, but her biggest win that year came in the restricted Las Centinela Stakes at Santa Anita. Rachel Alexandra finished sixth, beaten eight lengths in her first start as a 2-year-old and ended the year winning the grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes at Churchill Downs. With only three wins in six starts, Rachel Alexandra was promising, but far beneath the national radar. Winning Colors had much the same anonymity nationally before she turned three. But before the Kentucky Derby Future Wager and across the Southern California-Mexico border, winter bets were being wagered with her name and the Kentucky Derby on the ticket.

At three, trainer Frank Whitely sent Ruffian through easy wins in an allowance race and the grade 3 Comely Stakes at Aqueduct to start the year. Rachel Alexandra began to turn local heads early winning the Martha Washington Stakes at Oaklawn Park by eight lengths before taking the grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks in New Orleans in March. Rachel Alexandra next won the grade 2 Fantasy back at Oaklawn Park and by the time she got to the Kentucky Oaks (gr. 1), she was the odds-on favorite for the fourth time in four starts that year. Winning Colors had the slowest start of the three, running second in the Las Virgenes Stakes at Santa Anita behind another heralded filly in Southern California, Goodbye Halo.

It is difficult to say that Ruffian had any type of breakout race as a 3-year-old because she had been so dominant from the time she stepped on the track as a juvenile filly. Her grade 1 victories in the Acorn at Aqueduct and the Mother Goose and Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont seemed nothing more than technicalities. Lucien Laurin, the trainer of Secretariat, once said to the press of Ruffian, "As God as my witness, she may even be better than Secretariat." Ruffian was never headed by any horse at any point of call at any time during her career until the match race. She won her five races during her 3-year-old year by a combined 37 lengths or by about 7-1/2 lengths a race. Ruffian set a new stakes record in each of the eight stakes she won and equaled two track records as well.

Although Winning Colors (bottom photo) started a bit slower, she breezed through the Santa Anita Oaks (gr. 1) winning by 8 lengths and seemed to handle the boys just as easily, winning the Santa Anita Derby (gr. 1) by 7-1/2 easy lengths. She was not the betting favorite in the Kentucky Derby, but stayed popular among a stellar Derby field that included Forty Niner, Risen Star, Seeking the Gold and Private Terms. But she would have nothing to do with any of them and promptly left them in her wake, taking the Kentucky Derby in wire-to-wire fashion while holding off the late charging Forty Niner at the wire. In the Preakness, jockey Pat Day aboard Forty Niner would not let Winning Colors get alone on the lead as she had in the Derby and the two cleared the path for a stalking victory by Risen Star. Winning Colors would run sixth in the Belmont and then came back to run second against older mares in the Maskette (gr. 1) at Belmont and fourth in the Spinster (gr. 1) at Keeneland. Her final race as a 3-year-old came against the undefeated Personal Ensign in the Breeders’ Cup Distaff. The race was at Churchill Downs, the site of her greatest triumph, and trainer D. Wayne Lukas, and jockey Gary Stevens had every intention of taking advantage of that. Again Winning Colors sped around the Churchill Downs oval in apparent control until the final second of the Distaff, when Personal Ensign edged Winning Colors at the wire in one of the closest and most dramatic races in Breeders’ Cup history.

The day before the 2009 Kentucky Derby, Rachel Alexandra introduced herself to racing fans around the country with a dazzling 20-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks. Days later she was purchased by a group headed by Jess Jackson who summarily announced they were heading to the Preakness to take on the boys. Holding off the late rally of Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, Rachel Alexandra became the first filly since Nellie Morse in 1924 to win the second leg of the Triple Crown since 1926. She returned to her division in the Mother Goose, and again clobbered her female rivals by nearly 20 lengths. She stomped the sophomore boys again the $1 million Haskell Invitational before stepping up another level to take on holder horses in the grade 1 Woodward at Saratoga.

In a race in which her competition threw everything but the kitchen sink at Rachel Alexandra, she eventually fought off Bullsbay in deep stretch and held off Macho Again by a head becoming the only female to win the prestigious Woodward and the only 3-year-old filly to defeat older males in a grade 1 rounte race in New York since Lady Primrose won the Manhattan in 1887.

Rachel Alexandra was the only one of the three honored as the Horse of the Year but all three were named the Champion Three Year Old Filly respectively. Ruffian was the only Champion as a 2-year-old but titles seem almost trivial when remembering these three great female thoroughbreds. Ruffian almost black, Rachel a glistening bay and Winning Colors the Amazon roan.

It seems almost pointless to say which may have been bigger or faster or more attractive. All three were stunning individuals who came to the paddock as a queen would address her court. Both Ruffian and Winning Colors are in the Hall of Fame and Rachel Alexandra is destined there as well – likely in the first year of her eligibility.

I’m just glad to be counted among their subjects.

Devil May Care Has Something to Prove In Mother Goose

One may take a quick look at this year's Mother Goose Stakes (gr. 1) and decide this might a good Saturday to go to the beach or lake. The $250,000 Mother Goose has short field of five with Devil May Care (photo) as the heavy favorite and three of the five fillies are trained by Todd Pletcher. This year's edition also falls short of last year when Preakness winning filly Rachel Alexandra came to New York to win the Mother Goose by 19-1/4 lengths.

Devil May Care may not have the star power of Rachel Alexandra, but she will certainly have more to prove.

Having finished finished tenth in her attempt against the colts in the Kentucky Derby presented by Yum! Brands, trainer Todd Pletcher has given Devil Mare Care plenty of time to recover. With a 6-5 morning line it is likely she will have plenty of support from her supporters though the betting windows but the question looms as to how much, if any, did the Kentucky Derby take out of the filly.

After all, Devil May Care was considered for the 1-1/2 Belmont Stakes (gr. 1) and the Acorn Stakes against fillies June 5 but was instead given an additional three weeks for the Mother Goose.

The Mother Goose was until this year, the second leg of the Triple Tierra series for 3-year-old fillies made up of the Acorn Stakes and the Coaching Club American Oaks (gr. 1). The distance of the Mother Goose has also been changed. The race been shortened to 1-1/16 miles from the 1-1/8 distance at which the race has been run since 1959. The Mother Goose was inaugurated in 1957 and run at 1-1/16 miles for the first two runnings.

For the Mother Goose, Pletcher will also saddle Ailalea, an impressive winner of the grade 3 Dogwood Stakes at Churchill Downs May 29. She also has a win over the track having broke her maiden at Belmont Park last year.

Katy Now will be making her stakes debut off of three consecutive wins.

Another filly who should get plenty of support is Biofuel, who invades from Canada where she was won the Star Shoot Stakes and the 1 1/16-mile La Lorgnette Stakes, both over Woodbine's Poly-Track surface.

One may better remember Biofuel from November's Grey Goose Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. 1) at Santa Anita. Coming down the home stretch, Biofuel looked to be a potential winner with a late charge down the middle of the track. But just as she reached the 1/8th pole (220 yds from the finish), she was severely bumped and lost stride.

Another Breeders' Juvenile Fillies graduate in the Mother Goose is Connie and Michael trained by Ken McPeek. A dull eighth in the Breeders' Cup, she has since returned to win an allowance race at Churchill Downs in wire-to-wire fashion.

So it's a short field and 60% of the fillies are trained by Todd Pletcher. So there is no Rachel Alexandra this year. Get used to that for a while folks. There may not be a 3-year-old filly like Rachel Alexandra for a very long time.

But this is an evenly matched group of grade 1 and potential top level winning fillies. Some of whom have a histories of running against each other going back to last year as debutantes.

And it is after all the Mother Goose. The race has been won by some of the greatest fillies in history including Cicada, Shuvee, Chris Everett, Ruffian, Davona Dale, Go For Wand, Life's Magic and Serena's Song to name a few. Winning jockeys include Bill Hartack, Bill Shoemaker, Braulio Baeza, Randy Romero, Jerry Bailey, Gary Stevens, Angel Cordero Jr. and Pat Day. The trainers list of winners is equally impressive going back to "Sunny" Jim Fitzimmons, Lucien Lauraen, Laz Barrera, D. Wayne Lukas, Charlie Whittingham, John Campo and Allen Jerkens.

All three lists are missing names with significant accomplishments in thoroughbred racing.

So if you have to do something else Saturday, it may be understable. Just make sure you set your TIVO.

Rachel vs. The Greats

Excuse me. Ms. Zenyatta? Yes. Would you please move over just a bit? We've got to make a lot more room in the comparison to Rachel Alexandra conversation. I'm sorry, but we're no longer comparing just you to Rachel Alexandra. We're now comparing her to the greatest race fillies and mares of all time. Don't leave. You're still plenty welcome. But did you see the Woodward?

The abridged version of Rachel Alexandra's Woodward victory is that she appeared out of her comfort zone from the moment she got to the paddock until the final stride of the Woodward when she nosed out the hard-charging Macho Again - sending the Saratoga grandstand into a uproar probably seldom hear in the long and storied history of the Spa. She misbehaved in the post parade, looking like she wanted no piece of the old boys she just met. As she was walking to the starting gate, her usual confident and noble presence seemed to be in a galaxy far, far away as her ears flopped around as if she had just swallowed a bad oat.

Then Rachel Alexandra left the gate like her tail was on fire, looking as she just wanted to get away from all the ugly bastards in the race with her. When Da Tara stayed with her through a blazing first two furlongs, I said it was over for the girl. I said it again at the top of the stretch when she appeared on the verge of being swalled up by a legion of challengers. I thought she was really done then.

She then kicked in that gear that jockey Calvin Borel has been telling us about and pulled away slowly but convincing, only to be asked for more by Borel as Macho Again roared towards her only to fall short.

At that moment Rachel Alexandra erased all doubt and other weak arguments as to her greatness.

But to further the point, I thought it might be fun to actually revisit some of the great female thoroughbreds of all time and allow you to conclude her greatness for yourself. I write this with apologies to fans of Masket, Shuvee, Lady's Secret, Pebbles, Bayakoa, Paseana, Davona Dale and others including Pan Zareta with her 76 career wins.

In 1915 Regret became the first filly to win the Kentucky Derby in her 3-year-old debut after winning the Saratoga Special, Sanford Stakes and Hopeful Stakes at Saratoga against colts in her only three starts at two. She won nine of her 11 career races, having raced against fillies only twice. Her two defeats came against males in the Saratoga Handicap, finishing eighth off of an 11-month layoff, and a nose loss to Borrow in the 1917 Brooklyn Handicap at Belmont Park.

Like Rachel Alexandra, Ruffian (photo) was almost 17 hands tall with as much charisma and class as talent. Ruffian was not only undefeated in ten career starts before her fatal match race against Foolish Pleasure in 1975, but she had never been behind another horse in a race, going wire-to-wire in every victory. She won the filly Triple Tiarra at Belmont Park by winning the Acorn, the Mother Goose and the Coaching Club American Oaks, winning the Acorn by 8-1/4 lengths and the Mother Goose by 13-1/2. Her average margin of victory was more than 8-1/4 lengths before the match race, breaking and equaling track records along the way.

Personal Ensign was undefeated in 13 starts from 1986-1988 and concludied her career with one of the most stirring and memorable finishes in Breeders' Cup history when she held off Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors to win by a fraction of a nose. Eight of her career victories were against grade 1 company including the 1988 Whitney Handicap over Gulch and a field of older males. Her popularity among fans was unquestionalble as they made her an odds-on favorite (less than even money) in every race except the 1987 Beldame when she was let go at a generous 1.30-1.

Go For Wand had also drawn comparisons to Ruffian before and after her fatal last start in the 1990 Breeders' Cup Distaff when she broke down in the midst of a stretch battle with Bayakoa. She won 10 of 12 career starts going into the Distaff, including a win in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies as a 2-year-old. Her only two losses came in against grade 1 company in 1989 Frizette and 1990 Kentucky Oaks, finishing second in both. She never races against males however.

Although Miesque raced primarly in Europe and exclusively on grass, she was the dynamite filly of the early Breeders' Cup years having taken the 1987 and 1988 Breeders' Cup Mile against older males. She won 12 of 16 career starts with three seconds and a third and unlike her American counterparts, raced primarily against the boys having started with fillies only five times. She was third the grade 1 Prix de Morny in France in her second start at two against boys, and was second in grade 1 Prix de Diane (also known as the French Oaks) in her only loss against fillies. Ironically, her only other losses came against older males in Europe in her final preps to her Breeders Cup wins.

Again the list of great fillies and mares is much, much longer than the one I've presented here. These are just a few. But they are all unquestionalbe in the place in history.

Just as Rachel Alexandra is now.

Rachel Alexandra Tries To Join Historical Group in Mother Goose Stakes

Rachel Alexandra will be returning to the races Saturday in the $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park in her first start since winning the Blackberry Preakness Stakes in mid-May. And while the Mother Goose does not carry the prestige or coverage of the Preakness, the Mother Goose is a significant race in it's own right.

It is a grade 1 race, making it among the most prestigious and historically competitive; and it is the second leg to the Triple Tiara of Thoroughbred racing, otherwise known as the Filly Triple Crown. The series is comprised of the one mile Acorn Stakes on Belmont day, the 1-1/8 mile Mother Goose and the 1-1/4 Coaching Club American Oaks in late July. Only eight fillies have swept the series beginning with Dark Mirage in 1968.

The Mother Goose has a rich history since first being run in 1957 when Outer Space and jockey William Legget won the first running.

One of my favorites is 1969 winner Shuvee, who was also the second filly to win the Triple Tiara. Now in the Hall of Fame, Shuvee is perhaps best remembered with her victory in the 1970 Jockey Club Gold Cup when she became the only filly to defeat the colts in the then two mile race.

The most famous Triple Tiara winner is of course, Ruffian (photo at left) who took the crown in 1975. She was undefeated in ten career races before a fatal injury suffered in an infamous match race against Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure.

Now burried in the infield at Belmont Park, Ruffian was perhaps one of the most amazing race horses of anytime. Lucien Laurin, Secretariat's trainer, once said of Ruffian, "As God as my witness, she may even be better than Secretariat."

After breaking her maiden in record time by 15 lengths, Ruffian went on to set a new stakes record in each of her eight added-money victories and equalled two track records. She was a massive, black filly that stood 17 hands high and broke on top in every race and was never headed at any point during her career before the fatal race in July of 1975.

But the Mother Goose has produced a long list of recognizable female greats including Chris Evert in 1974, 1984 winner Life's Magic, trained by D.Wayne Lukas; Go For Wand in 1990; Sky Beauty, the last Triple Tiara winner in 1993; and Serena's Song, also trained by Lukas, in 1995.