** For video of Rachel Alexandra's Monday morning work at Saratoga's Oklahoma Training Track, please visit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPXR-hfaoMA **
Monday, August 9, 2010
Contact: NYRA Press Office
(518) 584-6200, ext. 4237
- Rachel breezes 6f for Personal Ensign
- Majesticperfection in good order following Vanderbilt victory
- Secret Gypsy to return to
- Warbling emerges well from Honorable Miss
- Wilkes pleased with Warrior's Reward's Sunday workout
- Sheppard, Pape hoping Lead Us Not shows the way in Thursday's steeplechase
- Grand Couturier to Sword Dancer, Qualia eyes Ballerina
- Balthazaar's Gift looks for repeat at Newbury (UK)
"I thought it was very good," said trainer Steve Asmussen of the move, the second of four scheduled for Rachel leading up to the 1 ¼-mile Personal Ensign on August 29. "Shaun did a great job with her. She was very strong to the pole, broke off at the three-quarters. Her first eighth of a mile was excellent, to get her to settle down. She came home the last quarter in :23 and change, which is what we were looking at, and galloped out strong."
The Personal Ensign will be Rachel Alexandra's first start at 1 ¼ miles, and also her first start in a Grade 1 race this year. With a record of 2-2-0 from four starts as a 4-year-old, the Stonestreet Stables color-bearer finished second in the New Orleans Ladies and the Grade 2 La Troienne, and won her last two starts, the Grade 2 Fleur de Lis and the Lady's Secret.
In the Personal Ensign, Rachel will be returning to the site of one of her most thrilling victories. Last year at
Fans of Rachel Alexandra can follow the 4-year-old filly as she readies for the Personal Ensign on her own website, "Rachel's Sandbox," a multimedia site which gives fans an interactive experience and allows them to keep up with the latest news and information.
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Majesticperfection, eye-catching winner of Sunday's Grade 1 Alfred G. Vanderbilt Handicap appears to have emerged from the race in good order.
"He looked very well this morning," trainer Steve Asmussen said Monday. "Very happy."
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the son of Harlan's
"I'm happy he was able to do it yesterday when it counted," Asmussen said of the Padua Stables trainee. "All of those other races, he won for fun."
Asmussen said that while plans for the colt were not set in stone, he would likely run in the Grade 1, $350,000 Vosburgh at
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Secret Gypsy exited her victory in Sunday's Grade 2 Honorable Miss Handicap in good shape and will return to
Undefeated in three starts over the
"We're going to play this out and see how she stays in the feed tub and how she feels," said Werner.
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Warbling appears no worse for the wear after missing the break but making up ground to finish third in Sunday's Grade 2 Honorable Miss, trainer Eddie Kenneally's assistant said Monday.
"She's doing fine this morning," said Brendan Walsh. "We were a little disappointed because we thought she might have won it, but she'll live to fight another day."
A daughter of Unbridled's Song, Warbling came into the Honorable Miss off a second-place effort in the Grade 1 Princess Rooney. She has finished in the top three in all but one of her eight starts and has earned $243,003.
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Trainer Ian Wilkes issued an upbeat bulletin Monday as Warrior's Reward prepares for a start in the Grade 1 Forego Handicap at
Winner of the Grade 1 Carter Handicap in April, the 4-year-old son of Medaglia d'Oro breezed five furlongs in 1:01.06 Sunday morning, a move which left Wilkes pleased.
"It was a nice, comfortable five-eighths," said Wilkes. "We were looking for him to go in 1:01, and that's exactly what they got him in."
In two starts following his victory in the Carter, Warrior's Reward finished second in the Grade 2 Churchill Downs Stakes May 1 and sixth in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap May 31.
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Hall of Fame trainer Jonathan Sheppard and owner Bill Pape have won both steeplechase races so far in the Saratoga meet, and they will seek to keep the streak alive with Pape's Lead Us Not, a Royal Anthem gelding who is seeking his first win in more than two years in Thursday's $53,000 Calvin Houghland Hurdle at Saratoga. The 2 1/16-mile race over nine National Fences drew a full field of nine and was carded as the first race on the
Five of the nine are recent maiden winners, including Parker's Project, owned by Hudson River Farms and trained by Sheppard, who won a maiden special weight race by 1 1/2 lengths on the Saratoga Open House program on July 18. Also entering from a Saratoga Open House victory is Cave Farm's Grantor, who scored by five lengths under Darren Nagle.
Rounding out the field are maiden winners All Together, Hidden Trail, and Saluda Sam; Easy Red, a stakes winner on the flat; Riddle, who returned from a three-year layoff to win a claiming race on June 13, and Chess Board, second in the Grade 3 Temple Gwathmey in April.
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Trainer Robert Ribaudo said Monday morning that he plans to accept Grand Couturier's invitation to Saturday's Grade 1, $500,000 Sword Dancer Invitational at 1 ½ miles over the Saratoga turf course.
The 7-year-old veteran, owned by Marc Keller, will try for his third Sword Dancer victory on Saturday, having won the race in 2007 and 2008.
"So far, he's going to the Sword Dancer," Ribaudo said. "He seems to be doing well up here, as he usually does. We still have confidence in him. There's no reason to think that he shouldn't be here."
Grand Couturier has not won since the Grade 2 Bowling Green at
"The Man o' War seemed like a good spot for him, even though it was a tough race," Ribaudo said. "It was paceless. He got a new rider for the first time. He was closer than normal, which seemed to be the right thing to do in a slow-paced race, but it's not his style and you can't take him out of his game."
Ribaudo added that Qualia, also owned by Keller, is being pointed toward the Grade 1, $250,000 Ballerina for fillies and mares going seven furlongs, as part of the Travers Day undercard, on August 28.
The 4-year-old filly, who finished second in the Grade 3 Bed o' Roses Handicap at
"That's what we were planning after the Bed o' Roses," Ribaudo said. "She stepped up in the Bed o' Roses. She ran great. If she improves slightly at the right time, she's there. If I had run her yesterday [in the Honorable Miss] and then the Ballerina, it would have been too much. I would like a fresh horse in the Ballerina."
Since her racing career started on October 18, 2009, Qualia is 4-for-6 with a pair of narrow defeats accounting for her other starts. For Ribaudo, the Ballerina will determine if Qualia is capable of running against the best female sprinters at the Breeders' Cup in November.
"If she steps up another notch, we would like to think we have a chance to going to the Breeders' Cup," Ribaudo said. "If she passes that test, with one or two more races, she'll be fresh for the Breeders' Cup. If we're wrong, we'll set our sights a little lower. If we're right, we haven't made any mistakes."
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Newbury (UK) hosts a two-day meeting, starting on Friday, where the Group 2 Hungerford Stakes takes top billing on Saturday (Race 4; post time 10:05 am EDT). First run in 1949, the Hungerford is contested over Newbury's straight seven-furlong course, with last year's winner, Balthazaar's Gift, looking for a repeat.
The Group 3 Geoffrey Freer Stakes (Race 3; post time 9.30 am) heads the undercard at Newbury.
Earlier in the week, Salisbury (UK) offers its best cards of the summer on Wednesday and Thursday, with Wednesday featuring the Listed Upavon Fillies' Stakes, and Thursday offering the Group 3 Sovereign Stakes (Race 4; post time 11:15 am).
UK Racing is simulcast every Wednesday through Saturday during the
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