A decision on whether Preakness heroine Rachel Alexandra will start in the $1 million Belmont Stakes on June 6 won’t be made until early next week, majority owner Jess Jackson said this morning at Churchill Downs after the filly breezed in her first serious move since winning the second leg of racing’s Triple Crown.
Under exercise rider Dominic Terry, Rachel Alexandra went a half-mile in 50.20 through a steady rain over a sloppy track, while Kentucky Derby winner and Preakness runner-up Mine That Bird covered the same distance a couple of hours later in 51.00 under jockey Calvin Borel, also in Louisville. Meanwhile, at Belmont Park, Chocolate Candy, fifth in the Derby, breezed seven furlongs in 1:27.34 with exercise rider Lindsey Molina aboard as he continued prepping for the 1½-mile “Test of the Champion.”
“She’s recovering nicely and I think, for the time that’s elapsed, only nine days, she’s right on – but we can’t make a decision until we know,” Jackson told reporters at Churchill Downs. “My concern is her attitude. She thinks she can run through a brick wall, so her attitude has to be monitored. If anything, we have to hold her back a little bit because she’s so eager to run.”
“We have to monitor her and make sure that we preserve her because she’s so special; the principal concern is the horse herself keeping her sound and letting the public enjoy her,” he said, adding that the filly will work again early next week. “It’s not necessary that she go in the Belmont, she’s got a whole season ahead. She’s been running the whole year so we have to monitor that very carefully.”
Jackson said that if Rachel Alexandra does not run in the Belmont Stakes, he would consider running her in the Grade 1, $300,000 Mother Goose Stakes for 3-year-old fillies going nine furlongs at Belmont Park on June 27. “It might not be as soon as you’d want but we’re still considering the Belmont,” Jackson said. “The Mother Goose would give her a little extra time if she needs it. The Belmont would be a full (effort) for her right now.”
Borel, who rode Mine That Bird to a 6 ¾-length victory in the Derby, took off to ride Rachel Alexandra to victory in the Preakness. Mike Smith rode the Derby winner to a second-place finish in the Preakness, but is committed to ride in California on June 6.
Mine That Bird’s trainer, Chip Woolley, who said he was happy with the gelding’s move, told reporters he was extending the deadline for Borel to decide which horse he’ll ride in the Belmont. “He won me a Derby, he deserves the time it takes for him to make the conscious, right decision,” said Woolley, who originally had set a Memorial Day deadline for Borel. “And nobody knows really if that filly’s going to be running in the Belmont, so it could work out where that’s not even a decision for him. I think a little bit of time’s not too much to ask.”
In New York, Chocolate Candy, who will enjoy the services of Garrett Gomez in the Belmont Stakes, was caught in splits of 24.63, 48.87 and 1:14.02 shortly before 6 a.m. “We wanted the workout to be nice and steady, which is what he got” said trainer Jerry Hollendorfer, who flew in from the left coast to supervise the move and then immediately left to saddle a horse this afternoon at Hollywood Park. “It was his second-to-last work. I’m going to blow him out a half-mile or five-eighths either Monday or Tuesday, and maybe Garrett will go up on him.”
Hollendorfer said he was happy with his decision to ship the son of Candy Ride in early to prepare for the Belmont. Monday’s move was his third over the main track, having gone a half-mile in 47.84 on May 11 and six furlongs in 1:13.44 on May 18, with Gomez up for the second work. “It was suggested to us to train over at Belmont for a while before you run,” said Hollendorfer. “I didn’t want to leave him on the road that long, but it’s worked out OK so far. He’s been very happy here.”
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