I'll return to the office today (Monday) after a gloriously relaxing vacation traversing North Carolina, visiting family, making new friends, and eating at a lot of interesting roadside stops.
I tried to stay up on the racing news as best I could through Thoroughbred Times, Twitter, and my favorite blogs. Of course I watched the Mother Goose Stakes and Vanity Handicap on Saturday and was impressed with both performances. Jess Jackson, whose Stonestreet Stables co-owns Rachel Alexandra along with Hal McCormick, has done a great job of making himself the center of Rachel Alexandra's universe, as evidenced by the headlines the billionaire winemaker made when declaring that Rachel Alexandra would not run in any Breeders' Cup race this year.
It's an easy thing for him to say. The Breeders' Cup World Championships is still more than four months away. It will return to the Oak Tree Association meet at Santa Anita Park this year, which means horses will contest the main track races on the Pro Ride synthetic surface. Jackson started Curlin in the Breeders' Cup Classic last year, and his two-time Horse of the Year finished fifth to European exacta finishers Raven's Pass and Henrythenavigator.
Jackson stood Curlin at William S. Farish's Lane's End Farm in Central Kentucky this year, and I view his comments vis a vis Rachel Alexandra in this year's Breeders' Cup more as a marketing campaign for Curlin than as an ironclad plan of what he will do with Rachel Alexandra come November.
I'm sure it was bitterly disappointing to all involved with Curlin's career to see him lose his final career race, but certainly there could be more to blame than the surface. One thing I don't see mentioned a lot is that from a numbers perspective, Curlin ran just as well as either of the winners due in part to his wide move on the far turn under Robby Albarado. With a better trip Curlin very likely would have finished third and may have even beat the top two. Even if he's third, there's no shame to finishing behind either Raven's Pass or Henrythenavigator. Truth be told, come summer time I thought Henrythenavigator was the best horse in training in the world. Things didn't play out that way in the fall, but the one-two finishers in the Classic were definitely world-class animals.
If both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta run the table separately, will Jackson really give up a shot at Horse of the Year by foregoing a tilt in the Breeders' Cup with the undefeated defending champion older female? I doubt it.
That's why in a lot of ways, Zenyatta's camp holds the cards here. Why should they ship East when they can stay in their own backyard, point toward the Classic, and force Rachel Alexandra to ship West? On the other hand, if Rachel Alexandra wins the Haskell, Travers, and Jockey Club Gold Cup, then she certainly has a claim to Horse of the Year honors without having to ship West and run on a surface she's never tried.
That's why if I were an executive of the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, Oak Tree Association, or Breeders' Cup Ltd., I'd huddle up with executives from the other two entities and figure out a way to do a two-race series that attracts both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta assuming both are healthy. This way, they meet on both dirt and synthetic on their respective coasts. I'd do a 1 1/8-mile dirt race at Monmouth worth $2-million with Zenyatta carrying 123 pounds and Rachel Alexandra toting 120 then get them together for the Breeders' Cup Classic at 1 1/4 miles on Pro Ride with Zenyatta carrying 122 and Rachel Alexandra carrying 119 per the conditions of the race. Offer a bonus for competing in both races and a super bonus for winning both.
If after those two races were still wondering who's best, then Churchill Downs Inc. can come up with megabucks to have them contest the Falls City Handicap Thanksgiving weekend.
These pie in the sky race matchups are fun to think about and pass the time until Del Mar and Saratoga Race Course open.
3 soothsayers: