Preakness Day...

[miff]

Far tougher for RA when the front end was contested like the Preakness.Comfortable loose leads, even when on the fast side, not as debilitationg.First time this year she was all out, which was caused by the 7 f pressure put on by BD.If RA shook loose early without much pressure, her figure would have been a point or two better,imo.

Re the track, Borel stated \"it was DRY, no water\" Think the guy on the track has the best handle on this.


Mike

[Michael D.]

BB Wrote:
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> Hi Michael, Agree about saturday having been tough
> on her. I just think that even though she was able
> to run the Oaks on her terms, her terms are plenty
> fast, and not all that different from saturday\'s.
> I\'m doubtful it was as easy as she made it look.


Fair enough BB. We\'ll disagree on this one.

I do, however, think we agree that the drift out at the wire of the Preakness was not a good sign. This filly needs a break.

[magicnight]

Yes. We agree there.

I also agree with Mike\'s point in the general, just not in this specific case.

Bob (BB @ home)

[miff]

Although Rachel Alexandra struggled with the track surface and the heat in winning the Preakness he will have no problem running in the forthcoming Belmont Stakes, the filly\'s jockey said on Friday.

Calvin Borel said Rachel Alexandra could handle the mile-and-a-half Belmont (2.4 kms), the longest of the Triple Crown races, should her connections decide to run her on June 6.

\"She\'d be just fine,\" Borel told Reuters in a telephone interview from his base at Churchill Downs in Louisville.

\"The reason she struggled in the Preakness was because the track was very dry. It was supposed to rain and I don\'t think the guys wet it enough. It was very powdery, like dry sand.

\"She put so much power into her strides, it was just breaking out from under her. She won but you didn\'t see the real Rachel Alexandra. She won on heart.\"
Borel won the Kentucky Derby aboard Mine That Bird before guiding Rachel Alexandra to a one-length victory in the Preakness last Saturday at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

He said he was concerned about the heat following the filly\'s near wire-to-wire victory in the Preakness, a race in which she won from the far outside in the field of 13.

\"She was catching a heat stroke and I was very concerned about her,\" he said. \"I wanted to get her back and get some water on her.

\"My biggest concern was the horse because I know she\'s the greatest thing in the world and she was getting overheated.

\"She struggled so much in the race and when I pulled her up she started acting a little funny. I know that because I know her like the back of my hand.

\"She never did that before. Once we got water on her, she was fine.\"
The jockey is now waiting to see if Rachel Alexandra\'s owners decide to run her in the $1 million Belmont and give her the chance to become the first filly to win two Triple Crown races.
Borel is under contract to ride the filly but if her owners back out, the 42-year-old jockey would probably return to Preakness runner-up Mine That Bird for the Belmont.

[Boscar Obarra]

Sounds like Moody\'s and Fitch ratings of Mortgage backed bonds.  And you know how that ended.


Cartman Wrote:
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> I believe TG and RAG have the race correct. It
> appears that some Beyer associates have recently
> demonstrated a tendency to build aspects of trip
> right into their figures. There is no logical
> explanation for some of the figures assigned to
> high profile stakes other than not wanting to give
> out speed figures that understate the actual
> performance.