Why I still like Rachel Alexandra despite Jess Jackson

A number of my racing fan friends have expressed an extreme dislike of Rachel Alexandra lately ((largely because of Jess Jackson), but I can't help but love this filly. We so rarely see fillies who race against the boys here, let alone beat them, that I have to embrace her whole-heartedly. It's a weakness of mine. (Along with cute markings and Sadler's Wells blood, making Rachel pretty much the whole enchilada for me.)

I dislike Jess Jackson for a number of reasons, but I refuse to let him spoil this filly for me. Since I don't have TVG anymore and I avoid certain racing forums, all I get to see are the races themselves. I don't hear or read any of the bragging and hyperbole. I let the filly's performance speak for itself.

So that said, the Woodward was a brilliant performance even if it wasn't as visually impressive as the Haskell for example. How many other horses can burn through a fast first quarter and a pretty quick half and still have gas in the tank to hold off a hard-closing rival? Rachel wouldn't even let Macho Again pass her in the gallop out. That's one determined filly.

Her time of 1:48.29 was respectable if average. Interestingly, her time was faster than that of Curlin (1:49.34), Lawyer Ron (1:48.60), and Saint Liam (1:49.07), all notable recent winners (and all older than three when they won).

But we know Rachel can cover 9 furlongs 5 to 10 lengths faster that she did in the Woodward when she's allowed to sit off the pace as witnessed by the Haskell (1:47.21) and Mother Goose (1:46.33) respectively. It should be noted that Rachel now owns the record in the Mother Goose and she is the second fastest Haskell winner of all time, only a fifth of a second behind the tied records of Bet Twice and Majestic Light.

So, to summarize:

* Rachel is the first filly of any age to win the Woodward
* the first 3 year-old to win the Woodward in 15 years
* one of a handful of 3 YO fillies to beat older males in open company
* one of only 2 fillies to win the Haskell
* ran the second fastest Haskell in history
* owns the stakes record and margin record in the Mother Goose
* first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness
* only horse to win the Preakness from the outside post
* second fastest Kentucky Oaks winner
* owns the margin record for the KY Oaks

And if she wins HOTY, she will be the first 3 YO filly since 1945 to do so, and one of only a handful of fillies/mares of any age to win HOTY.

So I think that makes her pretty damn special.

Lest I seem like a hypocrite, I disliked Curlin for much the same reasons that people seem to dislike Rachel---namely, his owner was being an ass and crowing about how Curlin was one of the all-time greats. Excuse me while I gag. When the horse can back up the hyperbole, like Rachel has done as bulleted above, that's great. But Curlin couldn't. If he hadn't broken Cigar's earnings record, he'd be a bit of a "what have you done for me lately? nothing" kind of horse. (And the earnings thing is a farce anyway with the huge purses for the DWC and BC Classic.)

The only records Curlin came close to, besides the money, were:

* equaled stakes record in the Preakness (as did Street Sense)
* third fastest DWC win

The rest of his times were average or even slow, so even though he was winning, he was beating up on weak fields (barely) and not even remotely challenging the clock. Nothing he accomplished on the track even remotely approachs those of true all-time greats like Spectacular Bid, Secretariat, Citation, etc. Rachel may have slaughtered some weak horses, too, and I'm not saying she's an all-time great yet, but at least she was running to beat the band.

She's earned her bragging rights. Curlin never did.