Rachel!!!!!!!

[Srotagtbs]

I guess Steve doesn't even know how old she is:

"For her to come through and put on that kind of a show when all eyes are on her, she s truly a special mare," said trainer Steve Asmussen.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/106044.html

Not until she's 5 Steve, unless you are subliminally telling us that Jess Jackson wants to race her through her 5 year old season??

[Masterp]

Calvin's not known for over whipping horses, I trust he knows what he's doing. The use of the whip didn't bother me one bit.

[PrivateSmiles]

Calvin's not known for over whipping horses, I trust he knows what he's doing. The use of the whip didn't bother me one bit.

It bothers me because she absolutely did not need it. It also bothers me to see a jock whipping a horse who has zero chance of being ITM.

[Masterp]

Calvin has barely ever laid the whip to Rachel in the past, I'm just saying I trust what he's doing and that there is a reason for it. He has hardly used the whip on Rachel during her last 8 starts.

[PrivateSmiles]

Calvin has barely ever laid the whip to Rachel in the past, I'm just saying I trust what he's doing and that there is a reason for it. He has hardly used the whip on Rachel during her last 8 starts.

I know, that's why it was so noticeable and so puzzling.

Trust Calvin, sure, some but he's not 100% infallible. However, I'd trust Rachel to get the job done without any whipping.

[Masterp]

Fair enough

[PrivateSmiles]

Approaching the quarter pole, Borel asked the filly for her customary run and she quickly blew the race wide open under a drive, increasing her advantage with every stride. The rider finally let up in the final yards as she passed the wire in a time of 1:47 1/5 over the sloppy, sealed main track.

Her time was just a few ticks off the track record of 1:46 4/5 set by Horse of the Year Spend a Buck in 1985.

"This filly is just unbelievable," Borel said. "I can't say how good she is. I don't know. I gave her a few taps at the sixteenth pole. I just wanted to keep her focused with a couple taps. She started looking around at the crowd, so I just kept her busy to the wire."

http://www.brisnet.com/cgi-bin/editorial/journal/full_edition.cgi

August 2, 2009 evening edition

[Risen Star]

Apparently the next target may be the Travers, they'll see how she does. I think as of right now, HOY is Rachel's to lose. And if she wins the Travers, I don't think she'd even need to run again all year and she'd have the award sewn up.

The only thing she hasn't done is take on older mares or older horses, but not sure how important this is for a filly. At any rate, what she's already done is probably enough especially since no other horse in this country has been consistently sensational like she has. Not even Zenyatta can match what she's done; not that she might not be able to, but she hasn't been asked yet this year. The Clement Hirsch should give us more of an idea of what we might expect later.

[VFVRAY]

WOW!! She is truly amazing. I don't think she needed the whip so I didn't get that. Someone on TVG mentioned the Clark Hcp. as a place for Rachel and Z to meet.It would be after the BC. Unfortunately, it is just wishful thinking for now.

no this will never happen they will never meet they will just keep beating up 2nd tier horse and add piles of cash that the pother dont care about or need.

[PrivateSmiles]

no this will never happen they will never meet they will just keep beating up 2nd tier horse and add piles of cash that the pother dont care about or need.

Ummm...errrr...they are ALL 2nd-tier horses compared to RA & Z.