June 2009 Archives

There was no change in the top seven positions in this week's NTRA rankings after top-rated Rachel Alexandra put on a tremendous show in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park, winning by a stakes-record 19 1/4 lengths in a stakes-record time of 1:46.33 for the 1 1/8 miles. Meanwhile, Zenyatta staged her usual steady late charge to mow down the leaders and win the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park by 2 1/2 lengths.

The rankings, including first-place votes in parenthesis, age, 2009 record, points total and last week's ranking:

1. Rachel Alexandra (10) 3-F 6-6-0-0 193 1
2. Zenyatta (8) 5-M 2-2-0-0 187 2
3. Well Armed (2) 6-G 3-1-1-0 144 3
4. Einstein (1) 7-H 4-2-0-2 140 4
5. Mine That Bird 3-G 5-1-2-1 121 5
6. Macho Again 4-C 4-2-0-1 58 6
7. Gio Ponti 4-C 3-2-0-0 54 7
8. Fabulous Strike 6-G 3-1-2-0 37 10
9. Bribon 6-G 5-3-0-0 36 8
10. Summer Bird 3-C 5-2-0-1 34 9

OK, there's one theory floating around out there that says Rachel Alexandra's co-owner, Jess Jackson, wants no part of the unbeaten Zenyatta, that he's using the synthetic track angle as a way to avoid meeting her on the track.

It's an interesting thought, whether it has any validity or not. I mean, Rachel's handlers could keep entering 3-year-old races the rest of the way and there's no way Zenyatta's camp could oppose her, even if they wanted. Rachel could go in races like the Haskell, Travers, Alabama ... any number of them ... and avoid having to meet the monster that is Zenyatta.

There's no doubt these two distaffers are the two leading contenders for Horse of the Year and they are also the two most popular race horses in America today. This is something that is great for horse racing. It's got people talking about the sport, with topics ranging from Jackson's refusal to race over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic in the Breeders' Cup to who would win if the two super stars ever meet.

There are many who wonder why Jackson would announce to the world five months in advance that he's not going to the Breeders' Cup. What if something happened to Zenyatta before then, or if Zenyatta's owner and trainer decided they were going to run in the Classic against the boys -- a real possibility folks -- and not the Ladies' Classic? Wouldn't that make the Ladies' Classic a much easier proposition for Rachel Alexandra?

Last year, Jackson kept saying "been there, done that" in regards to whether Curlin was going to run in the Breeders' Cup. Of course, he relented and his talented colt finished fourth with no excuses. Of course, his camp used the excuse that he didn't like the synthetic, but truth is he just wasn't good enough that day.

It's getting more and more interesting, folks, and the Super Bowl of horse racing -- i.e. the Breeders' Cup -- is still five months away.

If you didn't see Zenyatta win Saturday's Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park by 2 1/2 lengths, jockey Mike Smith eased up in the saddle, or Rachel Alexandra absolutely destroy her two rivals in the Mother Goose at Belmont Park, here's your chance. One thing's for certain -- no matter which distaffer you prefer, they're both marvelous race horses and a pleasure to watch:

When the California Horse Racing board adopted the rule at its May 2006 meeting that California race tracks had to install synthetic surfaces in order to be granted racing dates, Jerry Moss was the only commissioner present who raised any objection at all. He wanted further study done. Racing executives the likes of El Halpern (CTT), Howard Zucker (trainer/CTT board member), Drew Couto (TOC), Craig Fravel (executive vice president of Del Mar), Ron Charles (Santa Anita president) and Darrell Haire (jockeys guild) all got up and spoke and supported the mandate.

Now, more than three years later, Moss is not only expressing mild concerns, but it appears he's moved further away from the notion that artificial surfaces are good for the sport. This is pretty astounding too when you consider that Moss' brilliant, unbeaten mare Zenyatta has won 10 of her 11 races over synthetic surfaces. It seems if anything he'd love the fake stuff and be extolling its virtues all over town. Not so.

Saturday at Hollywood Park, after Zenyatta raised her career mark to 11-0 with another superior come-from-behind performance in the $300,000 Vanity Handicap, Moss was asked if it bothered him that Rachel Alexandra's co-owner Jess Jackson had alluded that Zenyatta was a synthetics track specialist, i.e. could only win on artificial surfaces. Of course, Jackson has never said anything of the sort, but Moss answered the question nonetheless.

"Is he implying that? I don't know, I didn't get that," he said. "She won at Oaklawn (2008 Apple Blossom Handicap, she beat (Ginger Punch) pretty good, so I think that exonerates her from that premise."

But Moss made it clear he wasn't bothered by Jackson's refusal to send Rachel Alexandra to the Breeders' Cup in November at Santa Anita because Jackson doesn't like "plastic tracks."

"Quite honestly, he can say whatever he likes," Moss said. "He owns a great filly and she's doing well. She won very easily today (Mother Goose). I mean, I'm not too crazy about the synthetic tracks either so I don't mind him talking up about that. Maybe it will serve a purpose, and hopefully we'll meet somewhere. If it's not the Breeders' Cup, maybe it will be somewhere else."

One Breeders' Cup official believes Jackson's assertion that Rachel Alexander will not run in the Breeders' Cup is not cast in stone, that as the date (Nov. 6-7) draws nearer, he could change his mind. Remember, last year at this time Jackson was throwing out catch phrases like "been there, done that" in regards to whether Curlin would run in the Breeders' Cup. He showed up and finished fourth in the Breeders' Cup Classic.

A match race between Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra will not happen. No chance, according to owner Jerry Moss. But the Zenyatta camp is not adverse to heading east and taking on Rachel Alexandra sometime before the Breeders' Cup, according to trainer John Shirreffs.

Zenyatta didn't win by 19 1/4 lengths like Rachel Alexandra in the Mother Goose today, but the 5-year-old daughter of Street Cry beat far stronger opposition in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park by 2 1/2 lengths eased up in the final eighth. Mike Smith never had to get into her. Rachel went a stakes record 1:46.33 for the 1 1/8 miles at Belmont Park and Zenyatta traveled the same distance in 1:48.15 over the Cushion Track.

Afterward, Moss told the media they want to follow a different path with Zenyatta this year, meaning it just won't be the Clement Hirsch at Del Mar, the Lady's Secret at Oak Tree and the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic to wind up Zenyatta's career. Moss mentioned the Pacific Classic against the boys as a possibility. Both Moss and trainer John Shirreffs seemed more eager to consider other options besides the safe ones now that she's got two races under her belt in 2009.

Shirreffs said there is a chance they might send Zenyatta back east for a battle with Rachel at some point, but he said there is no chance it will be the $1 million Delaware Handicap at 1 1/4 miles for fillies and mares. One thing is certain -- Moss values Shirreffs' judgement greatly and won't do anything against his trainer's wishes. And of course, Zenyatta's well being is first and foremost on their minds. Likewise Rachel Alexandra and her camp.

Whatever, things got a lot more interesting today. Zenyatta is now 11-0 in her career and 2-0 in 2009, and Rachel is 6-0 this year, including victories by 20 1/4 and 19 1/4 lengths and a win against the boys in the Preakness. Overall, Rachel has won 9 of 12 starts with two seconds and a sixth-place finish in her career bow on May 22, 2008 at Churchill Downs. She's won seven consecutive races.

Let's get these two together, guys.

Four minutes to post for the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park and Zenyatta has a tough act to follow. Rachel Alexandra just absolutely put on an amazing show in the Mother Goose, winning by a double-digit margin again (Belmont track announcer Tom Durkin called it 20 lengths again). Sure, there were only two other horses in the race, but the manner in which she beat them was mighty impressive. She ran the 1 1/8 miles in a stakes record time of 1:46 1/5.

For the good of the sport, for the racing fans, these two magnificient distaffers -- Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta -- have got to meet sometime this year. They are the two most popular horses in training and it would be an absolutely huge race that would attract all sorts of attention.

No, I don't agree with co-owner Jess Jackson's decision to skip the Breeders' Cup with Rachel Alexandra in November at Santa Anita, and I don't go along with his assertion that it was the Pro-Ride surface at Santa Anita that got Curlin beat in last fall's Breeders' Cup Classic. Curlin was a very good colt, but I think Jess has the horse on a little bit higher pedestal than he belongs. He's not one of the all-time best. Not even close.

One area I do agree with Jackson on is that this sport needs a national ruling body so everyone plays by the same set of rules and can't be feigning ignorance when they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar when racing outside their jurisdiction. Here's what Jackson had to say on a national teleconference this week on the subject of slots at race tracks:

"I look at the slots and gambling as an interim, short-term solution to racing," he said. "I think the long-term future of racing is best served if we can get together voluntarily and form a league, have a commissioner, get uniform laws and have uniform enforcement across the United States as they do in other nations. But because of the separation of powers and the preservation of rights to different states, that may not be happening, at least in a constitutional way at the federal level so therefore I think it's incumbent upon the racing committee to solve that problem, do it voluntarily and have internal regulations and compliance the way professional golf, the NBA and the National Football League, etc. do it."

Makes sense to me. If challenged, would such a setup hold up in the courts? I don't know. I'm skeptical, but I do know that horse racing needs a commissioner who can get this sport back on its feet with some good, sound decisions. We've had too many people making the wrong decisions for a while now, and that's why horse racing is in the shape it's in.

Her name is Atta Lora. She's trained by Patricia Harrington and will be ridden by Alex Solis. She finished fourth -- beaten five lengths -- last time out in a 14-horse field on May 30 at Hollywood Park, raced in tight quarters and was four-wide turning for home. I think she gets there tonght with a better trip and the extra half-furlong. She went postward at 6-1 last time and is the third choice on the morning line tonight at 7-2. Hopefully, I'll get 3-1 or better.

I asked Calvin Borel, jockey for the star 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra, to rate her victories this year during a national teleconference this week. Borel has been aboard Rachel Alexandra for her past six starts and will ride her again Saturday in the $300,000 Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park.

Rachel Alexandra's most powerful victory? The Oaks.

"When she won the Oaks, she was right that day, Borel said. "She was just unbelievable. The Preakness, believe me, when she won by a length and a half, we could have gone another round and I don't think they'd have had a horse get by her. Because I know when they are going to come and eyeball this filly, she will make you choke before you get by her, I can promise you that. You better be ready."

Borel rates the Preakness as her most impressive victory because she overcame adversity and still beat the boys after setting some serious fractions while going gate to wire.

"The last quarter-mile, when it was time to go with her, she was just doing what she had to do and I think she kind of struggled a little bit because when I pulled her up, that was the first time she was ever exhausted like she was," Borel said. "I know how she is, and when I got back she was almost like having a little heat stroke, she had trouble, but then I walked her a little while and we put some water on her and she was fine."

Co-owner Jess Jackson agrees the Preakness might not have been as powerful a victory as the Oaks, but it was more impressive because she won despite not handling the track all that well.

"I think she won that on raw courage and ability, and thank goodness Calvin was on her," Jackson said.

Jess Jackson, co-owner of Rachel Alexandra, did his best to try to convince national turf writers that skipping this year's Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita is the right thing to do during a teleconference this week. Problem was, he was a little off on some of his facts.

Example #1: When explaining why he did not want Rachel Alexandra to run over Santa Anita's Pro-Ride surface even though she won by 3 1/2 lengths over the Polytrack at Keeneland as a 2-year-old, Jackson said: "She had no competition, it was a maiden race and she did it mainly on her athletic skill. With no relative competition it was an easy win for her." Actually, it was a first-level allowance race, not a maiden event. Who knows, Rachel Alexandra might be even better on synthetics than dirt. It's possible.

Example #2: Talking about Rachel Alexandra possibily running as a 4-year-old, Jackson said the lure of racing in the Breeders' Cup on dirt at Churchill Downs in 2010 would be a huge incentive to keep the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro around for another year. "I'd love to be there, and maybe that's where Zenyatta can meet us someday," Jackson said. Uh, Jess, Zenyatta is a 5-year-old and her connections have already said this is her last year of racing.

I can't blame Jess Jackson for doing what he thinks is best for his filly, but to hide behind Curlin's loss last year in the Breeders' Cup Classic, saying it was the track that got him beat, is just plain wrong. Curlin had never run on a synthetic. Rachel Alexandra has and did quite well. I can understand Jackson not wanting to stable his filly at a venue that has an artificial track and race her continually over synthetics, but a one-time deal? During the Super Bowl of horse racing? Not going is the wrong decision.

A Southland racing official who didn't want to be identified because he's not authorized to speak on the subject, told me today he wished Frank Stronach, chairman of Santa Anita's parent company Magna Entertainment Corp., had stood up to Richard Shapiro and other members of the California Horse Racing Board when the ruling body mandated synthetic surfaces for all California tracks in May 2006.

"It kind of surprised me that he didn't stand up to them," the official said. "I mean, what were they going to do -- close down Santa Anita? Tracks like Del Mar, they needed to do something, and Hollywood Park just made the politically correct move. But I really wish Stronach had said no to them."

Artificial surfaces are in the news again this week after Rachel Alexandra's co-owner, Jess Jackson, told racing writers during a national teleconference this week that he will not send the talented 3-year-old filly to the Breeders' Cup this fall at Santa Anita because he disdains what he calls "plastic" tracks.

"I have a very strong dislike for plastic surfaces and I don't think she should be exposed to that," Jackson said.

Jackson, who also campaigned two-time Horse of the Year Curlin, still rues his decision to run the colt in last year's Breeders' Cup. The son of Smart Strike made a bold move turning for home while extremely wide, took the leald and then flattened out through the stretch and finished fourth.

Jess Jackson, co-owner of Rachel Alexandra, has such disdain for synthetic surfaces that he won't even call them by their name. On a conference call Wednesday with national turf writers, Jackson continually referred to artificial tracks as "plastic." He was bitter when Curlin lost in the Breeders' Cup Classic last fall at Santa Anita, blaming the Pro-Ride surface, and it appears his dislike for synthetics continues to grow.

Jackson made it known Wednesday there is absolutely no chance that Rachel Alexandra will run at Santa Anita this fall, or over any other artificial surface for that matter. I think he's wrong when he blames Curlin's loss on the track because Curlin was not the same horse going in. Maybe it was the trip to Dubai in March that did him in, I don't know. But I do know this -- Curlin made a strong move turning for home in last year's Classic while racing EXTREMELY wide and then flattened out in the stretch. It wasn't the track, Jess. There were just better horses running that day.

"If I'm going to run a fourth year, the Breeders' Cup is not that essential for her," he said. "I just don't want to risk her. You may think it's not a risk, but I saw what Curlin did and how he struggled and I've seen four or five other horses that I've raced at Keeneland and on plastic and they struggled. If it's a dirt horse, it's a dirt horse."

What do you think?

Looks like the voters in the NTRA's weekly poll of the nation's top thoroughbreds had a change of heart this week and put Rachel Alexandra back in the top spot where she deserves to be. The two switched spots, with Well Armed, Einstein and Mine That Bird staying put in third, fourth and fifth, respectively.

The rankings, including first-place votes, age, 2009 record, point totals and rankings the previous week::
1. Rachel Alexandra (6) 3-F 5-5-0-0 159 2
2. Zenyatta (8) 5-M 1-1-0-0 157 1
3. Well Armed (3) 6-G 3-1-1-0 136 3
4. Einstein (1) 7-H 4-2-0-2 125 4
5. Mine That Bird 3-G 5-1-2-1 92 5
6. Macho Again 4-C 4-2-0-1 52 6
7. Gio Ponti 4-C 3-2-0-0 50 7
8. Bribon 6-G 5-3-0-0 36 8
9. Summer Bird 3-C 5-2-0-1 27 10
10. Fabulous Strike 6-G 3-1-2-0 26 9

I still think Zenyatta is too high and Einstein too low for what the two horses have accomplished so far in 2009. Einstein has two Grade I victories -- one on a synthetic and the other on turf -- and Zenyatta has one Grade 2 win to her credit.

The sensational Rachel Alexandra, who counts a record 20 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks and a win over the boys in the Preakness Stakes among her impressive accomplishments in 2009, worked four furlongs in 49.80 seconds at Churchill Downs this morning in preparation for Saturday's $300,000 Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park.

"The filly went beautiful this morning," trainer Steve Asmussen said. "She looked very happy. Scott (assistant trainer Scott Blasi) and Dominic (exercise rider Dominic Terry) have done a great job keeping her happy."

Rachel Alexandra, a daughter of Medaglia d'Oro who has won 8 of 11 lifetime for earnings of $1,618,354, set fractions over a fast main track of :13, :25 and :37.40. She galloped out five furlongs in 1:03.40.

The Mother Goose will be Rachel Alexandra's first race since the Preakness. It's a 1 1/8-mile test against other 3-year-old fillies and is expected to attract graded stakes winners like Justwhistledixie and Don't Forget Gil. Rachel Alexandra is scheduled to ship to New York on Tuesday morning and will be an overwhelming favorite to win the race.

"That's why they're Grade I's," Asmussen said. "We're not looking to trade her with anyone."

.

Part of the price you must pay when you own a brilliant mare that's unbeaten in 10 career races is that she has to carry a lot of weight as she continues to mow down the opposition. Such is the case for Zenyatta, who will race in Saturday's $300,000 Grade 1 Vanity Handicap with top weight of 129 pounds as she tries to become the first repeat winner of the stake since Azeri in 2003. Azeri carried 127 pounds that year. Zenyatta carried 126 pounds when she made her 2009 debut a winning one in Hollypark's $150,000 Grade 2 Milady Handicap on May 23. Other repeat winners in the Vanity include Annie-Lu-San in 1957-58, Convenience in 1972-73 and It's In The Air in 1979-80.

Gamely carried a stake-record 131 pounds in 1968 while winning, and Silver Spoon won in 1960 while carrying 130 pounds. The complete list of weights, which were announced Sunday: Zenyatta, 129; Life Is Sweet, 122; Dawn After Dawn, 116; Briecat, 114; Modification, 114; You Lift Me Up, 114; Allicansayis Wow, 113; Forest Melody, 113, and Hot n' Dusty, 111.

Of course, Life Is Sweet, Zenyatta's stablemate, is expected to bypass the Vanity and run instead in the $700,000 Grade I Hollywood Gold Cup against the males on July 11. Trainer John Shirreffs said he believes Life Is Sweet, owned by Martin Wygod, is more suited to race against the boys at this stage of the year because she's had more races in 2009. She won a pair of major stakes for distaffers at Santa Anita this past winter.

Zenyatta's exercise rider, Steve Willard, believes the mare who's earned $2,234,580 for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, is ready to roll Saturday. "She came out of that last race better than ever," he said.

Mike Smith, who's been aboard for eight of Zenyatta's 10 lifetime victories, will be back aboard in the Vanity.

What a great race for the jockey title at Hollywood Park! Rafael Bejarano, trying for an unprecedented seventh consecutive SoCal riding crown, led Joel Rosario 53-52 heading into today's 10-race card. So far through the first seven races, Bejarano and Rosario have each won twice. They both have mounts in the remaining three races, including the $100,000 Grade 3 Affirmed Handicap.

Bejarano will be aboard the 2-1 morning-line favorite Grazen in the Affirmed for trainer Mike Mitchell, who's picking up steam and already has two winners on today's program. Rosario will ride 8-1 outsider Quindici Man for Craig Lewis.

This is a race that figures to go down to closing day on Sunday, July 19. With so few horses running these days, both of these jockeys are getting a ton of live mounts and neither figures to go into a prolonged losing streak. The difference could come in days spent out of state running in big stakes races. If either one travels east and misses a day and the other stays home and wins three or four races, that could prove pivotal.

Either way, this is going to be fun to watch.

There's a $522,957 pick six carryover at Hollywood Park tonight, and I think I'll take a stab at it despite the fact the eighth race is one of the worst of the meeting. I mean, it's got to be one of the worst of the year.

3rd -- Surprises Welcomed and Royal Fortune
4th -- Principle Secret, Yankee Visionary and Saint Paul
5th -- Pacific Halo
6th -- Nene, Stand Tall and Forest Phantom
7th -- Position A and Sagaponack
8th -- Kay S

That's a $72 ticket. I wouldn't spend that much on a card like this except for the fact there's such a huge carryover. I think my two singles have solid chances. Pacific Halo in the fifth has good tactical speed from the rail and gets the services of Tyler Baze, one of the top speed riders in the game. He may not win, but he figures to be right there, and that's about all you can hope for. I think Kay S is the best of a very weak lot in the nightcap. He ran fourth in his debut at Turf Paradise on April 28, gets the services of Victor Espinoza and figures to take a step forward with a race under his belt.

Good luck tonight!!

When the NTRA released its latest top 10 rankings this week, Zenyatta had supplanted Einstein as the No. 1 horse in America. Incredible. Not that Einstein slipped to fourth, but because Zenyatta has raced only once in 2009 and as brilliant as her career has been, she has not been the most impressive horse to race in America this year.

That distinction goes to Rachel Alexandra, who is unbeaten in five races that includes a victory over the males in the Preakness Stakes on May 16 and a record 20 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks the day before the Derby. She's been brilliant all year, whereas Zenyatta has won only once.

Now don't get me wrong, I am one of Zenyatta's biggest boosters. I thought she deserved Horse of the Year over Curlin last year. I think she's one of the all-time top five distaffers I've ever seen, and she can climb up that list if she beats the boys at some point this season. She's an amazing race horse.

Here's the NTRA's latest top 10:
1. Zenyatta
2. Rachel Alexandra
3. Well Armed
4. Einstein
5. Mine That Bird
6. Macho Again
7. Gio Ponti
8. Bribon
9. Fabulous Strike
10. Summer Bird

I don't have a vote, but here's the way I would have cast my ballot this week:
1. Rachel Alexandra
2. Einstein
3. Well Armed
4. Mine That Bird
5. Zenyatta
6. Macho Again
7. Georgie Boy
8. Life Is Sweet
9. Gio Ponti
10. Summer Bird

Explain this to me -- how can Zenyatta, ranked fourth in the last poll, leapfrog Rachel Alexandra when neither one raced? Was Zenyatta more impressive with the way she ate up her feed? I just don't get it. And I would not have penalized Einstein so severely because he finished third in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs last Saturday. He had a brutal trip and I think he was the best horse in the race. Yes, I would have dropped him, but not from first to fourth. He's still the top older male horse in the country.

How about you, who would you vote the No. 1 horse in America today?

Steve Schuelein of the Hollywood Park publicity office reported today that the brilliant filly Life Is Sweet might race against the boys in the $700,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 11 rather than tackling the unbeaten Zenyatta again in the $300,000 Grade I Vanity Handicap:

Here's an excerpt from Schuelien's barn notes dealing with Life Is Sweet:

Owner-breeder Marty Wygod said Life Is Sweet may make her next start against males in the TVG/Betfair Hollywood Gold Cup after the multiple stakes-winning 4-year-old filly worked six furlongs in a bullet 1:11 on Cushion Track at Hollywood Park Thursday.

Joining Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet as nominees to the Vanity are Allicansayiswow, Briecat, Dawn After Dawn, Forest Melody, Hot n' Dusty, Modification and You Lift Me Up.

Churchill Downs will be the latest American race track to take the plunge into night racing when the track holds its first card ever under the lights. Should be interesting to see how they fare. As we all know, they are traditionalists in Kentucky when it comes to their horse racing, but they're going to give this a whirl. Hey, if baseball under the lights flies at Wrigley Field, why not Churchill's "Downs After Dark" experiment.

An update on the venture from the track's publicity department:

So, what do you do if you are saddling a horse in the nightcap, scheduled for 11:11 p.m. (all times EDT), in the historic debut of Churchill Downs' "Downs After Dark" night racing?

"I am going to work him Friday instead of Saturday, and that (the night card) is one of the reasons," Bradley said. "I have a few that will work longer and harder and then will walk for two days, so we won't have so many going to the track Saturday."

Both Well Armed, a 14-length winner of the $6 million Dubai World Cup in March, and the ultra-consistent Tiago were absent from the $250,000 Californian -- the final major prep for the $700,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 11 -- and there's little chance that either will run in the Gold Cup.

Actually, Well Armed is a definite no-go. Trainer Eoin Harty is aiming for a return sometime during the Del Mar meet, perhaps on Aug. 2 in the San Diego Handicap. That would set him up perfectly for the $1 million Pacific Classic on Sept. 6. No word yet from the Tiago camp if he's going to contest the Gold Cup, but the odds are slim. He's raced only once this year -- a third in the San Antonio Handicap on Feb. 2 -- and even though trainer John Shirreffs says Tiago does not require a lot of work to get into racing shape, it's unlikely he'll try a race like the Gold Cup off a five-month layoff.

Even Rail Trip, who finished second in the Mervyn LeRoy and again in the Californian, is not a definite for the longer Gold Cup, according to trainer Ron Ellis.

"I thought he ran awesome (in the Californian)," Ellis said. "He turned the tables on Ball Four. It's just a tough situation when you have two speed horses in there, and it cost him in the end. Without Ball Four in the race I think we're an easy winner. We'll see about the Gold Cup. I want to see how he comes out of this. I'm not sure if farther is better for him."

The Gold Cup is 1 1/4 miles on Cushion Track, whereas the Californian was 1 1/8 miles. Ball Four, the Mervyn LeRoy winner, did not run nearly as well in the Californian and I'd have to say his status for the Gold Cup is tenuous at best. Although if there is no Rail Trip in the Gold Cup to challenge him early and no other speed enters, well, who knows?

We might be looking at much the same lineup for the Gold Cup as we were the Californian. If I'm a trainer outside of California and I have a good handicap horse in my barn, I'd sure as heck be looking at the Gold Cup. Heck, if I was the connections of Einstein, I'd be looking at it real hard. I think the Gold Cup, without Well Armed and Tiago, would be Einstein's for the taking, whereas if he goes in the Arlington Million it's a little more iffy. Einstein's connections already know he likes synthetics and he'd already be out here for the Pacific Classic if they shipped him here for the Gold Cup. I'd be very tempted if I was them.

Co-owner Jess Jackson said a few weeks ago that his star filly's next race might come in the Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park on June 27, the same day that Zenyatta is scheduled to run in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park in an attempt to run her career record to 11-0.
But trainer Steve Asmussen said this morning that Rachel Alexandra's next race is still undecided. An update, courtesy of the Churchill Downs publicity office:

RACHEL ALEXANDRA SIZZLES IN SIX FURLONG WORK - Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick's Rachel Alexandra helped usher in the era of night racing at Churchill Downs when the winner of the Kentucky Oaks and Preakness worked a sparkling six furlongs under temporary lights on Monday at Churchill Downs.

Majority owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables had earlier mentioned the $300,000 Mother Goose (GI) at 1 1/8 miles on June 27 at Belmont Park as a possible first start for Rachel Alexandra since her historic win over males in the Preakness on May 16. Asmussen said the choice of a race for the filly's next start was still being assessed.

Chantal Sutherland, arguably the No. 2 female jockey in history behind Julie Krone, made the right decision to move her business back to Woobine Park in Toronto at the end of Santa Anita. It might not be best for her love life, but she's faring quite well in her professional life since the switch.

Sutherland, romantically involved with Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, wanted so badly to make it on the Southland circuit this past year. She and Smith shared a home in Pasadena and their relationship was well-chronicled on the Animal Planet's reality show entitled "Jockeys." But Sutherland wasn't happy with the amount of winners or mounts she was getting here in Southern California, so she decided to return to Canada, where she's been very successful in the past. It's not like she embarrassed herself at Santa Anita, however. She finished 11th in the standings with 18 victories while riding against the best jockeys in America. But she wanted more, and she's getting it in Toronto.

Through Sunday's races, Sutherland is second in the Woodbine rider standings behind Patrick Husbands, 60-41. She's riding a great majority of the races, which is necessary if a jockey wants to make a name for themselves and grab some of the bigger mounts that she covets. She'd love to ride in Triple Crown and Breeders' Cup races.

Some other former Southland jockeys are also faring well since leaving the circuit and relocating to other parts of the country:

* Jon Court is eighth in the jockey standings at Churchill Downs with 16 victories.
* Saul Arias, known for his ability to boot home long shots at Santa Anita, is sixth at Emerald Downs (Seattle) with 15 wins. And he apparently hasn't lost his knack with the boxcar horses, finishing second with 33-1 and 36-1 long shots on Sunday.
* Omar Figueroa is 10th in the standings at Golden Gate with 38 victories.
* Patrick Valenzuela has 16 wins at Louisiana Downs -- good for third in the rider standings.
* Emile Ramsammy is riding with Sutherland at Woodbine and is third with 35 victories.
* Isaias Enriquez is riding at Sunray Park in New Mexico and is eighth in the standings with nine wins.

They were still talking about Einstein's horrendous trip this morning in Saturday's $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs. Here is an excerpt from today's Churchill barn notes:

FRUSTRATION REMAINS HIGH IN EINSTEIN CAMP AFTER FOSTER FINISH - Einstein's bid for racing history came up a length short Saturday when the 7-year-old Brazilian-bred horse ran third after encountering trouble throughout his 1 1/8-mile journey in the Stephen Foster Handicap.

His difficult trip in the Stephen Foster left Einstein's career record at 11-3-3 in 26 races with earnings of $2,673,924.

Did you catch today's eighth race at Hollywood Park? If you didn't, check it out because the winner -- Truest Legend -- looks like he could be one of the next great sprinters on the West Coast.

Truest Legend, a 3-year-old son of Songandaprayer, debuted last September at Fairplex Park and finished eighth in a 10-horse field at 53-1. Trainer Ron Ellis then gave him a freshening and brought him back on April 18 at Santa Anita in a maiden special weight. He went gate to wire, winning by 1 1/4 lengths after setting splits of 21 1/5 and 43 2/5 in the 6 1/2-furlong event. His final time was 1:15 4/5.

Today, he went six furlongs and again went gate to wire in a non-winners of one allowance, setting fractions of 21.79, 44.31 and 56.03 en route to a final clocking of 1:08.42. Jockey Victor Espinoza was easing him through the final sixteenth of a mile or there's no telling what he might have run.

Easily one of the most impressive races I've seen this year. He was purchased for $240,000 at the October 2005 Barretts sale, but he ran like a $600,000 purchase.

Speaking of $600,000 buys, also keep an eye on I'll Show Them, purchased for that price at the Keeneland September 2007 sale. He debuted today in the seventh race, didn't break real well and still ran down 4-5 favorite Gallatin's Run in the last sixteenth for trainer David Hofmans. He's by Smarty Jones, so look for this guy to eventually stretch out and really strut his stuff.

Here's the press release from Churchill Downs regarding today's $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap. Jockey and trainer quotes follow at the end:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Saturday, June 13, 2009) - West Point Thoroughbreds' Macho Again, last in the early going, made a strong move on the far turn to reach contention and then drew clear to win Saturday's 28th running of the $660,000 Stephen Foster Handicap (Grade I) at Churchill Downs by a length over Asiatic Boy (ARG).

Einstein (BRZ), bidding to become the first horse to win three consecutive Grade I races on three surfaces, finished a nose back in third.

In giving West Point its second Stephen Foster win in three years -- Flashy Bull won in 2007 -- Macho Again gave jockey Robby Albarado his third consecutive Foster triumph. Albarado won last year on Horse of the Year Curlin.

Finallymadeit set the early fractions of :24.13, :48.13 and 1:12.71 with Researcher and Alphabet Magic in closest pursuit. Julien Leparoux had Einstein in three path about mid-pack while Macho Again lagged at the back of the eight-horse field.

Leaving the backstretch, Albarado swung Macho Again wide and kept him in the clear turning for home and avoiding a tightly bunched pack to his inside. Macho Again, now three for five at Churchill Downs, opened a clear lead in the stretch and had enough left to hold off Asiatic Boy, who was making his U.S. debut.

Trained by Dallas Stewart, Macho Again covered the 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.75 over a fast track, carrying 117 pounds five fewer than Asiatic Boy. The victory was worth $396,924 and increased the 4-year-old Florida-bred son of Macho Uno's earnings to $1,475,247.

Macho Again, who won the 2008 Derby Trial here, returned $17.40, $6.20 and $3.60. Asiatic Boy returned $7 and $3.80 with Einstein, carrying top weight of 124 pounds, paying $2.10 to show. Arson Squad and Bullsbay dead-heated for fourth, a neck behind Einstein, and were followed in order by Researcher, Finallymadeit and Alphabet Magic.

POST-RACE QUOTES - THE STEPHEN FOSTER HANDICAP

DALLAS STEWART, trainer of MACHO AGAIN (winner)
"He ran great, you know. He's a great horse. We had a great rider. We put it all together today. You know he's not an in and out horse like most people think. He got the money today on a dry track today at Churchill. He proved himself. I think we've got a lot of good things ahead of us. He's won major races on major tracks from down in New Orleans to Saratoga to here. He's all dirt horse is what he is."
Q: What might be next?
"The Whitney (the Grade I, $750,000 Whitney Handicap for 3-year-olds and up over 1 1/8 miles at Saratoga on Saturday, Aug. 8) will be our next goal."

ROBBY ALBARADO, jockey of MACHO AGAIN (winner)
"The race set up great for us today. We had an outside trip and got a clear run. It's not by design that I wanted to go around that wide, but I just put him in a path where he can run around horses. That's just where he wants to be. You just hope that you don't have to go too wide. He just prevailed to be the best today."

TERRY FINLEY, co-owner of MACHO AGAIN (winner)
"He's not a big, imposing horse but he's well balanced. He's a sound horse, obviously. He's danced a lot of dances. For a horse like this you've got to be a Grade I winner to be a Kentucky stallion. That was the reason we brought him back this year. We fully intend, if everything stays on track . . . we're in the racing business and we love the game. We really think that in 2010, if everything stays on track, we'd love to come back and defend our title in the Stephen Foster."
Q: What about the rest of this year?
"We're going to try and get the money in the Whitney. We'll talk to the partners and try to knock out the Jockey Club (Gold Cup) at Belmont and try to get to the Breeders' Cup Classic."

JULIEN LEPAROUX, jockey of EINSTEIN (third as the favorite)
"I'm on the horse to beat, so of course they're trying to beat me. I had nowhere to go; I just had to wait. I was in a pretty good spot, but I had nowhere to go. So I just waited and when he got room at the eighth pole, he finished strong. He was probably the best horse, but that's horse racing. Sometimes you get a tough trip and that's that."

HELEN PITTS-BLASI, trainer of EINSTEIN (third as the favorite)
"He ran huge, it was just bad racing luck. They did all they could to get him beat, but that's just part of racing I guess. He gallops out in front. What can you do?"

Ouch!! Anyone see that horrendous trip that Einstein got in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill Downs? Ridden by Julien Leparoux, the 7-year-old Brazilian-bred checked around the first turn and then was continually shut out of racing room through the stretch until it was too late. Macho Again, at 7-1, had taken control on the outside by the time Leparoux found room. Einstein wound up third with Asiatic Boy taking second.

So, with the defeat, Lava Man is still the only horse to win Grade 1 races on all three surfaces -- artificial, turf and dirt. The popular gelding accomplished the feat over a two-year period, whereas Einstein was bidding to become the first horse to win all three in the same calendar year. I think he'll get another chance. Perhaps the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont Park in the fall?

Einstein, still one of the early leading contenders for Horse of the Year, went postward at 6-5.

The final major prep race for the $700,000 Grade 1 Hollywood Gold up will go as the ninth race today at Hollywood Park and will be minus the two best older horses in training in California -- Tiago and Well Armed.

The $250,000 Grade 2 Californian attracted 12 horses, including the top three finishers in the Mervyn LeRoy Handicap -- Ball Four, Rail Trip and Dakota Phone. Also entered are 2008 Gold Cup champion Mast Track and 2007 Pacific Classic runner-up Awesome Gem, who lost by a neck in the Grade 3 Berkeley Handicap at Golden Gate in his last start on May 25 but who seems to have tailed off since his best days.

It's a solid field, but it lacks Southern Califonia's two major handicap players.

Tiago is back on the track training and is not far off from a race. Maybe the Gold Cup on July 11? And Well Armed, who romped for fun in the $6 million Dubai World Cup in late March, is being pointed toward a return at Del Mar by trainer Eoin Harty. Well Armed may race in the San Diego Handicap on Aug. 2 and then come back in the $1 million Pacific Classic on Sept. 6.

As far as today's Californian, I like Rail Trip to avenge his only loss in six career starts. Jockey Jose Valdivia Jr. will have the 4-year-old gelded son of Jump Start on the lead today, particularly if they go a slow 24 1/5 opening quarter like in the Mervyn LeRoy. If Rail Trip is allowed to set the pace with a slow or moderate first half-mile, it will be all over.

Laffit Pincay Jr., the most remarkable jockey I've ever seen, believes Calvin Borel would change his ride aboard Mine That Bird in the Belmont Stakes if he could.

When I first watched the race last Saturday and heard critics were jumping on Borel for moving too quickly, I thought the criticism was a bunch of baloney, sour grapes or whatever. But after listening to Pincay talk about this year's Triple Crown races, maybe I was wrong:

"I think if Borel would have known the track really, really well, I think he would have rode a different race and I think he probably would have had a better chance," Pincay said on the telephone this week. "The horse ran his race, and I think if you ask Borel right now, he'd tell you he would ride a different race if he had to do it again."

I asked Pincay which of the three Triple Crown races he felt was the most difficult to win, and he didn't hesitate.

"I think probably the toughest one was the Derby," he said. "It's a crowded field, you're going with your horse to a different race track and you're hoping that your horse stays calm and the crowd doesn't affect him."

Laffit will be in the Bahamas in early September to compete in what is called the Legends Sports Challenge. He is going to play poker. I asked him if he is a good poker player.

"Not really, but I'm learning," he said. "My son and I are going to take some classes and try to be good. It's like riding horses ... you got to have some good cards, you gotta use your head and get lucky."

Laffit Pincay is one of the classiest guys you'll ever come across in all of sports.

Some quick hits on the world of thoroughbred racing:

* The industry got some good news for a change when it was revealed earleir this week that Belmont Stakes numbers were up from two years ago -- the last time the race was run without a Triple Crown on the line. Both attendance and on-track handle showed increases, which in this economy is a nice surprise. On-track attendance, understandably higher last year when 94,476 showed up to watch Big Brown go for the Triple Crown, was 52,861 on Saturday -- a 12.7 percent increase from the 2007 crowd. On-track handle was up 2 percent from 2007, when Rags to Riches won the Belmont. All-sources handle showed an 18.6 percent spike from two years ago when the nation's economy was in much better shape.

* Summer Bird's connections announced this week that the Belmont Stakes winner will race next in the $1 million Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Aug. 2. Their next goal will be the Travers Stakes at Saratoga on Aug. 29. Summer Bird is currently stabled at Louisiana Downs. If all goes well, Summer Bird could also run in the $750,000 Super Derby at Louisiana Downs on Sept. 19. Trainer Tim Ice likes the six-week period between the Super Derby and the Breeders' Cup, which is the ultimate goal for the Birdstone colt.

* Georgie Boy, a top contender for the Breeders' Cup Sprint on Nov. 7 if he can stay healthy, is back on the track galloping following a minor foot injury that took him out of the Tiznow Stakes at Hollywood Park on April 25 and a possible start in the Met Mile at Belmont Park on May 25. Trainer Kathy Walsh has not mentioned a return target race for the 4-year-old gelding who won the Sunshine Millions Sprint at Santa Anita on Jan. 24 and then came back to take the San Carlos Handicap on Feb. 21 before he was sidelined by a quarter crack.

* The next starts for two of the leading ladies in the sport are set -- unbeaten Zenyatta will return in the $300,000 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park on June 27 after winning the Milady Handicap while hardly breaking a sweat in her first start of the year, and standout sprinter Indian Blessing will race Sunday in the $70,000-added Desert Stormer Handicap at Hollywood Park while carrying high weight of 124 pounds. Indian Blessing finished second in the Golden Shaheen Stakes in Dubai in her last start in March.

I find it interesting that CHRB Chairman John Harris would cast a dissenting vote on a measure allowing Hollywood Park to operate four-day race weeks for the remainder of its spring-summer meeting. If there are not enough horses to fill races, what is Hollywood Park supposed to do? I for one don't like going to the track and seeing a mess of six- and seven-horse fields. Perhaps if Northern California, with reportedly half the horse population, is making a go of it as Harris alludes, then the officials up there should be called down and asked to give a report on how they're doing it. If the answer is running with a mess of five- and six-horse fields, like Golden Gate Fields did in six of its eight races on May 21, well, I don't really want to hear it. Golden Gates' largest field size on May 21? Eight horses, folks. Wow, there is a whole lot of betting value there, huh?

Here's an excerpt from a press release sent by the CHRB regarding its meeting this past Friday:

Chairman Harris, who cast the dissenting vote, pointed to the damage done to Northern California racing and lost jobs throughout the state as sound reasons for voting against the proposal. He later elaborated that he also was very disappointed to see Hollywood Park not committed to abiding by its licensing agreement that the Board had approved just a few months earlier, feeling that such agreements should mean something and reflect what the parties to the license thought was a realistic plan. He said he could not believe that with all the thoroughbreds stabled in Southern California, Hollywood Park could not conduct a viable five-day weekly program. He commended Northern California for their good-faith efforts to race five days a week with only about half the horse population of the south. He felt that the damage done and precedents set by going to a four-day week were of grave concern, and the Board needs to show more empathy for third-party impacts. He also elaborated that while the CHRB had requested more detailed economic assessments of the changes proposed, he felt that no detailed economic impact reports were made available.

I would agree with Harris that the real people being hurt here are the third-party people -- the vendors, the folks who sell the programs and work the parking lot, the pari-mutuel clerks, et al -- but for a long time now there has been too much racing in Southern California. It started, really, with the beginning of the Hollywood Park autumn meet in 1981. Whereas before there was no thoroughbred racing in Southern California from the end of Oak Tree until the beginning of the regular Santa Anita meet on Dec. 26, now we have racing virtually year-round and it's quite frankly become pretty stale. There used to be a real buzz in the industry and amongst fans around the time Santa Anita was preparing to open because there had been no racing for more than a month, but now it seems the opening of Santa Anita is a ho-hum experience. Hollywood Park concludes its autumn meet, there is no racing for four or five days and then Santa Anita opens. Nothing special about that.

I also find it interesting that Harris brings up the fact that "no detailed economic impact reports were made available" regarding the cutback to four-day race weeks. Strange, but I seem to remember there were no detailed statistical reports made available to the CHRB before former head Richard Shapiro mandated the installation of synthetic tracks a while back. And you know what? We're still waiting for an "independent" study to let us know how the artificial surfaces have cut down on the number of injuries -- both in the mornings and during the afternoon racing. I mean, I know there has been a significant dip in injuries because that was one of the promises made before the synthetics were installed. Just like it was promised they were maintenance free. Right? Yeah, and I have some AIG stock I'm selling really cheap for anyone interested.

Rachel Alexandra was back on the track working out Monday morning, which means only one thing -- her next race is not far away. Here's the news release from Churchill Downs regarding the work and her possible next race:

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (Monday, June 8, 2009) - Preakness Stakes (Grade I) and Kentucky Oaks (GI) winner Rachel Alexandra turned in solid six-furlong workout Monday at Churchill Downs as the team behind the 3-year-daughter of Medaglia d'Oro considers her next start.

Rachel Alexandra covered the distance over a "fast" track in 1:13.80. Regular exercise rider Dominic Terry was in the saddle as Churchill Downs clockers caught her in fractions of :13, :25.60, :37.60, :49.40 and 1:01.20. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:28.

Trainer Steve Asmussen was happy with the move, but said there's no decision yet from majority owner Jess Jackson of Stonestreet Stables regarding Rachel Alexandra's next start.

"She went a nice, smooth three quarters," Asmussen said. "She went beautiful, like she always does. She's in a nice rhythm and seems very happy right now. We'll report back to Jess and the gang and see what we do next."

Jackson had earlier mentioned Belmont Park's Mother Goose (GI) on Saturday, June 27 as one option for Rachel Alexandra. The Mother Goose is a 1 1/8-mile race for 3-year-old fillies.

Rachel Alexandra has won six consecutive races, with her victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird in the Preakness being her latest triumph. She has a career record of 8-2-0 in 11 races and has earned $1,618,354.

The Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont are in the books and we had different winners in all three legs of the Triple Crown. The winners:

Mine That Bird -- The 50-1 Kentucky Derby champion roared home by 6 3/4 lengths, courtesy of a rail-skimming ride by jockey Calvin Borel, who received triple the acclaim he got two years ago when he won the Derby aboard Street Sense. He proved the Derby was no fluke by coming back and running a strong second to Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness and finishing third in the Belmont. So why the improvement between two failed efforts at Sunland Park in New Mexico and the Triple Crown? It appears the gelding's connections discovered the secret to success with the son of Birdstone -- let him lag far behind early on and then make one big run at the end.

Rachel Alexandra -- She's the darling of racing these days after becoming the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness, and she did it after setting some serious fractions on the front end. The daughter of Medaglia d'Oro has won six consecutive stakes races, including five this year. And she's saved her best for her most recent efforts -- winning the Kentucky Oaks on May 1 by a record 20 1/4 lengths and then returning 15 days later to beat the boys in the Preakness. She's since received a much-deserved rest, and don't be surprised if she surfaces in the Haskell Invitational or Travers Stakes this summer to take on the boys again. The ultimate showdown against the unbeaten Zenyatta may not occur, however. There's a strong chance that co-owner Jess Jackson might skip the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita on Nov. 6 because of the way Curlin performed over the track's Pro-Ride surface last October. Of course, it's an entirely different situation. Curlin had never run on a synthetic track heading into the Breeders' Cup, whereas Rachel Alexandra won an allowance race over Keeneland's Polytrack surface last Oct. 17.

Summer Bird -- Forget all that talk about Borel moving too quickly on Mine That Bird and fouling up the Derby winner's chances to win the Belmont. It was Summer Bird's day, and no horse in the Belmont field was going to beat the Birdstone colt no matter what type of ride they received. Trainer Tim Ice says he might take the Saratoga route with his colt, bringing him back in the Jim Dandy Stakes on Aug. 1 as a prep for the $1 million Travers on Aug. 29. Whatever, he's scheduled to be on a flight bound for Louisville with Mine That Bird sometime today and then continue on to Louisiana Downs for a freshening before embarking on a late summer and fall campaign that could lead to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita.

So now that the Triple Crown series is history, what do you think? Who impressed you the most these past few months?

Some random leftover notes the day after an afternoon in the Hollywood Park press box:

* Midships is likely headed to the Arlington Million on Aug. 8 at Arlington Park near Chicago for his next race. The 4-year-old Mizzen Mast colt is dangerous in most any race he runs because he's got the type of tactical speed where he can go gate to wire if the pace is slow or he can lay just off a quicker pace and then save his best running for the stretch, like he did in Saturday's Whittingham Handicap. Bobby Frankel's assistant, Humberto Ascanio, said in the winner's circle that Frankel always thought Midships was going to be a good horse after he finished third in his U.S. debut last November at Hollywood Park in the Grade I Hollywood Derby. Ascanio also said Frankel scratched Santa Anita Handicap runner-up Champs Elysees from Saturday's Grade I Manhattan Handicap at Belmont Park because the turf was too soft.

* It's going to be a battle all the way to the end for the Hollypark riding title. Through Saturday's races, Joel Rosario leads Rafael Bejarano, 42-41, as the former tries to deprive Bejarano of a record seventh consecutive Southland jockey title since Hollypark began its autumn meet in 1981. Victor Espinoza is quietly having a strong meet, entering today's nine-race card tied for third with Joe Talamo at 22 victories apiece. Tyler Baze is fifth with 19 wins. After winning the jockey title with 73 victories in 2007, Michael Baze has fallen on some hard times. He's won only six times this meet with 106 mounts.

* Doug O'Neill, no stranger to training titles in Southern California, is making a mockery of the Hollypark standings. He's 10 up, 21-11, over second-place John Sadler after Saturday's racing. The top win percentage from a trainer with at least 10 starters? Howard Zucker, who has won 5 of 12 races for a 42 percent success rate. Unbelievable that Bobby Frankel had a 0 for 20 streak going before winning with Midships. Of course, it seems Frankel sends a lot of his top horses elsewhere when Santa Anita is not racing. If you remember, the Hall of Fame trainer blanked during last summer's Del Mar meet.

* Funny how many of the same people who praised Calvin Borel for his rail-skimming ride aboard Mine That Bird in the Kentucky Derby are now claiming that the Cajun jockey moved too soon on the gelding in the Belmont. Looked to me like he just didn't want any of the 1 1/2-mile distance, like most of the 3-year-olds in the race. Dunkirk, Mine That Bird and my selection -- Charitable Man -- all needed oxygen masks at the finish while Summer Bird breezed by them all in the stretch. Summer Bird was much the best in the race. Nobody was going to beat that colt on Saturday. Now there are two trainers -- Chip Woolley and Tim Ice -- who were unknown to 99.9 percent of America before their Triple Crown victories but have shown to be very capable horsemen.

* Hard to imagine that three-time Eclipse Award-winning trainer Todd Pletcher has won only one Triple Crown race, and none with a colt. His lone triumph came in the 2007 Belmont with Rags to Riches. But Pletcher is too good a trainer and has too many top-notch owners that his fortunes have to change in the near future. Dunkirk is a very talented colt who is still very lightly raced. He'll get a short breather now and be ready to go for the Haskell or Travers. He could be a very dangerous horse come Breeders' Cup time when he's got some more racing under him.

* I'm interested to see how Evita Argentina runs in today's Hollywood Oaks. She really impressed me when she beat the boys in the Grade II San Vicente at Santa Anita on Feb. 16, closing like a locomotive in the stretch that day to win by a length under Garrett Gomez. But she followed up that effort with a disappointing fourth-place finish in the Grade II Beaumont against other 3-year-old fillies at Keeneland on April 8. She's 4 of 8 lifetime but has gone today's 1 1/16-mile distance only once -- a ninth-place showing in last fall's Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies at Santa Anita. She might be just a late-closing sprinter, but seeeing as though she's by Candy Ride, who won the 2003 Pacific Classic, trainer John Sadler wants to make sure before he gives up on her in two-turn races.

Sitting here in the press box at Hollywood Park, longing for a winner, and I've decided to try my luck at the pick six and the $89,027 carryover. Somebody's going to hit it, so why not me?

I'm going to go with a $32 ticket:
5th -- Delaware Doe and Defense King
6th -- Gotta Have Her and Tuscan Evening
7th -- No Ka Oi
8th -- Liberian Freighter
9th -- Midships and Artiste Royal
10th -- Bonkersforbinkers and Sovereign Lord

Good luck today!!

It's a logical question -- instead of holding the first day of the Breeders' Cup on a Friday when many people are working and unable to attend, why don't the Breeders' Cup folks hold the World Championships on Saturday and Sunday?

Well, I posed that question to Peter Land, chief marketing officer for Breeders' Cup Limited, and here's what he said: "We wouldn't get the television window on Sunday because ESPN has previous commitments and ABC has previous commitments. As a premiere sporting event in the fall, going up against college football on Saturday and the NFL on Sunday probably wouldn't give us the best chance to succeed."

He's probably right, considering that both horse racing and the National Football League attract a large number of gamblers. Given the choice of the Breeders' Cup or NFL Sunday, many of those bettors would undoubtedly choose football because it's the No. 1 gambling sport in America, despite what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says.

So, just in case you were wondering, don't expect the Breeders' Cup to race on a Sunday anytime soon. Some of the leaders in the horse racing industry are not the brightest bulbs in the room, but they're not blind to the fact that horse racing -- which just five years ago was judged in an ESPN poll to be this country's fastest-growing sport (wow, how times have changed, huh?) -- is no match for pro football when it comes to betting or viewership.

Charlie Whittingham, the greatest trainer the Southland and perhaps the nation has ever known, won the Hollywood Turf Handicap -- a race renamed after the Hall of Fame conditioner before his death at age 86 in 1999 -- a record seven times. Among his champions in the stake were Erins Isle (1983), Exploded (1982), Exceller (1978), Dahlia (1976) and Cougar II (1971).

On Saturday, fellow Hall of Fame conditioners Bobby Frankel and Neil Drysdale will have the copportunity to tie Whittingham's mark when they saddle strong contenders in the 41st running of the $300,000 Charles Whittingham Memorial Handicap at Hollywood Park. Frankel will saddle Midships, a gate-to-wire threat who won the San Luis Rey and San Juan Capistrano handicaps at Santa Anita this past season, and Drysdale will send out defending champion Artiste Royal, who can become the first horse to win the race more than once since John Henry won for the third time in 1984.

Drysdale was an assistant to Whittingham from 1970-74. In addition to Artiste Royal, his past Whittingham winners include Storming Home (2003), White Heart (2000), Storm Trooper (1998), Political Ambition (1988) and Both Ends Burning (1985). Frankel, who occupies the same barn that Whittingham trained out of at Hollywood Park, has won the stake with Denon (2002), River Bay (1999), Quest For Fame (1992), Exbourne (1991), Johnny's Image (1979) and Life Cycle (1973).

This year's Whittingham drew a small but contentious field of six, including Union Avenue, Liquidity, Globetrotter and Madeo in addition to Artiste Royal and Midships, the latter of whom might have things all his own way again on the front end if Liquidity chooses to take back in his first try on turf in 12 career races.

It was Secretariat who put the biggest exclamation mark on his Triple Crown, winning the Belmont Stakes by an amazing 31 lengths in 1973. Contrast that with Affirmed's sweep five years later, when his margin of victory over Alydar kept getting smaller until he beat Alydar by a nose in one of the most thrilling Belmont Stakes ever.

Joel Rosario, the 24-year-old native of the Dominican Republic who is good enough to compete for riding titles in the toughest jockey colony around but inexplicably can't land a mount in any of the Triple Crown events, is trying to derail Rafael Bejarano's bid to become the first jockey ever to win seven consecutive Southland titles since Hollywood Park began its autumn meet in 1981. Bejarano also is trying to become the first jock since Patrick Valenzuela in 2002-03 to win consecutive titles during Hollywood Park's spring-summer meet.

Heading into today's eight-race card, Rosario (pictured riding Well Monied to victory in last Sunday's $150,000 Honeymoon Handicap at Hollywood Park) leads Bejarano in the rider standings 39-38. Joe Talamo is a distant third with 20 victories as the meet begins its final seven-week stretch. Neither Bejarano nor Rosario will be in New York on Saturday to ride in the 141st Belmont Stakes. Bejarano rode Papa Clem in the first two legs of the Triple Crown, but Rosario was on the outside looking in, and that's a little surprising considering his success on the competitive local circuit.

Rosario has been one of the most consistent jockeys in America since he switched agents early during Hollywood Park's autum meet after a slow start. He's now represented by Hollypark track announcer Vic Stauffer, who helped generate enough business to help Rosario finish among the top riders at the Hollypark autumn meet and then watched as his client finished a close third behind Bejarano and Garrett Gomez at Santa Anita's winter-spring meet.

Folks, Joel Rosario can ride, and he's not going anywhere. It's only a matter of time before he begins to land some of those big mounts outside of California and gains the national acclaim he deserves.

Can Mine That Bird make it two of three with a victory in Saturday's 141st running of the Belmont Stakes? Is Charitable Man, who missed both the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, the real deal? Can Hall of Fame trainers Nick Zito or D. Wayne Lukas sneak in there and pull a major surprise?

Mine That Bird has gone from 50-1 upset winner of the Kentucky Derby on May 2 to the 2-1 favorite for Saturday's 141st running of the Belmont Stakes in Elmont, N.Y. Ten horses were entered earlier today for the third jewel of racing's Triple Crown, with Peter Pan Stakes winner Charitable Man the 3-1 second choice.

Mine That Bird, who will be ridden by Calvin Borel, drew the No. 7 post position and will be next to perhaps his biggest threat, Charitable Man, who will start from the sixth hole in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont -- the longest of the Triple Crown races. Charitable Man will be ridden by Alan Garcia, who spoiled Big Brown's bid for the first Triple Crown in 30 years in last year's Belmont when he rode Da' Tara to victory at boxcar odds of 38-1.

Also entered, from the rail out, were Chocolate Candy, Dunkirk, Mr. Hot Stuff, Summer Bird, Luv Gov, Flying Private, Miner's Escape and Brave Victory.

Borel will be attempting to become the first jockey to win the Triple Crown with different horses after winning the Derby aboard Mine That Bird and then taking the Preakness two weeks later with the filly Rachel Alexandra, whose connections decided to skip the Belmont and give her a short vacation.

Charitable Man, who has the close-up racing style that seems to suit Belmont winners, did not race in the Derby or the Preakness as his trainer, Kiaran McLaughlin, pointed him toward the Belmont after shin surgery in late 2008 knocked him off the Derby trail. He's undefeated in three tries on dirt, including a pair of wins over Belmont's sometimes tricky surface, after making his 2009 debut with a seventh-place finish in the Blue Grass Stakes at Keeneland over a Polytrack surface he did not seem to appreciate. There are some who think he's a big threat to go gate to wire.

Trainer D. Wayne Lukas will try for his fifth Belmont victory, saddling Flying Private, fourth in the Preakness, and Luv Gov.

OK, you have a top 3-year-old who is ready to run in Saturday's Belmont Stakes in New York. Who are you going to get to ride him/her?

If you go by the past two seasons, two-time Eclipse Award-winning jockey Garrett Gomez is the best big-race rider in the country. He's led the nation in money earned the past two years and is second so far in 2009 with $7,178,479 in purse money.

The top five, through Monday's racing:
1. Julien Leparoux -- $7,536,539
2. Gomez
3. Rafael Bejarano -- $6,890,028
4. Ramon Dominguez -- $6,302,698
5. Calvin Borel -- $5,021,156
6. John Velazquez -- $4,956,270
7. Joel Rosario -- $4,848,809

So there you have it. Money-won totals for the first five months of the year. Couple that with your own opinions on how these guys ride in big races. Tell us what you think.

Last year, we all waited in anticipation during Belmont Stakes week to see if Big Brown would become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed in 1978. Of course, for whatever reason, he just wasn't good enough.

This year, we wait in anticipation during Belmont Stakes week to see if the colorful Calvin Borel can become the first jockey to win the Triple Crown on different horses. He already became the first rider to win the Derby (Mine That Bird) and Preakness (Rachel Alexandra) aboard different mounts, and now he shoots for the biggest trifecta of 'em all.

Say one thing about the 42-year-old Borel, whether you like his horses or not, he's good for the sport. He never fails to realize where he's come from and who helped him get to where he is today, always saluting his mom and dad after big victories and displaying the type of tearful joy that only makes you feel happy for him.

After Mine That Bird put in his final work for Saturday's Belmont, going a half-mile in 50 seconds this morning, Borel voiced the same eternal optimism he displayed for Rachel Alexandra before the Preakness.

"We're going to win it, no questions asked," the Daily Racing Form quoted the Louisiana native as saying.

Borel's victory in this year's Derby was his second in the Run for the Roses. He also rode Street Sense to victory in 2007 and finished second to Curlin in the Preakness. He's not just some guy who surfaces during the Triple Crown races, either. He became only the sixth rider in history to win six races in one afternon at Churchill Downs in 2007 and he rode Seek Gold, a 91-1 mega-long shot, to victory in the 2006 Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill.

He's sometimes known as Calvin "Bo-rail" because of his rail-skimming rides, like the one he gave Mine That Bird in this year's Derby. He has an older brother named Cecil who also was a jockey until he retired because he couldn't maintain his weight. Calvin began his riding career at Delta Downs and has become one of the top big-race riders in recent years.

I like a different horse, Charitable Man, to win this year's Belmont, but you have to admire a guy like Calvin Borel, who's known as a tireless worker. He's certainy paid his dues in this sport and seems like the type of individual who would deserve his spot in the history books if he can win the Belmont aboard Mine That Bird.

You can't get enough new news on Mine That Bird and Rachel Alexandra, right???? Well, here's the latest, courtesty of our friends at Churchill Downs:

MINE THAT BIRD WORKS HALF-MILE IN :50 FOR BELMONT - Double Eagle Ranch and Buena Suerte Equine's Mine That Bird put in his final major preparation for Saturday's Belmont Stakes (Grade I) by working a half-mile in :50 under jockey Calvin Borel on Monday at Churchill Downs.

The winner of the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) came on the fast Churchill Downs track shortly after 8:30 a.m. (all times EDT) when the track reopened after the morning renovation break. Borel backtracked Mine That Bird to the frontside and then loped around to the backstretch for the work that clockers caught in splits of :13.80, :26.60, :38.40, the half in :50 with a five-eighths gallop out time of 1:02.20 and six furlongs in 1:15.

The time for the half-mile was the 32nd fastest of 57 at the distance.

"He picked it up good the last quarter," said trainer Chip Woolley, who before the work said he was looking for something in the 49 to 49.20 range. "The main thing was the last quarter in 23 and 2. The important part was finishing strong and galloping out without weakening."

After the work, Borel was ecstatic about the work and Mine That Bird's chances in the Belmont.

"We're gonna win, no questions asked," Borel said. "He worked in :50 and out in 1:02, just like before the Derby. He is doing everything the same. After those two hard races (the Derby and Preakness), I think the colt is very happy."

Woolley continued to the perfect fit that has become horse and rider.

"You watch when he comes out on the track with (exercise rider) Charlie (Figueroa) or anybody else and he has his head up and is looking around," Woolley said. "With Calvin, he just drops his neck and knows it is time to go to work. He knows the difference, maybe it's because Calvin is lighter."

Woolley is going to look in on Mine That Bird early Tuesday morning before catching a 7:15 flight to New York with Mine That Bird flying the following day.

"I think we are in good shape going into the Belmont," Woolley said. "The horse is doing good and probably training better than he did going into the Derby.

"It is going to be a tough race and, how many do I fear? How many are in there? Wayne's horse (Flying Private for trainer D. Wayne Lukas) is on the improve and Kiaran's horse (Charitable Man for trainer Kiaran McLaughlin) is a sheer monster and he likes that racetrack."

Woolley said that Mine That Bird would return to the track early Wednesday morning to backtrack to the paddock runway and go around the track 1 ½ times. Mine That Bird would go to the track at Belmont on Thursday and Friday "but not on Saturday unless he is getting rattled."

Tentative plans call for Mine That Bird to return to Churchill Downs next Monday and remain here at least for a week.

"All of our stuff is here and so is the trailer," Woolley said. "We'll see how he does up there and how he comes out of the race but the plan now is we'll stay here at least through the Stephen Foster (June 13) and then decide on where we'll go."

RACHEL ALEXANDRA WORKS SOLID FIVE FURLONGS - Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick's Rachel Alexandra, winner of Preakness (Grade I) and Kentucky Oaks (GI), breezed a solid five furlongs on Monday in her first serious training move since majority owner Jess Jackson announced that she would bypass Saturday's Belmont Stakes.

Regular exercise rider Dominic Terry was in the irons aboard the Steve Asmussen-trained daughter of Medaglia d'Oro covered the distance over a "fast" track in 1:01.60. Churchill Downs clockers timed Rachel Alexandra in fractions of :13, :25.20, :37 and :49.20. She galloped out six furlongs in 1:14.60.

As the filly worked around 6:30 a.m. (EDT), trainer Steve Asmussen and Barbara Banke, Jackson's wife, looked on.

"She's a beautiful filly and travels tremendous," said Asmussen. "She's got a gorgeous stride on her and she seemed very comfortable. I thought Dominic did a great job with her as usual."

Asmussen said no firm target has been selected for Rachel Alexandra's return to racing after her historic win over males in the May 16 Preakness at Pimlico.

"I think everybody gets to take a step back and take a deep breath," he said. "We'll take a little bit of the pressure off her and just enjoy her. We were very pleased with how she went. We'll see what sort of energy she comes out of it with. As always, we'll be talking with Jess and communicating where we feel she is."

Rachel Alexandra has a record of 8-2-0 in 11 races and has earned $1,618,354.

Here's the Belmont top 10 that I submitted to the Paulick Report late Sunday night. Looks like a field of 10 will go in Saturday's race:

1. Charitable Man -- Fresh, talented and likes the sandy Belmont surface
2. Dunkirk -- Five-week break should help talented colt
3. Flying Private -- Lukas has been waiting for Belmont all along
4. Mine That Bird -- Third leg of Triple Crown not conducive to gelding's running style
5. Chocolate Candy -- See Mine That Bird
6. Mr. Hot Stuff -- See Chocolate Candy
7. Summer Bird -- Desormeaux seeking first Belmont Stakes victory
8. Miner's Escape -- Never discount Nick Zito in the Belmont
9. Luv Gov -- Second Lukas charge
10. Brave Victory -- Someone has to round out the top 10