Calvin Borel made a stop at Monmouth Park on Saturday. He was in town to ride Omniscient in the Long Branch Stakes, a prep race for the GI Haskell on August 2, 2009. The horse ran behind the sharp winner Atomic Rain. Coincidently Omniscient is owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonerstreet Stable and trained by Steve Asmussen. In case one does not know, these are the same connections who handle super filly Rachel Alexandra. Will Omniscient run in the Haskell? Calvin Borel must have felt confident in the colt to come over and ride him. Or were there other reasons as well? Possibly to get a feel of the Monmouth Park surface, to see how his horse moved over it and get familiar with it. He could have reported back to Jess Jackson and Steve Asmussen as to how he felt about it—some food for thought. The real question people want have answered is this, where and when will Rachel Alexandra run next? That is the question on my mind anyway. One has to wonder if Jess Jackson has in fact been contacted by Monmouth Park officials in an attempt to get Rachel Alexandra down to the Jersey shore in a few weeks. There is little doubt that they have, after all, it’s the Haskell Invitational.
The Haskell is a race that would suit Rachel Alexandra perfectly. She has had plenty of time to recover from her public workout in the Mother Goose. She needs a race. Why not the GI Haskell in 3-Weeks? The one-mile-and-one-eighth distance is perfect for her. Monmouth Park’s main dirt track would be very kind to her running style, and from the way this field is shaping up, she would have everything her own way. It makes sense to run in the Haskell from this standpoint. However they might have other plans, such as The Travers at Saratoga. Running in both does not seem likely for her. The Delaware Oaks is also an option against fillies and mares.
Monmouth Park in the past has gone out of their way to roll out the red carpet in an attempt to get the big 3-year-old star of the spring to The Haskell. The list is impressive, Point Given, War Emblem, Funny Cide and just last year, Big Brown. In fact Monmouth Park even made a race just for Big Brown last year, the Monmouth Stakes on turf. Big Brown’s connections were treated like gold. All of these Haskell’s mentioned were big success, with big crowds, who came out to see racings 3-year-old stars of the spring. They also helped out the total handle as well.
There is no other 3-year-old in training right now that matches the star power and class of Rachel Alexandra. She is the undisputed King, or in this case Queen, of the 3-year-old division. She already sports a win against males in the Preakness Stakes, and the Haskell looks to be a perfect race for her. In fact the connections of the speedy Big Drama have already indicated that they would pass up the Haskell if Rachel Alexandra shows up. Rachel Alexandra put Big Drama away in the Preakness, and they do not want any part of her again at this point in time.
Horses pointing to the Haskell are Summer Bird (Belmont Stakes winner), Papa Clem, Atomic Rain (winner of the Long Branch), and some others. None of these mentioned are spectacular horses. They are solid horses, but they are just not on Rachel Alexandra’s level at this point in time. She would clearly be the horse to defeat in the Haskell, if she were to go.
She worked a nice 5-furlongs today at Saratoga, and surely she is ready for a race. Hopefully Calvin enjoyed his short stay at Monmouth Park, and had some good things to report back to the connections of Rachel Alexandra and Omnicient. An announcement is probably expected soon as to when and where she will run next. Hopefully it will be the Haskell. And yes, I do think the possibility is a good one that she will show up based on everything mentioned here already. Why not? The race was made for her.
***Together Indy Won On Sunday…He Had To Work For It Though…It Was Not An Easy Runaway Win…Showed Class To Pass Balaban Again In A Hard Fought Win On Sunday***
