Translation: She doesn't want to do this anymore

[TGJB]

Whereas if Zardana hadn\'t shipped in and Rachel had won by 12, they would have been very successful.

[miff]

12.80, :25.40, :37.20, :48.40, 1:00.20, 1:12.00. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.20.
..
“I was very pleased with her work,” said Asmussen. “She looks happy and she cooled out great. It was a very strong move.”
..
“I’m very anxious to see her attitude off of the work,” said Asmussen. “How she acts, how she rests in her stall, and if she’s comfortable with everything we’re doing. From a work standpoint it was very impressive and fast, which she is.”
..
“We’re trying to get her back in the rhythm that she had success with last year, because we were very unsuccessful in trying to alter that,” said Asmussen.


Translation:

To this point, she is not the same horse that she was last year and I\'m trying to see if I can her back to that level.


Mike

[P-Dub]

Funny Cide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>
> Don\'t forget that Zenyatta may want no part of
> Rachel come November, or Quality Road, or whatever
> other horses rise to the forefront.


Why would you assume this??

[smalltimer]

Mike,

We all know, this is a very fast filly.  That\'s unquestioned.  I still think the concern is if she still has that desire to lay it all on the line as she may/will have to do this year.

I hope they can get themselves convinced that she\'s back through some strong works and the right type of temperament and body language as she has shown in the past.

At this point, I think its a huge mistake for anyone to assume they will try the Stephen Foster in June.  That\'s a strong race for what would only be her third out of the year.

She needs to win a race, get that confidence and excitement back, then maybe she can get ready for the real challenges that await her.

[miff]

Small,

Mentioned to a few friends weeks ago that I would take a big price that Rachel never runs again.Letting a 3yr old filly down that ran her eyeballs out all last year is very tough to come back from. As a 3yr old filly, Rachel laid her body down on most occasions.Any trainer will tell you that a horse with Rachels running style will wear down faster than a horse with,say, Z\'s style, all else equal.

I am not surprised that Rachel is not the same horse and wonder if she will ever return to freak status.


Mike

[smalltimer]

Mike,
It\'ll be a shame if she doesn\'t, but for her or any horse to operate at this really ELITE level, the whole package has to be there.  There are just too many really good horses out there for less than their best.
Thanks Mike

[Funny Cide]

P-Dub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Funny Cide Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Don\'t forget that Zenyatta may want no part of
> > Rachel come November, or Quality Road, or
> whatever
> > other horses rise to the forefront.
>
>
> Why would you assume this??


The same reason someone would assume that Rachel would want no part of Zenyatta come November?  

It\'s still a pretty long ways to November, and the horses have to make it there in one piece for starters.  And there\'s no guarantee that Zenyatta is going to wipe the floor with the horses that at least one hopes she\'ll meet between now and then.

[Silver Charm]

Asmussen seems like he knows what he is doing or at least not rushing anything. Almost sounds like a dual mental and physical conditioning job.

This was a very long layoff from a very demanding campaign and to assume as soon as Rachel hit the track she would be like a wild dog just let out the cage has proven to be false.

There have been Derby winners like Alysheba who looked like they might not win again and then was unbeatable by the end of the year. Even Silver Charm got eased once.

Let\'s give Rachel time. Sounds like she is coming around....

[P-Dub]

Funny Cide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P-Dub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Funny Cide Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > >
> > > Don\'t forget that Zenyatta may want no part
> of
> > > Rachel come November, or Quality Road, or
> > whatever
> > > other horses rise to the forefront.
> >
> >
> > Why would you assume this??
>
>
> The same reason someone would assume that Rachel
> would want no part of Zenyatta come November?  
>
> It\'s still a pretty long ways to November, and the
> horses have to make it there in one piece for
> starters.  And there\'s no guarantee that Zenyatta
> is going to wipe the floor with the horses that at
> least one hopes she\'ll meet between now and then.


Those that subscribe to the first comment, and I\'m not one of them, have mentioned the 1 1/4 distance. I don\'t believe they were referring to a talent comparison.

As for the second comment, nobody is saying Zenyatta will \"wipe the floor\" with whoever she races against.  She just has to beat them, as the competiton will hopefully get tougher. I am obviously a Zenyatta supporter, but it does get monotonous watching her stomp horses that just don\'t have a chance.

[Funny Cide]

P-Dub Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Funny Cide Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > P-Dub Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Funny Cide Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > >
> > > > Don\'t forget that Zenyatta may want no part
> > of
> > > > Rachel come November, or Quality Road, or
> > > whatever
> > > > other horses rise to the forefront.
> > >
> > >
> > > Why would you assume this??
> >
> >
> > The same reason someone would assume that
> Rachel
> > would want no part of Zenyatta come November?  
> >
> > It\'s still a pretty long ways to November, and
> the
> > horses have to make it there in one piece for
> > starters.  And there\'s no guarantee that
> Zenyatta
> > is going to wipe the floor with the horses that
> at
> > least one hopes she\'ll meet between now and
> then.
>
>
> Those that subscribe to the first comment, and I\'m
> not one of them, have mentioned the 1 1/4
> distance. I don\'t believe they were referring to a
> talent comparison.
>
> As for the second comment, nobody is saying
> Zenyatta will \"wipe the floor\" with whoever she
> races against.  She just has to beat them, as the
> competiton will hopefully get tougher. I am
> obviously a Zenyatta supporter, but it does get
> monotonous watching her stomp horses that just
> don\'t have a chance.

I\'m not one who thinks Rachel can\'t get 1 1/4 miles.  She won at 1 3/8 miles as a 3yo, in a TC race.  It\'s perfectly logical to think that she could win at 1 1/4 miles, particularly after a year of maturity.

I like both the mare and the filly, but it seems a lot of the mare\'s fans are counting chickens way before they hatch.  There\'s quite a bit more racing to be done before the year is over.

[Lost Cause]

Funny Cide Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> P-Dub Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Funny Cide Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> I\'m not one who thinks Rachel can\'t get 1 1/4
> miles.  She won at 1 3/8 miles as a 3yo, in a TC
> race.  It\'s perfectly logical to think that she
> could win at 1 1/4 miles, particularly after a
> year of maturity.
>
> I like both the mare and the filly, but it seems a
> lot of the mare\'s fans are counting chickens way
> before they hatch.  There\'s quite a bit more
> racing to be done before the year is over.

Funny Cide,
I\'m not trying to disparage Rachel in any way..I know she got the Preakness at 1 3/16ths and i\'m not saying that she can\'t get 1 1/4 ever but it\'s much more unlikely against the crew she will likely (barrring injuries) meet in Nov.  Summer Bird, Blame , Zenyatta , Quality Road (who won\'t beat that crew at 1 1/4 either) and whoever from this three year old crop steps up along with that UAE derby horse in Dubai who looks like a runner (Muthathir)..I\'m a fan and a handicapper and if I were handicapping a race between those horses at 1 1/4 I would not be picking Rachel.  That was why I was saying that it would not be that race at that distance to have the showdown. Rachel\'s connections would rather it be a more neutral distance which I would say is up to 1 1/8.  

Simple question...If you owned Rachel and had to have this \"showdown\" against Z would you want it at 1 1/8th or 1 1/4?