Ladies' Classic Diary

LADIES' CLASSIC DIARY

OCTOBER 8, 2010

by Jennifer Caldwell

Some major changes have taken place in the distaff division since the last

Diary, and yet everything remains the same. I am, of course, talking about the

retirement of Horse of the Year RACHEL ALEXANDRA as well as the plans for

ZENYATTA (Street Cry [Ire]) to defend her title in the Breeders' Cup

Classic (G1). While the former shakes things up a bit, everyone has known where

Zenyatta was going, even if no formal announcement was ever made about her race

schedule.

Division leader: For anyone who hasn't figured it out yet, I keep

calling this section "Division leader" due to the fact that Zenyatta is a

shoe-in for champion older female honors for a third straight year. Her chances

for Horse of the Year accolades are nearly as good. We're just not going to see

her running in the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (G1) on November 5, that's all.

Technically, Zenyatta's races should be covered in my esteemed colleague's

Classic Diary, but I've refused to yield rights on the star mare. Therefore, her

final preps for the Classic on Championship Saturday will be detailed below,

insomuch as they need detailing.

The John Shirreffs trainee offered up a scintillating run to take her third

straight Clement L. Hirsch S. (G1) on August 7 at Del Mar. And by scintillating

I mean her second closest finish to date. Appropriately, that other close run

also came in the Hirsch last year when Zenyatta rallied for a head score over

Anabaa's Creation (Ire). This time around, the six-year-old was challenged by

RINTERVAL (Ire) (Desert Prince [Ire]), who led at every call except for the

last one. The pacesetter appeared ready to fade as Zenyatta ranged up on her

outside, but re-rallied and made Zenyatta fans everywhere hold their collective

breaths. The massive mare took command strides from the wire, though, and held a

neck advantage on the wire.

Next up on Zenyatta's schedule was the October 2 Lady's Secret S. (G1) at the

Oak Tree meet, which this year was run at her home track of Hollywood Park

instead of cross town at Santa Anita. It's funny to note that the name of the

race was changed to the Zenyatta S. over the winter when the mare was retired.

Upon her return to racing, and once Shirreffs indicated she was pointing for

that race, Oak Tree officials obligingly switched the name back until Zenyatta

stops competing in the race. There's no point in actually describing her run;

suffice to say she was a half-length in front of Switch (Quiet American) in the

end. Switch, who was facing her elders for the first time, gave it a good try

but the sophomore lass fell, as all have, to the dark bay goliath.

It's on to the Classic now for Zenyatta, where she'll face off against the

boys for only the second time in her career. She was able to run away with last

year's event over the synthetic Pro-Ride, with her closest finishers being a

pair of champion turf runners in Gio Ponti (Tale of the Cat) and Twice Over (GB)

(Observatory). The best the dirt challengers could muster was a fourth, provided

by the now retired Summer Bird. That's the biggest mark on Zenyatta's career, in

my opinion. Yes, she dominated the Apple Blossom S. (G1) on the dirt at Oaklawn

Park, but I want to see her do it against a Grade 1-caliber male rivals now.

If Zenyatta comes up with the win under the Twin Spires, move over

Secretariat. There's a new "Super Horse" in town.

Rachel's retirement: All I can say on this subject is, "Huh?" Really,

that should just about cover it, but I'll explain a bit more.

I've never understood Team Rachel's strategy this year, but her retirement

right after working three straight bullets has this conspiracy buff coming up

with all kinds of theories. I'll spare you the more outlandish ones (alien

abduction comes into it), and just state that all year trainer Steve Asmussen

and co-owner Jess Jackson have tossed her into spots willy nilly, or at least it

seemed so to me. This was not a campaign of a reigning Horse of the Year,

starting all the way back with the New Orleans Ladies S. when her connections

even admitted she wasn't truly ready. However, Rachel stepped up to face each

challenge, winning two and running second in three while gradually getting

herself back into condition.

Rachel Alexandra took a few races to morph into the great filly we came to

know and love last year. Her two-year-old campaign was merely a steppingstone to

her sophomore triumphs as she was never taken out of training during the winter

between the two. She entered 2009 cranked and ready to go. Following that

grueling season, though, it was only logical to give her some time. The main

issue is that when it came time to get Rachel back into serious training, the

weather at Fair Grounds proved uncooperative. What Asmussen should have done was

ship her out of there, down to Florida probably, so weather delays wouldn't

affect her schedule. Instead, she was left in New Orleans, getting in works when

she could.

I was down on Rachel entering the Personal Ensign S. (G1) -- I absolutely

admit that. But she proved to me in the race that she was finally finding her

racing legs again. After dueling throughout that August 29 Saratoga event with

top mare LIFE AT TEN (Malibu Moon), Rachel put that one away and appeared

ready to score. However, it was the 10-furlong distance that truly beat her that

day, not winner PERSISTENTLY (Smoke Glacken). She visibly shortened

stride in the stretch, allowing Persistently, a filly bred top and bottom for 1

1/4 miles, to pass her for the length victory.

Rachel came out of that race to record moves in 1:00 3/5, 1:12 and :48 2/5 in

weekly intervals. She was gearing up for a likely run in the Beldame S. (G1) on

October 2 at Belmont Park, where she would have faced Life at Ten once again,

and seemed more than ready. Instead, one day after her half-mile drill, Jackson

released a statement announcing her retirement, saying, "Rachel Alexandra owes

us nothing."

That is true -- she doesn't owe us or anybody else anything. Jackson is the

one who owes an explanation as to why, now of all times, they decided to put an

end to her career.

Next up after the Beldame would have been the Ladies' Classic, contested at

her favorite track of Churchill Downs as well as at her preferred distance of

nine furlongs. Rachel appeared to be returning to form at just the right time

for a Breeders' Cup run. True, her chances for an Eclipse Award this year were

pretty much zero, but it would have been fitting to see her go out a winner.

Instead, we're left wondering what truly happened to a filly who accomplished

what no other sophomore miss has managed to do ever.

Ladies' Classic leader: Now that I'm done venting about Rachel

Alexandra, let's get back to Diary mode. Life at Ten's distant third in the

Personal Ensign broke a six-race win streak that included the Ogden Phipps H.

(G1), Delaware H. (G2) and multiple century-topping BRIS Speed ratings. With

Rachel out of the Beldame, the Todd Pletcher runner dominated a field of five at

Belmont.

Life at Ten settled into third as Queen Martha (Rahy) did all the running on

the front end. UNRIVALED BELLE (Unbridled's Song) followed in second and

proved to be the most stubborn once Life at Ten had taken command. The pair

dueled for a brief time in the stretch, but Life at Ten was much the best and

drew off to score by two lengths on the wire, garnering a nice 106 Speed number.

Unrivaled Belle had 6 3/4 lengths to spare over Persistently, who passed a

tiring Queen Martha and Miss Match (Arg) (Indygo Shiner) to be third.

The Beldame marked Life at Ten's sixth race this year and her fifth win. The

five-year-old chestnut is now headed to the Ladies' Classic, where she could

face both Unrivaled Belle and Persistently yet again. At this point, Life at Ten

is tops among the older runners in the race, but there are a couple of stellar

sophomores who could spoil her Breeders' Cup aspirations.

Three to watch: BLIND LUCK (Pollard's Vision) and HAVRE DE

GRACE (Saint Liam) began a rivalry in the Delaware Oaks (G2) that will

continue right into the Ladies' Classic. Blind Luck has been dubbed Baby Z by

some because of her heart-stopping, come-from-behind runs. However, unlike

Zenyatta, the chestnut lass has not been able to get to the wire first every

time and owns a 14-9-3-2 career record.

Blind Luck has shown a tendency to post very close finishes, as evidenced by

her nose win in the Delaware Oaks. Havre de Grace was looking for revenge

following that defeat and showed up to face Blind Luck once again in the Alabama

S. (G1) on August 21. She nearly got it, too, but her chestnut rival came

running late to prove best by only a neck.

It proved to be a different story in the October 2 Cotillion S. (G2) at the

track formerly known as Philadelphia Park. Havre de Grace stalked close to the

pace while Blind Luck settled into last. Both were expected occurrences, as was

Havre de Grace taking over in the stretch with Blind Luck closing fast. However,

it was a case of too little, too late this time around as the leading sophomore

filly ran out of room and wound up a neck short on the wire. Havre de Grace

finally managed to turn the tables, albeit while getting 10 pounds from her

rival, and the bay miss could make a case for

herself in the Breeders' Cup for championship honors if she drubs her rival.

Regardless, these two will make the Ladies' Classic exciting if only to see

who comes out best in the end.

The third filly to watch is also a sophomore. ALWAYS A PRINCESS

(Leroidesanimaux [Brz]) is not a definite for the Breeders' Cup but deserves her

shot following a 3 1/4-length wire job in the Indiana Oaks (G2) on October 2.

That was only the second start of the year for the Bob Baffert runner, who last

season finished fifth by just 1 3/4 lengths in the Juvenile Fillies (G1) and

second in the Oak Leaf S. (G1). The

lightly raced chestnut emphatically answered the dirt question in the Indiana

Oaks after spending her four career starts on synthetic tracks, and earned a

nice 105 Speed rating for her effort.

Let's not forget: MALIBU PRAYER (Malibu Moon) was sent off the

heavy favorite in the Molly Pitcher S. (G2) on August 29 following a game

wire-to-wire victory in the August 1 Ruffian Invitational S. (G1). It wasn't her

day, though, as Just Jenda closed out her career on a winning note with a 3

1/2-length score. Malibu Prayer was no match for the Monmouth-loving Just Jenda,

but could still show up for her shot at Breeders' Cup glory.

The same goes for NO SUCH WORD (Canadian Frontier), who is from the

same Cindy Jones barn as Just Jenda. The bay lass' worse finish this year came

as a fourth in the Delaware Oaks, but she captured the Honeybee S. (G3) and

placed in both the Fantasy S. (G2) and Black-Eyed Susan S. (G2) earlier in the

year. She finally returned to the winner's circle with a neck tally in the Go

for Wand S. at Delaware Park, and followed her Delaware Oaks run with a victory

in the August 14 Monmouth Oaks (G3). The three-year-old kicked clear in the

stretch of that 8 1/2-furlong test, and has posted impressive enough Speed

numbers (111, 101) from her past pair to be considered a legitimate Ladies'

Classic runner.

If her connections decide to send her to the Breeders' Cup, No Such Word

will get her final tune-up when starting in Sunday's $200,000 Remington Park

Oaks at 8 1/2 furlongs.

Last chance Spinster: Sunday's Spinster S. (G1) is the final major

prep for the Ladies' Classic and has drawn a competitive group of 11 runners. Of

those, IT'S TEA TIME (Dynaformer), FUNNY MOON (Malibu Moon),

ZARDANA (Brz) (Crimson Tide) and Rinterval could all run under the

lights at Churchill on November 5 with a good enough effort on Sunday. The 1

1/8-mile Spinster is run on Keeneland's Polytrack, which means there's also some

turf distaffers and synthetic specialists in the race.

It's Tea Time has proven her ability on all three surfaces, starting at the

Lexington, Kentucky, venue in April when a neck second in the Ashland S. (G1).

She pulled out a half-length victory against turf allowance rivals at Saratoga

in August, then returned 21 days later to take the off-the-turf Lake Placid S.

(G3) on a sloppy, sealed track. Zardana is similar in that she's won stakes on

all three types of track. The bay six-year-old will give trainer Shirreffs a

shot at sweeping both the Classic and Ladies' Classic in back-to-back years if she

goes in the girls event. She already captured the New Orleans Ladies over Rachel

Alexandra in March, and has also won last year's Bayakoa H. (G2) on the

synthetic Cushion Track as well as a the Swingtime S. and Osunitas H., both on

turf.

Rinterval is the synthetic specialist of the group. If the five-year-old

chestnut shows the same kind of courage that saw her run a head second to sprint

champion Informed Decision (Monarchos) in the Chicago H. (G3) and a neck behind

Zenyatta in the Hirsch, the Spinster should prove to be the perfect

steppingstone to Breeders' Cup day.

Funny Moon ran well in her only try at Keeneland, finishing second in the

Doubledogdare S. (G3) in April, but is strictly speaking a dirt horse. Following

the Doubledogdare, the Christophe Clement trainee proceeded to add a win in the

Shuvee H. (G2) to her resume as well as placings in the Ogden Phipps and

Delaware 'Cap. Though it's not inconceivable she should win the Spinster, the

race appears more of a tightener before the big dance.