Rachel is Rachel

Race of the 21st Century

The Greatest Loss There Ever Was

Along Came Blame
Lightly raced Blame, ridden by Jamie Theriot, impressively rallied down the lane to win Friday's Grade 1 Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs. The three-year-old son of Arch covered the 1 1/8-mile race in 1:49.39. It was only the eighth race of his life and his first attempt in racing’s elite company. Blame was given much respect by the betting public and was sent off as the second choice at 4-1 in the loaded 14 horse field. Following his career, you never would have guessed such a big win for this horse just a short time ago. He did not make it to the races until the Fall of his juvenile season, where he finished 3rd and then 1st in two maiden races. He did not return to t

A Feast for the Fans
I hope you all had a turkey day filled with friends, family, and food, but do not take too long to digest that last piece of pumpkin pie, for there is a whole new feast being served up by racetracks from coast to coast. Churchill Downs serves up two solid days of racing with a healthy heaping of six stakes races. Saturday will feature the youngsters, headlined by Thiskyhasnolimit in the Kentucky Jockey Club and Sassy Image in the Golden Rod. Both horses will try to repeat the success they had in recent stakes races at Churchill. Also on the Saturday menu, will be a turf stakes for juveniles of each gender. For added intrigue, a cherry on top of the all two-yea

Who Am I ???
*My best year was in my second season of racing when I won four of my nine starts. *I was bred in Kentucky and was inbred 3X3 to one of the greatest sires in American racing history. *My two biggest victories came in consecutive races at the same racetrack. *My other graded stakes wins came at the Jersey shore and the Suburbs of Cincinnati. *My prodigious earnings were a major part of my trainers record breaking season. *I was purchased as a yearling by my owners because my dam shares a name with their daughter. *I was never a champion, but I was once favored over a Horse of the Year. *I was a graded

Lady’s Secret to Zenyatta - A Mistake was Made
That foul odor you smell is emanating directly from the offices of the Oak Tree Association after yesterday’s announcement that they have renamed the Grade 1 Lady’s Secret Stakes . Starting next year, the race held every Fall at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita Meeting, will now be known as the Zenyatta Stakes. Don’t get me wrong, Zenyatta is a fabulous mare and it makes perfect sense that they want to honor her by naming a race the Zenyatta. We are all familiar with her fantastic list of accomplishments the past two years. The problem is the Oak Tree Association honored her by taking away needed recognition of one of the greatest mares ever to race in the United States. L

Remembering ... Holy Bull
The first time I saw Holy Bull in person was the 1993 Futurity Stakes at Belmont Park. I made the foolish mistake of being there to root on a different horse. At the Saratoga meeting I had fallen in love with a talented juvenile named Dehere, who had demonstrated the qualities of a freight train rolling down the lane and mowing down his competition. I knew Dehere’s main threat in the Futurity was Holy Bull and there was plenty of reason for me to be infatuated with him. He had won both of his starts impressively for a trainer I liked, Jimmy Croll, and he began his career at my home track, Monmouth Park. None of that mattered though, I was there to see Dehere. Dehere actually ran an