RACHEL ALEXANDRA (Medaglia d’Oro), heroine of Saturday’s Fair Grounds Oaks
(G2), has an
excellent chance to be the fourth of the last five Fair Grounds Oaks winners to
go on to win the Kentucky Oaks (G1) on May 1. However, there is little chance
that she will become Queen of the Kentucky Derby (G1).
“That (speculation) makes good talk,” trainer Hal Wiggins said Sunday morning,
“but it’s
pretty much all media hype. The Kentucky Oaks has been our goal from the
beginning. It would be an honor to win a Kentucky Oaks and (Rachel Alexandra’s)
owners have been leaning that way all along. It’s the height of a career for a
three-year-old filly, and these owners are pretty sensible guys.
“My assistant called me this morning from the road and said Rachel is already
halfway home to Hot Springs. He told me she cooled out well and
ate up everything last night.”
The talented bay filly improved her record to five wins from eight starts and
doubled her bankroll with her Fair Grounds Oaks win to $471,440. Jockey Calvin Borel
made sure Rachel Alexandra got all the credit she deserved coming
down the lane at Fair Grounds, easing her up at the sixteenth pole and letting her gallop home.
“I got some calls about Calvin this morning; we told him next time to celebrate
after they have crossed the wire,” Wiggins laughed. “She ran so well, and came
out of the race in good shape. She will walk five or six days, and then she will
head back to the track, and will probably work one more time before her next
race.”
Wiggins, after the big win on Saturday, was taking a brief vacation to visit
his grandchildren in Houston, Texas, but took the time to discuss upcoming plans
for Rachel Alexandra.
“I think we will do one of two things with her now,” Wiggins explained while
driving through Lafayette, Louisiana. “We’ll either not run her again until the Kentucky Oaks or we’ll
run her in the (April 5) Fantasy ([G2] at Oaklawn) in three weeks and then go on
to Louisville. That would still give us (four) weeks before the Kentucky Oaks.
“The owners are
leaning heavily to the Fantasy Stakes right now,” he added. “The (April 11) Arkansas Derby
(G2) is still
being considered, but right now it looks like she will go to the Fantasy. It
will give her four weeks between the Fantasy and the Oaks rather than three
weeks, and we think she needs enough time in between races.”
Rachel Alexandra is now undefeated in her sophomore campaign with two wins,
having earned a dominating eight-length score in the Martha Washington S. at
Oaklawn Park prior to the Fair Grounds Oaks.
“She is definitely one of the best fillies I have ever trained,” Wiggins
said. “She handles everything so well, and does everything so easy. In the race
yesterday we were a little concerned with the racetrack being sloppy, but she
showed that it was no problem. Calvin sent her to the lead, and she relaxed so
nicely, and it really worked out for her.”