$200,000 New Orleans Ladies, race 10 (5:15 p.m. CST) 1 1/16 Miles, fillies and mares 4 and up @ Fair Grounds


Post Position. Horse, Jockey, Trainer, Weight


1. Fighter Wing, Corey Lanerie, Greg Geier, 117

2. Rachel Alexandra, Calvin Borel, Steve Asmussen, 123

3. Zardana, David Flores, John Shirreffs, 121

4. Unforgotten, Miguel Mena, Dallas Stewart, 117

5. Clear Sailing, Shane Sellers, Glenn Delahoussaye, 117

Rachel
Zardana

Here are some comments made by Youbets Derek Simon regarding this weekends races.

"I just saw the past performances for the New Orleans Ladies Stakes and I don't want to hear a word about whatever weight is assigned to Zenyatta. If Rachel appears on the track with three or more legs on Saturday (a reasonable bet now that Michael Gill has left the sport — just kidding), she will win. It's like Usain Bolt competing against my daughter's first-grade class on Field Day.

Rachel's spotting the equivalent of pro wrestling "jobbers" six pounds and Zenyatta is giving the BC Ladies champ 14 pounds? Say it ain't so! (And, no, I'm not knocking Rachel, but come on!)"

(Life is Sweet has been weighted at 113 for the Santa Margarita)

yeah- I couldn't find runners- just those who were invited and how they were weighted- its in the Santa Margarita thread. I tend to agree- a race this weekend then ship to Dubai seems like a lot for her to bear, but I guess we'll know for sure when they actually publish confirmed entries.

Zardana
RA

Unforgotten
Fighter Wing
Clear Sailing

Ok, just kidding:
RA
Zardana
Fighter Wing

Sacrilege, OSO!! Sacrilege!!!

RA
Zardana
Clear Sailing - Shane Sellers has been having a pretty good meet

Oh yeah, and boxed - LOL!

Yes, box it for sure. Lol.

Looks like Calvin had his hands full early in the race - RA seemed just a little too keen. She didn't seem all that comfortable either, coming around the turn. If she comes back to the barn in good form, she should move forward off this race, but I do wonder if she'll be ready to face Zenyatta in less than a month's time.

I think RA did need the race and as Laffit Pincay Jr. said this should tighten her greatly. Will she be ready to face Zenyatta in a month? I don't think so. I believe RA's connections will not point her to the AB. If, and that is a big if, she is to face the mare, it will be later in the year, not April. I'm sure John Shirreffs is satisfied with his 2 mares races today.

Here one of the scoops:


(Courtesy of Daily Racing Form)

Zardana spoils Rachel's comeback

By Marcus Hersh

NEW ORLEANS - Rachel Alexandra was Horse of the Year in 2009, but before a packed house Saturday at Fair Grounds, all eyes trained on her 2010 debut, Rachel was not the horse of the day, going down to a three-quarters of a length defeat at the hands of Zardana in the inaugural running of the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies.
The defeat put in some doubt Rachel Alexandra's participation in the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park, trainer Steve Asmussen said shortly after the Ladies.
"If I thought she'd get beat I wouldn't have run her today," Asmussen said. "We'll have to be cautious. We want to do what's right for the mare."
Rachel Alexandra had been on accelerated schedule all winter in an effort to make the Ladies and use this race as a springboard to the Apple Blossom and a potential race against champion Zenyatta, who won her comeback Saturday at Santa Anita in the Santa Margarita. She had made all her scheduled works, packed just six days apart since early February, but her major breeze for Saturday's race, on March 13, did not go as planned, producing a slower time than Asmussen wanted. And in the end, it would appear, Rachel Alexandra came up short Saturday.
Asmussen and Borel walked tightly together all the way from the winner's circle to the jockeys' room, which Borel entered without speaking to the media.
"He said she got tired," was Asmussen's response when asked what Borel had said to him.
That assessment was echoed by Asmussen, who blamed himself for Rachel Alexandra's defeat.
"The filly's lacking fitness," he said. "It was my job to have her there, and I didn't do it."
Zardana, making her first start on dirt since being imported from South America, and winning for the first time on a dry dirt track, ran well in victory. Breaking outward and into Unforgotten, Zardana was taken in hand by David Flores, settling in third as Fighter Win, urged to the lead, set splits of 23.84 seconds for the first quarter, and 47.72 to the half. The half-mile split was especially fast, since the second quarter of the 1 1/16-mile Ladies was run into the teeth of a strong wind, and Rachel was no more than a length away from the leader there. Earlier on the card, a high-level allowance race at the same distance produced a half-mile split of 49.15 seconds.
Rachel Alexandra, who handled herself well while being saddled in front of a noisy crowd, broke alertly and tracked Fighter Wing's pace all the way to the second turn. There, Borel gave a glance back, and let Rachel Alexandra roll to the lead. Behind him, Flores had let Zardana out a notch, too, and past the three-eighths pole, midway around the far turn, Zardana attacked aggressively to Rachel's outside. She drew even with Rachel Alexandra as the two horses straightened away, but Rachel Alexandra, cornering slightly better than her opponent, regained the advantage.
"I thought she was going to pull away from me," Flores said.
Instead, Zardana quickly came back on even terms with Rachel Alexandra, pushing past her inside the final furlong, and gradually edging clear.
"She's a very strong filly, as small as she is," said Flores.
Zardana, owned by Arnold Zetcher and trained by John Shirreffs, stopped the timer in 1:43.55, and paid $21 to win. Unforgotten finished third, more than 11 lengths behind Rachel Alexandra, with Fighter Wing fourth, and Clear Sailing a distant last of five.

It is somewhat ironic that if Zardana hadn't be in the race, RA would have won by 11 lengths and everyone would have felt she was starting off this season just as she did last. Granted, she was probably short yesterday and will come out of this race tighter, but is she the same filly she was? I hope she is and moves on from this race, but I still don't think she'll be ready to face Zenyatta next month. Maybe later this year, but not in less than a month.
Btw, I think Ann Moss was right in saying her trainer is the best in the country after the Santa Margarita. I think it is too bad he had to retire his other excellent mare, Life is Sweet, yesterday. If she had won the World Cup later this month, it would have clearly demonstrated he brings his horses into top races in top condition.