3/13 (FG): New Orleans Ladies S.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Rachel Alexandra Offical Margin of Victory:

3.75 lengths or greater (-150)

Under 3.75 lengths or worse (+130)

[gales0678]

any reason sheriffs is shipping a horse into this race that hasn't been out of cali since the owner bought the horse nearly 2 and 1/2 yrs ago?

[Scav]

No one ever talks about this Harold McCormick, the other owner of Rachel Alexandra. What is his deal?

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by Scav

No one ever talks about this Harold McCormick, the other owner of Rachel Alexandra. What is his deal?

Silent partner.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by gales0678

any reason sheriffs is shipping a horse into this race that hasn't been out of cali since the owner bought the horse nearly 2 and 1/2 yrs ago?

Owner suggested it. Wants to see if she's good enough to run in the $5 million Apple Blossom.

[gales0678]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Owner suggested it. Wants to see if she's good enough to run in the $5 million Apple Blossom.

got it , it does sure seem strange to run here after not being out of cali in 2 1/2 yrs , i wonder why he hasn't tried it in the past?

i wonder if sheriffs had any input into this , he has not liked to ship out of cali much lately

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by gales0678

got it , it does sure seem strange to run here after not being out of cali in 2 1/2 yrs , i wonder why he hasn't tried it in the past?

i wonder if sheriffs had any input into this , he has not liked to ship out of cali much lately

According to what has been published, Shireffs was wary of the reaction to entering the mare.

My guess is that a lot of players in the sport, not affiliated with Zenyatta or Rachel Alexandra, are a bit jealous and are wanting to get in on the action one way or another. You have West Point's Terry Finley wanting to start Macho Again in the Apple Blossom when he's male and you got Martin Wygod running Life Is Sweet in the Dubai World Cup when she appears overmatched.

Had St. Trinians performed better in the Big Cap, you could rest assured her connections would be clamoring for attention in some form or another.

[gales0678]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

According to what has been published, Shireffs was wary of the reaction to entering the mare.

My guess is that a lot of players in the sport, not affiliated with Zenyatta or Rachel Alexandra, are a bit jealous and are wanting to get in on the action one way or another. You have West Point's Terry Finley wanting to start Macho Again in the Apple Blossom when he's male and you got Martin Wygod running Life Is Sweet in the Dubai World Cup when she appears overmatched.

Had St. Trinians performed better in the Big Cap, you could rest assured her connections would be clamoring for attention in some form or another.

i got it rollo thx - the owner is looking for $$$ and over the last 2 yrs there weren't any oppprtunities to ship out of cali , if shireffs is wary it makes sense , from an outsiders look it would appear that Zardana is only there to make RA work harder in this race .... thx for clearing it up that the trainer doesn't have an alterior motive

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by gales0678

i got it rollo thx - the owner is looking for $$$ and over the last 2 yrs there weren't any oppprtunities to ship out of cali , if shireffs is wary it makes sense , from an outsiders look it would appear that Zardana is only there to make RA work harder in this race .... thx for clearing it up that the trainer doesn't have an alterior motive

That was my very first thought.

I posted this elsewhere when first hearing about it, because that seems like an awfully convenient time to all of the sudden care about wondering if the gal can run on dirt here competitively, when there have been tons of opportunities over the years and he never takes them, then presto, all of the sudden Rachel v. Zenyatta becomes something, and now after years the "owner" wants to go chase the horse in her comeback race. Not saying he's lying, it just originally struck me as a bit convenient. I channeled my inner Drugs for it.

In the past three years, he's had exactly six dirt starts from three horses, only two of whom he shipped outside of the state for their respective dirt runs:

Tiago, 7th in the Kentucky Derby in May of '07 at Churchill, 3rd in the Belmont Stakes in June of '07 at Belmont, 5th in the BC Classic in October of '07 at Monmouth, and winner of the Oaklawn Handicap in April of '08 at Oaklawn.

Montalvo, 6th in a maiden special weight event at Fairplex in September of '07.

Zenyatta, winner of the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn in April of '08.

I'm hesitant to assign motives to Shirreffs based on this move, but should Zardana go, it's pretty tough to imagine it's just a trainer chasing money given his record of never chasing it for any other reason, and the fact that he hasn't started a horse at Fair Grounds in the last five years.

[TouchOfGrey]

Originally Posted by gales0678

any reason sheriffs is shipping a horse into this race that hasn't been out of cali since the owner bought the horse nearly 2 and 1/2 yrs ago?

Jess Jackson has a theory