Sports

Rachel Alexandra Wins Haskell Invitational 2009

by Yuliya Talmazan | August 2, 2009 at 05:21 pm

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Stonestreet Stables-owned Rachel Alexandra won the Haskell Invitational 2009, a Grade I race for older horses that opened at the Monmouth Park Racetrack in Oceanport, New Jersey, today. The one-mile long race with the purse money of $1,250,000 features horses older than three years and is by invitation only. On its eighth consecutive victory today, Rachel Alexandra was jockeyed by Calvin Borel. Her time was 1:47.21. The track conditions were far from ideal, with pouring rain making the track very sloppy.

Rachel Alexandra is on a winning streak this year, having won Martha Washington Stakes, Fair Grounds Oaks, Fantasy Stakes, Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose Stakes and Preakness Stakes. The horse has totaled $2,498,354 in earnings so far.

Summer Bird, who was surprisingly close to the pace under Kent Desormeaux, edged away from Munnings to get second by one length. Munnings was third and followed in the order of finish by Papa Clem, Duke of Mischief, Atomic Rain and Bunker Hill.

Borel who has ridden Rachel Alexandra to eight straight victories, does not think that was Rachel Alexandra's best performance. The preliminary Beyer Speed Figure of 116 suggests that it is.

"Nah, she run a better race than that," he said. "I thought the Preakness was a top performance coming out of the 13 hole and knowing going in that she wasn't 100 [percent] she still laid it down for me. She run today, but I knew she'd win today and I come in with so much confidence today it was unbelievable. Till the day they hook me and give her the eye I don t know how good she is."