Rachel and Zenyatta... Need I Say More?

The day has finally come, tomorrow two future Hall of Famers make their four and six year old debuts respectivly. The big question is, will Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta win their races? Dispite going up against crummy fields there are worries for both that they could lose. Lets look at the fields and see:

10th (5:15)
New Orleans Ladies S.
1 1/16 Miles | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $200,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Fighter Wing Lanerie C J Geier Greg 117 L 15-1
2 2 Rachel Alexandra Borel C H Asmussen Steven M 123 L 1-5
3 3 Zardana (BRZ) Flores D R Shirreffs John 121 L 5-1
4 4 Unforgotten Mena M Stewart Dallas 117 L 15-1
5 5 Clear Sailing Sellers S J Delahoussaye Glenn 117 L 6-1

At first glance you are say, plesh Rachel should handle this fillies with ease. Well... she probley will, but there are a few concerns. 1. She's coming into this race at 80%, and this is not a guarenteed win. 2. Zardana, humm that sounds like Zenyatta. Actually Zardana is not owned by the Moss', but by Arnold Zelcher of Gabby's Golden Gal fame. 3. There is other speed in the race setting up for Clear Sailing who is a closer like her dad Empire Maker.

But Zardana and Clear Sailing are not the two I'm the most worried about. It's Fighter Wing and Unforgotten, they could decide that they want to win tomorrow. This is not an easy race for Rachel, but she should beat this fillies and set up a showdown next month. Everybody else needs a win to earn an invite to the AB.

7th (3:37)
Santa Margarita Invitational H. (G1)
1 1/8 Miles (All Weather Track) | Fillies and Mares | 4 Year Olds And Up Stakes | Purse: $250,000
Prg. # PP Horse Jockey Trainer Wt. Claim $ Equip. Med. ML
1 1 Dance to My Tune Garcia M Hollendorfer Jerry 111 L 50-1
2 2 Pretty Katherine Rosario J Hollendorfer Jerry 111 L 50-1
3 3 Made for Magic Berrio O A Avila A C 111 L 50-1
4 4 Pretty Unusual Sutherland C Abrams Barry 113 L 12-1
5 5 Striking Dancer Solis A McPeek Kenneth G 115 L 8-1
6 6 Powerofvoodoo Kaplan T Abrams Barry 108 L 50-1
7 7 Gripsholm Castle Espinoza V Cecil B D A 112 L 12-1
8 8 Zenyatta Smith M E Shirreffs John 127 L 1-9
9 9 Floating Heart Talamo J Pletcher Todd A 111 L 12-1

Like Rachel, on paper this is a walk in a park for Z. Post Postition shouldn't really hurt her because she'll be coming from the back of the pack anyway. But look at the weights, they range from 115 to 108. Z is carring 127. I have this gut feeling that she's going to lose tomorrow, I don't know to who, but that feeling inside me says she is. That being said, I do hope and think she'll win tomorrow to set up the showdown for next month.

The beauty of horse racing is that on any given day, someone can show up and win. Just ask Jim Dandy, Upset, Onion, Silmiril, Giacomo, Mine That Bird, etc. Rach and Z only need to have their B game to win, where as I think everybody else needs to have their A plus game to have a chance to finish first. Still, finishing second or third behind two of the greatest female race horses is not a bad placement.

A great weekend of racing! To cap it off, on Sunday on CBS there is a show called Undercover Boss. It's where heads of large bussiness' go undercover into the bowels basically of the company (previous CEO's include the heads of White Castle, Hooters and Waste Management). This Sunday, the COO of Churchill Downs Inc., Bill Carstanjen is the lastest to go undercover. I think the filming for his episode was done at Arlington and Calder. A weekend recap will be on Monday and Tuesday a recap of Sunday's Undercover Boss.