Rachel’s Saratoga

Rachel Alexandra only ran one time at Saratoga but it became one of the most storied races in the illustrious history of the Spa.  As a three year old filly she took on older males in the Woodward and withstood challenge after challenge after challenge to wire the field and win by a nose, clinching a Horse of the Year title.  Alex and I couldn’t make it to Saratoga that day but we were there five years to the day later to see her daughter Rachel’s Valentina seek her first stakes win in the Grade One Spinaway.

Alex was understandably a fan of Rachel Alexandra (she replaced Afleet Alex as his favorite runner).  He never got to see her race but he did see Rachel’s Valentina’s sire Bernardini race several times during his championship season.

Rachel’s Valentina is the second foal for Rachel Alexandra and she became the mare’s first winner earlier in the Saratoga meet when she broke her maiden in fine form.  Rachel’s first foal, the three year old Curlin colt Jess’s Dream broke his maiden in his first start later in the season.  Alex and I cheered for both of them but when I heard that Valentina was running in the Spinaway I knew we had to make a trip to see her in person.

It was a much hotter day than Travers Day but as is typical for Labor Day weekend, significantly less crowded.  We spent much of the early part of the day inside watching the races on tv trying to beat the heat but we wanted to be near the finish line to see Valentina so we went and snagged a killer spot on the rail just before the seventh race.  That was a maiden special weight won by a gorgeous Tapit-Paiota Falls colt named Rafting.  The eighth was the Grade Three Saranac for three year olds on the turf and then it was on to the main event.

Maggie Wolfendale introduced Valentina in the paddock.  She mentioned that when Valentina broke her maiden she hadn’t made a favorable impression in the paddock but that today she was looking fantastic.  The Rachel fan standing next to me on the rail said that it was true and that Maggie had received a lot negative feedback from the Rachel fans in the crowd that day for dogging ‘their’ girl.  There were more than a couple die-hard Rachel Alexandra fans around us on the rail and they went nuts when Rachel’s Valentina hit the track.  The filly made a great impression, especially when she began to warm up.  She looked very on the muscle and ready to go.

My buddy Itch warned me on Friday that Tap To It was the horse to beat in the Spinaway.  We had both seen her maiden victory where she overcame several bouts of trouble to win going away over a solid bunch of fillies.  I told him I thought she was dangerous but that my heart was with Valentina.  Tap To It broke last in the field of six fillies, while Rachel’s Valentina stalked the leaders in third early on.  The pace was solid and around the turn both Valentina and Tap To It moved into contention.  Tap To It looked to have all the momentum entering the stretch but Rachel’s Valentina swung out from behind the leaders and took dead aim on the front.  She took the lead in mid-stretch and repelled the challenge of the surging Tap To It to become the first stakes winner and first grade one winner for her dam.

Sadly Rachel’s Valentina is the last foal that Rachel Alexandra will ever produce.  There were complications when foaling Valentina and Rachel Alexandra had to undergo life-saving surgery.  She is still with us today thanks to the doctors at Rood & Riddle Equine Hospital.  Rachel’s Valentina was raised by a nurse mare and hopefully will someday join the broodmare band at Stonestreet Farm to continue the line.

The Spinaway was not the only stakes on Saturday.  Liam’s Map also won the Woodward in impressive fashion.  But that seemed almost like an afterthought.  It was Rachel’s day for sure.