LOUISVILLE -- Typically, the biggest race at Churchill Downs other than the Kentucky Derby is the Kentucky Oaks, which is held on Friday and features the best 3-year-old fillies in the country. Rachael Alexandra won the Oaks by more than 20 lengths a year ago, a performance so good it convinced her new owners to enter her in the Preakness two weeks later.
This year, the Oaks is still a big draw, but Rachel Alexandra's presence in the La Troienne, a race held hours before the Oaks is run on Friday, is threatening to be the most exciting race prior to the Derby.
That's because Rachel, the 2009 Horse of the Year, will get a rematch against Zardana, the only horse to defeat her since she turned 3. Zardana won the New Orleans Ladies in March when Rachel looked out of shape and slow. That performance led to the decision by Rachel's trainer, Steve Asmussen, to her from a much-anticipated match-up against undefeated Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom in Hot Springs, Arkansas in April.
"Everything happens for a reason," Asmussen said. "I don't think we're meant to understand everything when it happens, but we're very blessed that she came out of that race healthy and that we have the opportunity we have [in the La Troienne]. For whatever reason, it didn't happen."
Asmussen gave Rachel Alexandra some time to get back in shape, and thinks she'll be ready to bounce back on the same track where she had her greatest performance.
"I thought she just looked tremendous," Asmussen said Thursday. "You walk up to her in her paddock and you realize she knows everything that she's done and she doesn't blink from it. Witness what she did last year and we're amazed with how she did it, but for her to mentally handle it and not let it be a overwhelming I think speaks volumes about who she is and how tough she is on the inside."
Zardana is actually a stable mate of Zenyatta, and is trained by the same trainer, John Shirreffs. Shirreffs said he's looking forward to seeing Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta face-off someday, but for now, he's focused on getting Zardana ready for the rematch.
"Zardana is like a pit bull," Shirreffs said. "She tries very hard."
He did, however, acknowledge the impact Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra have had on racing over the past year. On the Internet, fans of both horses have been furiously debating over the past year which one is superior.
"I've met a lot of people who have expressed how much those two fillies have meant to them, which in turn has brought other people to the game," Shirreffs said.
The La Troienne goes of at 1:26 p.m. on Friday.