Stone Legacy

It was easy to figure out where the winner of Friday’s 135th running of the Kentucky Oaks was … just follow the lilies.

The garland of lilies was draped over the wall in front of Stall 17 at Barn 30 where Rachel Alexandra was taking it easy after her jaw-dropping, 20 1/4-length victory in the Kentucky Oaks.

“She is good this morning,” trainer Hal Wiggins said. “She maybe left one or two bits of feed and this morning she was dragging the groom around the barn.”

Rachel Alexandra began her five-race win streak with a score in the Golden Rod (Grade II) here last fall. After that, Wiggins mapped out a plan to get to Friday’s Oaks.

“You make plans and it is very nice to see things work out perfect,” the 66-year-old Wiggins said. “She makes my job very easy. We still don’t know how good she is.”

For Wiggins, who saddled his first winner in 1977 and who has been a regular at Churchill Downs since 1993, Friday marked the highest of the highs.

“I have been in the game a long time. I had Chorwon (a three-time winner of the Louisville Handicap) and Morris Code (who earned more than $700,000) for Mr. (Dolphus) Morrison, but nothing like this at the top of the game,” Wiggins said. “Mr. Morrison bred and owned the dam (Lotta Kim). I have been with him for 30 years and that makes it special.”

Wiggins stayed at the barn until 8 last night and was back in his office early Saturday morning.

“We watched the race on the outside rail where I always watch and you miss a lot down there,” Wiggins said. “I had no idea how much she won by. We did start celebrating a little early.

“We went to the directors room after the press conference and they were showing the race over and over. Then they showed the aerial shot and that was tremendous.”

In all the euphoria of the victory, Wiggins was thinking about one filly that didn’t make the race: West Point Thoroughbreds’ Justwhistledixie.

“My heart goes out to the Justwhistledixie people,” Wiggins said of the filly who was scratched less than two hours before the race because of an abscess in her left front foot. “I really feel for them. They are a good group of guys. I hate it for anybody. Not to take anything away from the others, but she looked like the main competition. This was their big day.”

The $300,000 Acorn (Grade I) at Belmont on June 6 at a mile is the next objective on Wiggins’ radar for Rachel Alexandra.

“This gives her five weeks, which is what I like,” Wiggins said. “She had only three weeks before the Fantasy, but it looks like she is fine. She was dragging the groom around the barn after she worked in (a minute and):10 five or six days ago. Maybe she is the monster people have been talking about.

“We walked her two days after she worked and Rudy (exercise rider Rudy Gallegos) said ‘don’t walk her two days again.’ She was pulling him out of the saddle.”

STONE LEGACY / BE FAIR / TWEETER – Hall of Fame trainer and four-time Kentucky Oaks winner D. Wayne Lukas said all three of his Kentucky Oaks participants were well on the morning after Friday’s race.  Stone Legacy finished second, Be Fair fourth and Tweeter was last in the field of seven.

“They were all fine,” Lukas said.  “I don’t know where we’ll go with any of them, but they were fine.”

Earlier in the week Lukas had said the eventual Oaks winner could be the best 3-year-old filly in the United States since Eugene Klein’s Winning Colors, the Hall of Fame filly who provided Lukas with his first Kentucky Derby victory when she turned back colts in the 1988 “Run for the Roses.”

“That was something else,” Lukas said of Rachel Alexandra’s record 20 ¼-length win.  “The best line was that she ran in the 11th race, we ran in the 12th.”

FLYING SPUR – Trainer Bill Mott said Saturday morning that Flying Spur, who finished third in the Kentucky Oaks, was fine.

“She’s good,” Mott said. “She exited the race in very good order.”

Mott said that he does not know when the filly will race next.

According to Mott, Rachel Alexandra’s impressive 20 1/4-length victory will have an impact on the 3-year-old female division this season.

“I guess that at this point no fillies are going to run against her in the good races,” Mott said. “They’re all just going to go somewhere else.”

NAN – Wally Dollase, father of trainer Craig Dollase, said that J. Paul Reddam’s Nan came out of her fifth-place finish in the Friday’s Oaks in good order.

“She’s fine, she just got beat,” Dollase said. “I’ll call Craig tomorrow and see what he wants to do.”
  

GABBY’S GOLDEN GAL – The Sunland Oaks winner Gabby’s Golden Gal is fine after her sixth-place finish, trainer Bob Baffert said Saturday morning. Baffert said he did not have a plan for the next start for Gabby’s Golden Gal, who led the race for about the first mile.

Baffert was impressed with the way Rachel Alexandra dominated the Oaks.

“We saw greatness,” Baffert said. “You hate to get beat, but at least we can say we were the last filly who was in front of Rachel Alexandra turning for home. I wish he (Calvin Borel) could have waited a little bit longer and maybe I could have run second or third."

L & M Partners LLC’s Rachel Alexandra delivered a tour de force under Calvin Borel in crushing six rivals to win the 135th running of the $554,500 Kentucky Oaks (Grade I) by a record 20 ¼ lengths on Friday before a crowd of 104,867 at Churchill Downs.

    Trained by Hal Wiggins for the partnership of breeder Dolphus Morrison and Michael Lauffer, Rachel Alexandra stalked early pacesetter Gabby’s Golden Gal until Borel began to inch up midway on the final turn of the mile and one-eighth race.  

Turning for home, Rachel Alexandra had put Gabby’s Golden Gal away and Borel began looking over his right shoulder for competition. There was none as the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro continued to widen under a hand ride from Borel to complete the distance over a “fast” track in 1:48.87, which just missed the stakes record of 1:48.64 established by Bird Town in 2003.

The margin of victory is believed to be an Oaks record.  Available records date to 1916 and the largest previous victory margin was 10 lengths, a feat last achieved by Oaktown Stable’s Lite Light in 1991.

“It was just unbelievable,” said Wiggins, a training veteran of 40 years who scored his first victory in the Kentucky Oaks and notched his first win in a Grade I stakes race.  “When he (Borel) asked her, she just naturally took off. And just finished tremendous. It looked like she came out of the race really, really good. That’s the main thing.”

As the 3-10 favorite, Rachel Alexandra returned mutuels of $2.60, $2.20 and $2.10. Stone Legacy, ridden by Kent Desormeaux, rallied for second to return $11 and $5. Flying Spur finished another 4 ¼ lengths back in third under Garrett Gomez and paid $2.80 to show.

The victory extended Rachel Alexandra’s win streak to five, a streak that began with Borel aboard for the Golden Rod (Grade II) at Churchill Downs last November.   The filly has never lost with Borel in the saddle.

Bred by Morrison, Rachel Alexandra is a daughter of the Roar mare Lotta Kim, who was owned by Morrison and trained by Wiggins. Rachel Alexandra has won seven of 10 career starts for earnings of $958,354, including $336,914 for the Oaks triumph.

The field was reduced to seven when West Point Thoroughbreds, Lakland Farm and R. Dee Hubbard’s Justwhistledixie was withdrawn from the Oaks less than two hours before the race because of an abscess in her left front foot.

The victory was worth $336,914 and increased Rachel Alexandra’s earnings to $958,354.

The victory in the Oaks was the first for Borel, who won the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (GI) in 2007 aboard Street Sense.  He will ride Mine That Bird in Saturday’s renewal of the “Run for the Roses.”

Despite the threat of rain early in the day, the 135th Kentucky Oaks attracted the fourth largest crowd in the history of the race that was first run in 1875.  The event has attracted more than 100,000 fans in 10 of the past 11 years, topped by the crowd of 111,243 that attended the race in 2005.
    
            KENTUCKY OAKS 135 QUOTES

CALVIN BOREL (rider of winner Rachel Alexandra) -- Do you think you should have run in the Derby?  “To tell you the truth I’m happy they didn’t run her, I think they did the right thing by running her today, but I do think she would have won it.
“She’s probably the greatest horse I’ve ever been on in my life.  There are other things down the road for her and she’ll prove it, I promise it.”
This filly she breaks out of the gate and she’s like ‘bring it on, let’s go!’
 
HAL WIGGINS (trainer of winner Rachel Alexandra) -- “If you watched the race you saw it. It was just unbelievable. I was a little worried about (Bob) Baffert’s filly (Gabby’s Golden Gal) on the lead like that, but (jockey) Calvin (Borel) said, ‘I had everything under control.’ When he asked her, she just naturally took off. And just finished tremendous. It looked like she came out of the race really, really good. That’s the main thing.”
On the show-stopping performance:
“Her last four races have been like that. Of course, this is the most important, a Grade I win for a filly. The owner still owns the dam, so that’s very important. And I’ve trained for the man for 30 years. It’s good feeling to me for him to be able to experience this.”
 
DOLPHUS MORRISON (co-owner of winner Rachel Alexandra) -- Any regrets that you’re not running in the Derby tomorrow?  “No sir, the Triple Crown races are to showcase the future stallions of our industry and fillies should run with fillies and stallions with stallions.”  
 D. WAYNE LUKAS (trainer of Stone Legacy, second; Be Fair, fourth; and Tweeter, seventh) -- “I thought Be Fair would be the stronger of the entry but I was really pleased. The way the pace developed it really setup for Stone Legacy. We are tickled. Mary Lou Whitney has won this race in the past and now to get another second is great. Second is what everyone was lining up for today. There is no disgrace to get beat by the winner. The pace scenario didn’t really matter because once Rachel Alexandra she took off, the front-runner was of no consequence.”

KENT DESORMEAUX (jockey, Stone Legacy, 2nd) – “No excuses. That’s one we don’t have to beat tomorrow. I’m glad she isn’t in the Derby.”

GARRETT GOMEZ (rider of third-place finisher Flying Spur) – “She struggled the whole time trying to keep up. In the middle of turn, I got into her pretty good. I wasn’t going anywhere, so I kind of let her regroup and she found some more and was able to get third. The filly who won it is something else.”

BILL MOTT (trainer of third-place finisher Flying Spur) – “It meant a lot to be third in this race. Third was great for our filly who looked like she would drop out of it, but then made a run. That’s some super filly who won.”

RAFAEL BEJARANO (rider of fourth-place finisher Be Fair) -- “I thought we could be second or third, but she just was not good enough today. The winner, she was just too good.”

COREY NAKATANI (rider of fifth-place finisher Nan) – “We’d have been all right if I’d have had a rocket. What can you say? She ran away and hid. Congratulations.”

WALLY DOLLASE (father of trainer Craig Dollase of fifth-place finisher Nan) – “Awesome. Simply an awesome victory for that filly. My filly is still running. The other one is gone.”

VICTOR ESPINOZA (rider of sixth-place finisher Gabby’s Golden Gal) – “What can I say? She just ran away. Calvin (Borel on Rachel Alexandra) didn’t say anything when he went by me. He couldn’t.”

MIGUEL MENA (jockey, Tweeter, 7th) – “She didn’t break too good. She was a little rank the first part. She got tired. No excuses.”

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BE FAIR / STONE LEGACY / TWEETER – All three D. Wayne Lukas-trained fillies galloped at Churchill Downs on Wednesday morning in preparation for a meeting with likely odds-on favorite Rachel Alexandra in Friday’s Kentucky Oaks.

“What we’re going to do in the Oaks is I’m going to put Be Fair over there by the (track) kitchen; I’m going to put Tweeter right here (at the backstretch gap); and we’re going to tag around and keep barreling so we can hold off that monster,” said the Hall of Fame trainer, who also will saddle Stone Legacy, who apparently has been designated to start for Lukas’ tag team.

Lukas, who has saddled four Oaks winners, said Rachel Alexandra would be a threat to win the Kentucky Derby had her connections opted to run her against the boys.

“She’d be super tough. If you’re a handicapper – and I’m a terrible one – her numbers are plenty good,” said Lukas, who compared Rachel Alexandra with his 1988 Kentucky Derby-winning filly, Winning Colors, on the basis of talent.

FLYING SPUR – Mike Rutherford’s homebred Giant’s Causeway filly Flying Spur galloped over the muddy racetrack Wednesday morning in preparation for her first start in a Grade I race.

Trainer Bill Mott said everything with fine with the filly, a daughter of the terrific racemare and 1994 Kentucky Oaks runner-up Lakeway.

Flying Spur was winless in three starts – two of them on turf – last year and emerged as a capable dirt runner during the winter at Fair Grounds. She enters the Kentucky Oaks off a second-place finish to Rachel Alexandra in the Fair Grounds Oaks (Grade II) on March 14.

Mott said maturity has much to do with her development in 2009.

“It took her a couple of times to break her maiden,” Mott said. “It wasn’t like one just came out running. She’s been one that’s gotten a little better right along.”

Mott said he expected her to make progress.

“I think the horses by her sire tend to get a little better with age,” Mott said. “The Giant’s Causeways tend to improve. I think a lot of people have recognized that. A little like the A.P. Indys, they get a little better as time goes on. That’s how she’s done.”

Mott said Flying Spur likes the muddy conditions she trained over.

“Her best races are on a wet track,” he said. “She broke her maiden in the mud and her best races are in the mud.”

Mott is fine with the forecast of stormy weather this week.

“We’re all for it,” he said. “Rain would be good for us.”

GABBY’S GOLDEN GAL – Trainer Bob Baffert sent Arnold Zetcher’s homebred Gabby’s Golden Gal out to gallop a mile and a half over the muddy track Wednesday.

Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally handled the filly before she was moved to Baffert’s care last fall. 

“Ron was really high on her last year and he told me she could really run,” Baffert said. “He was right.”

Gabby’s Golden Gal earned her trip to the Oaks to face Rachel Alexandra, the 3-5 favorite, with a 13-length victory in the Sunland Oaks. Baffert said the race at the eastern New Mexico track was her first test on dirt and going two turns.

“She really just loved the distance,” Baffert said. “She came back and really wasn’t tired. But she’s running against a totally different group of horses here.”

Baffert made the decision to go forward after seeing how she handled the Churchill Down surface.  “It’s a tough race,” he said. “You have Rachel Alexandra, who’s just a freak of all freaks. But I liked what I saw here. I brought a bunch of horses here and the ones that didn’t train well I’m not running, like Indian Blessing. I just didn’t like the way she trained here. She just didn’t have any bounce in her step.

“This filly has been training really well here. It’s really hard to get excited knowing that Rachel Alexandra and some other fillies are in there; it’s a pretty competitive race.  It’s the Kentucky Oaks. She’s doing well. I don’t think the distance will be a problem for her.”

JUSTWHISTLEDIXIE – Justwhistledixie galloped 1 1/4 miles under Danny Wright before the renovation break at Churchill Downs on Wednesday morning.

“The track was a little bit wet but she seemed to handle it fine. She was a little more relaxed this morning – looked around and saw all the tents and looked at everything,’’ said Neal McLaughlin, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s assistant and brother.

McLaughlin expressed satisfaction with Justwhistledixie’s No. 5 post position, just inside Rachel Alexandra, the 3-5 morning-line favorite of eight entered in the Oaks.

“Five of eight is perfect. Rachel Alexandra might wish that she was inside of us, but now she’s going to have do something to clear us, because we’re going to break forward. If she wants the lead, she’s gotta go to get around us and deal with the others inside of us,” McLaughlin added. “An eight-horse field, the only thing we didn’t want was one, two.”

McLaughlin has the utmost respect for Rachel Alexandra, but he’s not ready to concede victory to the favorite, especially with a filly who will be seeking her sixth consecutive victory in the Oaks.

“Rachel Alexandra, the way she trains, she seems very aggressive, and I don’t think there’s any rating her. That’s our best chance – if they go too fast,” he said. “But she could be that special that it doesn’t matter. She could be that type.”

Kiaran McLaughlin is expected to be at Churchill Downs Thursday morning.

NAN – J. Paul Reddam’s Nan galloped a mile and an eighth over a muddy track Wednesday morning before the renovation break under exercise rider Sergio Martin.

Trained by Craig Dollase, Nan will break from post position seven in Friday’s Oaks and be ridden by Corey Nakatani. Nan is listed at 20-1 on the morning line.

Dollase will not be here for the Oaks as his daughter Audrey is having her First Communion. Craig’s sister Aimee, along with their father Wally, is overseeing the filly’s preparations.

“She has been here since she ran in the Ashland (on April 4 at Keeneland),” Aimee said. “She is a nice filly. I wasn’t with her when she was in California with Craig.”

So, what kind of scouting reports has Aimee given her brother?

“They all look like good fillies and then there’s Rachel Alexandra,” Aimee said. “She worked fast the other day; she’s a tremendous filly.”

RACHEL ALEXANDRA – L and M Partners’ Rachel Alexandra walked the shedrow for a second consecutive morning following a half-mile work in :46.40 on Monday.

“She has already had her bath and is back in her stall,” trainer Hal Wiggins said at 6 a.m. as he headed trackside to watch another member of his barn go through its morning paces. “She will gallop tomorrow."

Bred by Dolphus Morrison, who is the “M” in L and M Partners with Michael Lauffer, Rachel Alexandra is the 3-5 morning line favorite for the Kentucky Oaks and will break from post position six under Calvin Borel.

Wiggins was asked if he had done any scouting of the opposition for Friday’s race.

“I saw (Bob) Baffert’s filly (Gabby’s Golden Gal) work on video (1:00.60 on Sunday) and she looked smooth and galloped out strong,” Wiggins said. “I haven’t seen her up close, but she has the same sire (Medaglia d’Oro) as Rachel.  I have seen Justwhistledixie gallop and she has won five straight and two graded stakes and not many horses can do that. And (Bill) Mott’s filly (Flying Spur). She was second to us at the Fair Grounds and she is in good hands. He knows what to do with a horse.”

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BE FAIR / STONE LEGACY / TWEETER – Marylou Whitney Stables' Stone Legacy was entered for Kentucky Oaks 135 by trainer D. Wayne Lukas on Tuesday morning. The decision gave Lukas three fillies in the Oaks, a race he has won four times.

Stone Legacy, who galloped Tuesday morning, will be ridden for the first time by Kent Desormeaux and break from post position three.

Westrock Stables' Be Fair galloped on her first day back on the track after working five furlongs on Sunday in 1:00.20 under exercise rider Omar Golon.

Be Fair will break from post position two under Rafael Bejarano

Marylou Whitney Stables' Tweeter walked the shedrow a day after breezing down the lane. Miguel Mena, who rode Tweeter to her maiden-breaking victory on April 3 at Keeneland, has the Oaks mount and will break from post position one.

When asked why the eight-horse field is smaller this year than in recent renewals, Lukas replied, “Two words: Rachel Alexandra. I think she's the strongest favorite since Winning Colors' year if she had raced in the Oaks.”

Winning Colors, trained by Lukas, won the Derby in 1988 becoming only the third, and most recent, filly to win the Run for the Roses.

Asked why he's running if he thinks Rachel Alexandra is such a strong favorite Lukas replied, “If you could guarantee me second place right now I'd be a happy man.”

FLYING SPUR – Like her Kentucky Derby-bound stablemate Hold Me Back, Flying Spur was not content to walk the shedrow the morning after her final breeze. Trainer Bill Mott said the filly wanted a little more action Tuesday after working four furlongs in :48.40 and was sent to the track to jog.

“She’s ready to go,” Mott said.

The Hall of Fame trainer smiled as he said there was another reason why his filly was out on the racing surface.

“We wanted to see if that track was still hot where Rachel Alexandra had been over it,” he said. “We were going to try and feel it out and see if the smoke had settled yet.”

Rachel Alexandra, who will be the heavy favorite in the Oaks, turned in a blistering four-furlong workout in :46.40 on Monday morning.

Mott was asked what he found.

“It was still a little warm,” he said.

Flying Spur will break from post position eight under Garrett Gomez.

GABBY’S GOLDEN GAL – Trainer Bob Baffert concedes that Arnold Zetcher’s homebred filly Gabby’s Golden Gal faces a tough assignment Friday in the Kentucky Oaks. The daughter of  Medaglia d’Oro earned her trip to Churchill Downs with a 13-length victory in the Sunland Oaks on March 29.

“It’s a big step up for her, but the way she ran at Sunland Park, we felt that she deserved a shot at the big event,” Baffert said. “She’s trained well. She looks fantastic. I think she showed that day that she excelled on two turns. When she turned for home she just turned it on. When she came back she wasn’t tired, wasn’t blowing hard.”

Baffert paused to make a point.

“This is a totally different field,” he said.

The star is Rachel Alexandra, who is on a four-race winning streak.

“This little filly (Gabby’s Golden Gal) is not very big, but she’s very aggressive,” Baffert said. “She’s going to want to be near the lead. I just hope she and Rachel don’t hook up and cook each other. She’s free-running, so she’ll be up on the pace.”

Gabby’s Golden Gal galloped Tuesday morning. Victor Espinoza has the mount Friday and will exit post position four.

JUSTWHISTLEDIXIE – Prompted by threatening skies at Churchill Downs on Tuesday morning, the connections of Justwhistledixie decided to take her to the track a little earlier than planned for a 1 1/2-mile gallop under exercise rider Danny Wright.

“We went great. She went right on with her business,” said Neal McLaughlin, trainer Kiaran McLaughlin’s assistant and brother. “She’s ready to go.”

Justwhistledixie with break from post position five.

Justwhistledixie, who captured the Bonnie Miss (Grade II) at Gulfstream Park in her most recent start, will be seeking her sixth straight victory in the Kentucky Oaks. Her Bonnie Miss victory under jockey Julien Leparoux was the daughter of Dixie Union’s first trip around two turns.

“We’ve always felt that a mile and an eighth would be no problem. Her running style helps, because she stalks the pace,” McLaughlin said. “There was an abundance of speed in the race in Florida. One filly got loose on the lead, which made us move a little earlier than we wanted. When that filly opened up, Julien decided to go and not let her get away. She got even with that filly, then pulled away.”

McLaughlin expects the pace to be solid in the Oaks, and he also expects morning-line favorite Rachel Alexandra to be doubly tough after watching her spectacular workout on Monday morning.

“She’s an amazing filly. You hear a lot about fillies taking on the boys in the Derby. This filly is probably that caliber,” he said. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us, but if we have our best day and she doesn’t, who knows? If we both have our best days, we might be in trouble. But we’ve won five in a row, so we’re happy with her.”

NAN – J. Paul Reddam's Nan galloped a mile and a quarter before the renovation break under exercise rider Jose Castanon.

“She's doing good,” Aimee Dollase said. Aimee is the sister and assistant to trainer Craig Dollase. “Now all we need is some luck,” she added.

Corey Nakatani, a two-time Oaks winner, has the mount on Nan, who will break from post position seven.

RACHEL ALEXANDRA – Hal Wiggins was standing at the gap by the clockers’ stand early Tuesday morning and trainer D. Wayne Lukas rode up on his pony.

“Hey Hal, your filly got a ‘2’ on the ‘Rag’ sheet yesterday,” Lukas said, referring to the :46.40 half-mile work put in by Wiggins’ Rachel Alexandra on Monday.

“But I didn’t get a dollar for it,” Wiggins said with a laugh. “She’s got to do it in the afternoon.”

Rachel Alexandra spent the morning out of the intermittent showers and walked the shedrow.

“Everything looks good,” Wiggins said of the daughter of Medaglia d’Oro, who will break from post position six. “She got a little tired and I may walk her again tomorrow.”

Owned by L and M Partners, Rachel Alexandra enters Kentucky Oaks 135 on a four-race win streak with Calvin Borel having been aboard for all triumphs. One of those victories came in the slop at Fair Grounds on March 14 in the Grade II Fair Grounds Oaks in which Rachel Alexandra won by 1 3/4 lengths while being eased up in the final sixteenth.

“It rained all day there that day; it never stopped,” Wiggins said. “They kept the track in good shape and stayed on top of it. It wasn’t a deep slop that day.”

So, any concerns about an “off” track here Friday?

“I don’t think she has ever worked on an ‘off’ track here,” Wiggins said, “But I don’t think it will affect her.”