Rachel Alexandra sold following Oaks win

[a kennedy]

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky Oaks winner Rachel Alexandra has been sold to Stonestreet Stables, opening the possibility for the filly superstar to run in the Preakness.

Jess Jackson, owner of Stonestreet Stables, announced the sale on Wednesday. The purchase from Dolphus Morrison and Mike Lauffer comes less than a week after Rachel Alexandra posted a record 20\-length victory in the Oaks.

Morrison said after the Oaks he had no plans to enter Rachel Alexandra into either of the remaining Triple Crown races. He would have to pay a $100,000 supplement to put Rachel Alexandra in the Preakness on May 16.

Stonestreet also owns 2007-08 Horse of the Year Curlin, who retired last fall as racing's all-time money winner. Jackson said he plans to breed Rachel Alexandra to Curlin once her racing career is over.

Yikes, I wonder who Calvin will want to ride if she does enter the Preakness???

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/horses/2009-05-06-1149124479_x.htm

[aaronbees]

1. I think this is horrible

Way to kill a great story, Jess Jackson. I can understand wanting to sell, so I won't pick on the old owners, but the horse should be left in Hal Wiggins' care. Small-time, respected trainer who brought her along perfectly it seems. And the fact RA now goes to Assmussen is just despicable.

Wiggins reacts to losing 'Rachel': http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/50652/wiggins-reacts-to-losing-rachel

[OKNancy]

2. It's like a soap opera now

First she will run the Preakness...then the other owners conspire...then "the scheme was derailed Sunday night, however, when Marylou Whitney said that if Rachel Alexandra was still 15th on the eligibility list she would not run her colt, Luv Gov, who her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, had entered earlier in the day."

[Awsi Dooger]

3. I was rooting for the conspiracy

Make the new connections sweat and squirm and threaten legal action. That would have been delicious.

I don't understand what's wrong with stuffing the entry box. There should be a penalty for showing up late. First alternate in a golf tournament has no birthright to a place in the field. NFL teams routinely claim players just to prevent them from being claimed by a rival. College football teams who flop for several years in a row deservedly start low in the rankings and may get squeezed out of a title game shot, like Auburn a few years ago. Sorry, but Rachel had no sympathy from me.

Regardless, Calvin Borel made the wrong move. The result of the race is irrelevant. There is always a supposed best horse in the world, just like someone always holds the world heavyweight championship belts. Remembering or caring 5 years later is the problem. Immortality is the Triple Crown and you're supposed to take a flail. Two more against a depleted field wasn't exactly inconceivable, and Borel would become an alltime legend by pulling it off with a horse who was dismissed at 50/1 in the Derby.

Instead, he may become the answer to a worthless trivia question: Which jockey won the Triple Crown but on two different horses?