Rachel Alexandra bred to Curlin

Rachel Alexandra, the 2009 Horse of the Year and champion 3-year-old filly, was bred to two-time Horse of the Year Curlin on Monday morning, Stonestreet Thoroughbreds announced.

It was the first mating for Rachel Alexandra, a 5-year-old Medaglia d’Oro mare. It took place at 9 a.m. at the Farish family’s Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., where Curlin stands for a $40,000 fee this year. The Stonestreet Thoroughbred Holdings of Jess Jackson and his wife, Barbara Banke, own both Rachel Alexandra and Curlin.

Curlin, by Smart Strike, was Horse of the Year in 2007 and 2008 and retired as North America’s all-time leading money-earner with more than $10.5 million in winnings.

“The privilege of owning these horses is like lightning striking twice,” Banke said in the announcement. “Rachel Alexandra and Curlin are true champions. Both horses embody that intangible equine ideal that separates mere horse from legend. Both Jess and I are so pleased that these powerful bloodlines will pass to future generations.”

“We have been anticipating this introduction for some time now,” Jess Jackson said. “Imagine what possibilities those two super horses might produce.”

Rachel Alexandra is one of two female Horses of the Year who are expected to have their first matings this season. The other, Zenyatta, will be bred to 2006’s champion 3-year-old, Bernardini, at Darley Stud at Jonabell Farm in Lexington, Ky. That mating also is expected to take place this month. Zenyatta’s owners, Ann and Jerry Moss, board the 7-year-old Street Cry mare at Lane’s End.