Rachel breaks records in Mother Goose

ELMONT, N.Y. - As trainer Steve Asmussen walked into the Belmont Park saddling area, several yards behind his filly Rachel Alexandra, a young boy shouted to him, "Mr. Asmussen, 30 lengths."

With a raised eyebrow, Asmussen, who kept on walking, said to no one in particular, "I'll take three-quarters."

Well, it wasn't 30 lengths, but it could have been.

In her first start since beating the boys in the Preakness, Rachel Alexandra rolled to a devastatingly easy 19 1/4-length victory in Saturday's before a crowd of 13,352 on a gorgeous summer day in New York. Malibu Prayer, the pacesetter, finished second, 12 1/4 lengths ahead of Flashing. Don't Forget Gil and Hopeful Image both were scratched Saturday morning due to elevated temperatures.

Rachel Alexandra's time of 1:46.33 established a stakes record, beating the time of 1:46.58 set by Lakeway in 1994. Her margin of victory was also a record, eclipsing the 13 1/2-length win by Ruffian in 1975. Saturday was the 53rd Mother Goose.

"She's something special - she's one for the ages," owner Jess Jackson said. "She's a champion. I just hope we have enough horses entering the races that we fill them. It's more exciting when you have more competition."

There obviously are no 3-year-old fillies who can provide Rachel Alexandra any competition. Two starts back, she won the Kentucky Oaks by 20 1/4 lengths. In between, she beat males in the Preakness. Perhaps the only frontier is the 5-year-old mare Zenyatta, who remained undefeated by winning the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap about 15 minutes after Rachel Alexandra won.

"That'd be delightful, the two best fillies in a decade or so," Jackson said about a potential meeting.

Calvin Borel let Rachel Alexandra settle into third position while Malibu Prayer set the pace under John Velazquez, with Flashing stalking her through fractions of 22.57 seconds, 44.66, and 1:08.86 for six furlongs. Leaving the three-furlong pole, Borel nudged his filly a little bit and she split horses outside the quarter pole and exploded to the lead. Borel basically turned into a statue for the final sixteenth, as Rachel Alexandra cruised home to her seventh straight win as the 1-20 favorite, returning $2.10.

"She's not normal," Borel said. "She's unbelievable."

Asmussen said he did not give Borel any instructions about how to ride the filly.

"My conversation with Calvin was 'You know her, get her in a comfortable stride, do what's best for her regardless of what anybody else does,' " Asmussen said. "Calvin discusses her all the time, he loves to talk about her, just her rhythm, her stride, and that's what he was very emphatic about. Obviously, he found it, and it is quite impressive."