December-January 2015-2016 /
American Turf Magazine
41
Rachel Alexandra In A New Role
“There is so much emotion wrapped up in him, so sentimental. Jess
Jackson came into the sport and wanted to bring heroes back. He
did that with Curlin and then he did it again in spectacular fashion
with Rachel. And then he bred his two champions and…there he is,”
Amy Kearns, Digital Medial Manager for Stonestreet Farm of Rachel
Alexandra’s first foal, who now races as Jess’s Dream.
By Ellen Parker
R
acing
fans
often make
the mis
-
take of thinking that all the
drama surrounding their favor-
ite runners takes place at the racetrack.
But that is hardly the truth.
From the spectacle of the sales
ring to the tender first moments of
a champion mare and her foals the
drama continues and racing becomes
just a few minutes in a lifetime. And
though a horse is often judged solely
by his racetrack performance, the
great horses who can not only run but
become leading sires and producers
– horses like Seattle Slew or Personal
Ensign – are the ones who have written
their name not only in the record book
but in the living, breathing blooded
descendants which remind us of them
every time they race.
The breeding shed is also a place
where horses can get even, as it were.
Though Affirmed nearly always beat
Alydar when they ran, Alydar was con-
sidered the better sire, though neither
left a dominant son to carry on. And
now we have a similar rivalry taking
place between two great mares who
never met on the racetrack but who
were both Horses of the Year – Rachel
Alexandra (by Medaglia d’Oro) and
Zenyatta (by Street Cry).
Both of these mares were bred to be
good producers as well as good race-
horses. But due to an injury she suf-
fered at the track, Lotta Kim, the dam
of Rachel Alexandra, almost never had
a foal at all.
After winning the Tiffany Lass Stakes
at Fair Grounds in 2004 the daughter
of Roar was knocked to the ground
by a loose horse and suffered a rear
end injury that required 278 stitches
to close. While she recovered in due
course the location of the problem
made foaling difficult, and healing
after birth challenging as well. Since
Thoroughbred mares are bred back as
quickly as possible, this made Lotta
Kim a risky broodmare proposition
with an inconsistent record.
Nevertheless, what she might have
lacked in quantity she certainly made
up for in quality; Rachel Alexandra
was her firstborn in 2006. She had
an Empire Maker colt the following
year but he died before he got to the
races. She did not have another foal
until 2011 when she produced Rachel’s
full sister Samantha Nicole who won
$122,270 and was sold as a broodmare
to Stonestreet for $700,000 at the 2012
Keeneland November sale.
Since then, Lotta Kim has had three
colts in a row but her champion daugh-
ter might not be so lucky. Yet “like
mother like daughter” still applies,
because early evidence suggests that
Rachel Alexandra is going to make the
most of limited opportunities.
Jess’s Dream, Rachel’s first foal nick-
named ‘Taco’ seemed to set a mood
with the mare. From the outset she
embraced her new role and was as good
a mother as she had been a racehorse.
Then on Valentine’s Day in 2013 just
two days after foaling a Bernardini filly
who would race as Rachel’s Valentina,
Rachel was rushed to Rood and Riddle
Equine Hospital in Lexington, Ky., to
repair a portion of her colon that was
torn while foaling and had leaked fecal
matter into her abdomen.
The level of inflammation and infec-
tion were so widespread that Rachel’s
life was in danger almost from the
outset. Placed on IVs with nutrients,
Photo by Horsephotos.com/NTRA
Horse of the Month
