Rachel Alexandra’s BC Classic Horse Racing Odds More Than Double

The 4-year-old filly that was so brilliant in 2009 that she won the Horse of the Year title over arguably one of the greatest racehorses to ever live has suddenly become somewhat of a laughingstock to win the 2010 BC Classic.  Rachel Alexandra is now at +1500 horse racing odds to win this year’s Classic.  Why?  Because she was upset by a 21 to 1 shot named Persistently in this past Sunday’s Grade I Personal Ensign stakes as a 2/5 favorite.

Yes, Rachel dueled with a very good Todd Pletcher horse named Life At Ten through fast fractions.  Yes, Rachel put away Life At Ten and looked to be well within herself in the middle of the stretch, but Persistently was, well, persistent, and kept plugging away until finally she passed Rachel a few feet before the wire.

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The problem isn’t so much that a 2/5 chalk lost to a 21 to 1 shot.  Upsets happen all of the time in horse racing.  Horseplayers actually live on upsets happening.  They count on the chalk to pack it in and lose to longshot closers or loose on the lead speedsters.

Rachel Alexandra, however, is one chalky horse that’s never supposed to lose.  If you win the Horse of the Year title and aren’t coming off of an injury, you aren’t supposed to lose to a horse that has run in an optional claiming $50,000 n2x other than in it’s last five.  You aren’t supposed to lose to a horse that has won only 3 lifetime races out of 13 starts with 4 seconds and 4 thirds.

Persistently is what we call around the racetrack a “paychecker”.  That means that her owners, the famous Phipps Stable, who has tons of talent in their barn, consider her a nice horse to pick up a paycheck “once in a while”.  She can put cash in the bank by not necessarily winning.  Her connections, which include trainer Shug McGhaughey, would have been happy finishing third in the Personal Ensign.  Heck, it’s a Grade I race.  For an optional claiming $50,000 horse to finish in the Top 3 in a Grade I is fantastic.

I thought Persistently had no shot.  Not many did.  But Persistently didn’t really win this past Sunday.  It’s not like she’s Roy Halladay and threw a no-hitter or something.  Persistently won because Rachel Alexandra lost.

Oh, sure.  Her fans, and there are still many, will say that Rachel lost because she didn’t like the distance or because she was pressured by Life At Ten.  That’s not true.  Rachel lost because she simply isn’t the same horse in 2010 that she was in 2009.

That’s all there is to it.  Now, according to the horse racing odds makers, Rachel is a +1500 horse to win the BC Classic instead of the +700 horse she was before Sunday.  That makes Rachel the 6th choice behind Zenyatta, Blame, Lookin’ At Lucky, Quality Road and Twice Over in the sportsbook.

From +700 to +1500 and she’s still an underlay in my opinion.  Horse racing fans will never see the same Rachel Alexandra again.  Hey, that’s life at the track.

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Sources:  drf.com, brisnet.com