Rachel Alexandra is Not a Horse Racing Wager Lock to Win the Personal Ensign

Rachel Alexandra won the Woodward Stakes against the boys last summer, but won’t repeat that feat this summer because she’s entered in the Grade I Personal Ensign on Sunday, August 29 th.

Rachel, no doubt, will go off as a low-priced, underlaid, horse racing wager to beat a field of only four other horses in the Personal Ensign. Although it seems like there won’t be any competition for Rachel on Sunday, there actually will be.

[Off topic: by the way, do you want to get a 60% bonus on your first deposit here at BetOnline? Find out more exciting details HERE.]

As good as Rachel looked in her last victory, she’s not a lock to win the Personal Ensign on Sunday. In fact, there are enough questions surrounding Rachel for me to pick against her.

Grade I Personal Ensign Stakes

Where: Saratoga Springs, NY

When: August 29 th, 2010 at 5:56 pm EST

Saratoga Racecourse – Race 10

Personal Ensign Stakes (Grade I)

Purse $300,000. For Fillies And Mares Three-Years-Old And Upward.

1 ¼ miles over dirt

1. Miss Singhsix 10/1 – - She won’t have a problem with the distance but she’s a closer in a race where there doesn’t appear to be a lot of speed. I don’t see her being able to get to either Rachel Alexandra or Life At Ten in this race and any horseplayer that makes her their horse racing wager to win on Sunday is grabbing for straws. Now, finishing 3 rd isn’t out of the question.
2. Rachel Alexandra 2/5 – - She was absolutely brilliant in the Lady’s Secret in her last but there wasn’t a single other horse in that race that has the kind of speed that she has. No other horse in that race had ever won a graded stakes either, meaning that Rachel pretty much beat up on a bunch of allowance horses while running over a track that favored her style. She faces a much tougher foe in Life At Ten in the Personal Ensign on Sunday. Also, believe it or not, Rachel has never run at the classic 1 ¼ mile distance before. Can she get the distance? Her breeding says yes, but it’s still a question mark.
3. Persistently 20/1 – - This daughter of Smoke Glacken will be taking a huge step up from optional claiming $50,000 to this Grade I. I respect trainer Shug McGaughey but this is even a tough thing for Shug to pull off. I don’t see Persistently coming close to Rachel or Life At Ten on Sunday.
4. Life At Ten 5/2 – - Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. Why five “wows” instead of only one? Because Life At Ten has won five races in a row in “wow” fashion. She’s beaten some good horses while on the streak like Grade I Princess Rooney winner Jessica Is Back in the Sixty Sails and Unrivaled Belle in the Grade I Ogden Phipps. She can either lead or stalk. Since she breaks on the outside of Rachel it’s likely that jockey John Velasquez, who’s winning with 23% of his mounts at the Spa, will track the 2009 Horse of the Year to the top of the stretch before trying to run by her. Life At Ten comes out of the Todd Pletcher barn meaning that she’s definitely going to be at the top of her game on Sunday. The daughter of Malibu Moon also has a victory at the distance. I believe she beats Rachel with ease on Sunday.
5. Classofsixtythree 20/1 – - She’s never run close to the numbers that Life At Ten and Rachel Alexandra have posted, lost by 11 ½ lengths to Malibu Prayer and Unrivalled Belle in the Ruffian in her last and was running in $25,000 claimers at Aqueduct less than a year ago. The horse racing betting odds on Classofsixtythree to win the Personal Ensign should be 40/1 not 20/1.

First: Life At Ten

Second: Rachel Alexandra

Third: Miss Singhsix

Good luck!

Before watching Rachel Alexandra run, log onto the racebook and make a bet on the Personal Ensign Stakes!