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Rachel Alexandra goes through Monday work

Mon 16th, August 2010

Saratoga Springs, NY (Sports Network) - Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra had her next-to-last workout for her next start at Saratoga Race Course. Trainer Steve Asmussen is preparing the champion filly for Saratoga's $300,000 Personal Ensign Stakes on Sunday, August 29.

With Shaun Bridgmohan in the saddle, Rachel worked six furlongs in 1:13.20 on Saratoga's main track. She galloped out seven furlongs in 1:25.80 and a mile in 1:39.

"I thought she did really well," said Asmussen. "Shaun did a great job with her away from the pole. She settled in nicely. It was a nice, solid, strong work, with a very big gallop-out, ideal for the mile-and-a-quarter that she is pointed towards.

"She was off (the first eighth) in :13, then she came off the bridle for him, very relaxed, her ears forward, stuck in a bunch of :12 and changes, came home just a tad better the last quarter, and her gallop out was strong. That rhythm, because of the 1 1/4-miles, is what we were looking for. That's where she is. I feel she is more relaxed in the middle of her works than she was last year."

The 1 1/4-miles that the four-year-old will run in the Personal Ensign will be the farthest she has ever covered in her career. Last year at Saratoga Rachel defeated older male horses in the 1 1/8-mile Woodward Stakes.

"I definitely feel the buildup to it," Asmussen said about the upcoming race. "I thought her work last week was very good, but you can tell the intensity from everybody has stepped up a notch with (co-owner) Mr. Jackson's decision to run her in the Personal Ensign. I'm very comfortable with her condition leading up to it."

Owned by Stonestreet Stable and Harold McCormick, the champion filly won the $400,000 Lady's Secret Stakes at Monmouth Park in her last start. This year she has won two of four starts, including her last two, for $498,376. In her career she has earned nearly $3.5 million with 13 wins in 18 starts.