Rachel Alexandra
Graded Earnings: $958,354.00
Race Record: 4-4-0-0
Trainer - Steve Asmussen
Jockey - Calvin Borel
Owner - Jess Jackson and Harold T. McCormick
Breeder - Dolphus Morrison
Pedigree
Rachel Alexandra is from the first crop of $5.7 million earner Medaglia d'Oro, who won or placed in a total of nine Grade 1 events. By Irish champion El Prado (Ire), who is himself a son of the breed-shaping sire Sadler's Wells, Medaglia d'Oro was probably best at 1 1/8 miles, as illustrated by his convincing scores in the Whitney H. (G1), Donn H. (G1), Oaklawn H. (G2), Strub S. (G2) and Jim Dandy S. (G2). His superabundant class, however, helped him to capture the 1 1/4-mile Travers S. (G1). He finished runner-up in four other 1 1/4-mile events -- the Dubai World Cup (UAE-G1), Pacific Classic (G1) and two runnings of the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) -- and was a closing fourth after a troubled start in the Kentucky Derby (G1). Moreover, he fell a mere half-length short in the 1 1/2-mile Belmont S. (G1) after dueling through a solid early pace. Medaglia d'Oro is quickly establishing himself as a sire of talented fillies. Besides Rachel Alexandra, his progeny include multiple stakes heroine Renda, runner-up in the Forward Gal S. (G2); Arlington-Washington Lassie S. (G3) winner C. S. Silk; Princess Elizabeth S. victress Retraceable; and Ameribelle, a near-miss second in stakes on both turf and dirt.
Rachel Alexandra's dam, Lotta Kim, had her very promising career cut short by a freakish injury. At two, she was runner-up in the Golden Rod S. (G2), a race that Rachel Alexandra would go on to win in stakes-record time five years later. Lotta Kim opened her sophomore campaign with a victory in the Tiffany Lass S. at Fair Grounds, but it unfortunately turned out to be her final start. Involved in an incident with a loose horse one morning, she suffered a nasty gash that nearly cost her her life. Lotta Kim is a daughter of the well-bred Forty Niner stallion Roar. A Grade 2 winner at 1 1/8 miles, he has sired a raft of champions in Argentina. Most have tended to excel at shorter distances, exemplified by top milers Little Jim and Forty Fabuloso and speedball Forty Doriana, but two of Roar's leading daughters, Forty Marchanta and Forty Paulina, captured Group 1 prizes at 1 1/4 miles.
Lotta Kim is a half-sister to stakes winners Lotta Rhythm (Rhythm), who captured the one-mile Pocahontas S. and was herself third in the Golden Rod, and High Blues (High Yield), successful in the 1 1/8-mile Tejano Run S. They are all out of the winning Cure the Blues mare Kim's Blues. This female line has not been blessed with many high-profile performers, with the last notable horse to emerge from its ranks being Hail to All (Hail to Reason), winner of the Belmont and Travers in 1965.
