Saturday, July 9, 2016

Gulfstream: Rachel's Girl Runs Last in 100th Start

Rachel's Girl made her 100th career start at Gulfstream Park on Saturday, and finished seventh and last in the ninth race.

Sultry Town Cat won the 5 1/2 furlong dirt race by a neck over Pinkalily.   The race was a $6,250 claimer for fillies and mares 3-years-old and up. The purse was $15,000.

Sultry Town Cat won in 1:05.42 with Andy Hernandez Sanchez riding for trainer Juan Arias.

Rachel's Girl was never in contention and finished 15 lengths behind Sultry Town Cat.

As reported Saturday morning on this Web site, owner David Ludwig and trainer Doug Potter entered Rachel's Girl largely for her to  gain the rare distinction of  having a 100-race career,

The race culminated a four-week period of changes for Rachel's Girl.

After she finished ninth and last in a race at Gulfstream on June 12, owner Spencer McDonald told trainer Potter that he could no longer afford to care for and race the horse.

Potter was determined to not abandon Rachel's Girl.  Ludwig, his friend and long-time client, took over as owner.

After a physical exam showed Rachel's Girl was healthy enough to run, they entered her for Saturday's race.

In her now 100-race career, Rachel's Girl has just two wins, six second place finishes and three third place finishes.

Prior to Saturday's race, Ludwig said he realistically did not expect Rachel's Girl to win. 

He noted that her better races have usually been at a mile or longer.

"We were planning to enter her in a mile race on (this) Sunday, but it didn't fill," Ludwig said.  "But she was ready for a race, so we put her in this one, even though 5 1/2 furlongs is too short for her." 

After Saturday's race, Ludwig said he would need at least seveal days to decide whether to give Rachel's Girl a 101st race.

The alternative would be to place her on a farm in Davie or in a thorughbred retirement program.
--Jim Freer

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please post your comment to our blog. It will be moderated and approved in a timely manner, then posted. Thanks for reading !

HorseRacing FLA staff