In her final workout before shipping to Saratoga Racecourse in Upstate New York, Rachel Alexandra worked five furlongs in 1:03 over a track labeled sloppy June 28 at Churchill Downs.
With jockey Shaun Bridgmohan aboard for trainer Steve Asmussen, the reigning Horse of the Year was timed in fractions of :12 4/5, :25 3/5, :38 2/5 and 50 3/5 and galloped out six furlongs in 1:17. The workout time was 16th fastest of the day among 26 horses working the distance.
Asmussen initially had planned to ship the winner of the Fleur de Lis Stakes (gr. II) in her most recent start to Saratoga July 5, following the conclusion of the Churchill meet. He decided, however, to ship earlier due to the unseasonably hot, humid weather in Louisville, Ky. and Rachel will be among a group of the trainer's horses that will be shipped to Saratoga June 30.
Owned by Jess Jackson’s Stonestreet Farm and Harold McCormick, Rachel Alexandra has a career record of 12-4-0 in 17 races and has earned $3,216,730.
Asmussen was pleased with the move and said the sloppy track condition after overnight rains was no reason for concern.
"She handles it really well," Asmussen said. "She went good. We’ve got travel plans this week and want everything to go smoothly. I’ll be very happy when she’s settled in there (at Saratoga) and we can get into our routine up there."