The 2007 UAE Triple Crown winner and potential starter Saratoga’s Woodward (G1) might have his plans shifted and head west to Del Mar to run in the Pacific Classic (G1), so trainer Kiaran McLaughlin told Bloodhorse legend Steve Haskin.
Unbeaten in 2009, Rachel Alexandra has won the Kentucky Oaks (G1), Preakness (G1), Mother Goose (G1), and Haskell (G1) – and is now being pointed to a start in the Woodward, her first foray against older males.
Will those older males show up? McLaughlin seems keen to duck what he calls “a great horse.” Under the conditions of the Woodward, Rachel Alexandra gets a favorable impost of 118 pounds as a 3-year-old filly while her older male competitors tote 126. Asiatic Boy, second in the 2008 Dubai World Cup (G1) behind Curlin, could now head to southern California for the first synthetic race of his career over Del Mar’s Polytrack. Owned by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum, Asiatic Boy was second in both the Stephen Foster (G1) and Suburban (G1), his only American starts.
Click HERE for McLaughlin’s full comments from Bloodhorse. Click HERE for Asiatic Boy on HorseRacingNation. Click HERE for Rachel Alexandra on HorseRacingNation.