Flashback: 10 years ago, 'Rachel' marvels in Mother Goose

She was running alone, unchallenged, with the clock her only opponent. And much like her well-beaten equine rivals, the clock was waging a losing battle.

June 27th, 2009. This Thursday marks the 10-year anniversary of Rachel Alexandra’s unprecedented record-shattering victory in the Mother Goose Stakes (G1) at Belmont Park in a performance so stunning racing fans were left searching for new ways to describe her talent and domination.

Perhaps it wasn’t as historically significant as her victories against males in the Preakness Stakes, Haskell Invitational (G1), and Woodward Stakes (G1), as trainer Steve Asmussen and owners Jess Jackson and Harold McCormick were always game for new challenges. Her margin of victory also wasn’t quite as large as her 20 ¼-length romp in the Kentucky Oaks. But in terms of sheer brilliance, Rachel Alexandra never turned in a greater run than her tour-de-force Mother Goose performance.

In a testament to her growing reputation, Rachel Alexandra was favored at 1-20 — the legal minimum — to defeat a small field in the 1 1/8-mile Mother Goose. Four other fillies had initially been entered, but two scratches left Flashing and Malibu Prayer as Rachel Alexandra’s lone rivals. Ultimately, they wound up as footnotes to history. But first, they set the stage for Rachel Alexandra’s record-breaking run.

When the gates opened on that sunny Saturday, Rachel Alexandra’s regular rider Calvin Borel was in no hurry to ask his mount for her best effort. He allowed the favored filly to settle comfortably in third place while Malibu Prayer and Flashing sprinted to the front, dueling hard for the lead through testing fractions of :22.57 and :44.66.

Rachel Alexandra appeared poised to pounce at any moment, but Borel was patient. The time wasn’t right to make a move when Malibu Prayer and Flashing were still locked together, running six furlongs in a blazing 1:08.66. Soon, however, they tired, and only then Borel allowed Rachel Alexandra to lengthen her stride.

The moment came on the turn. In a bold move, Borel sent Rachel Alexandra in between the two leaders, and in the blink of an eye Rachel Alexandra had roared past, opening up a clear lead. Neither Malibu Prayer nor Flashing could offer a response as the super filly effortlessly powered clear under virtually no urging from Borel.

Passing the eighth pole, Rachel Alexandra was in front by 10 lengths and the timer revealed she had run the mile in 1:33.60, a scintillating fraction. In the final furlong, Borel wrapped up on Rachel Alexandra, yet she nearly doubled her lead down the lane, reaching the wire 19 ¼ lengths in front while stopping the clock in 1:46.33, delighting the crowd of 13,352 who showed up to cheer her on.

How historic was Rachel Alexandra’s dominance? Her margin of victory trounced the previous record of 13 ½ lengths set by the immortal Ruffian, and her final time shattered the previous stakes record of 1:47.19 held jointly by Fleet Renee and Octave.

“We don’t know where her bottom is,” said co-owner Jess Jackson, as quoted in the July 4, 2009, edition of The Blood-Horse magazine. “Calvin never asked her to run; he just gave the signal to go but never hit her or did anything but just sit on her. I’m amazed at her beauty combined with her speed.”

The legacy of Rachel Alexandra’s stunning performance only grew with time. The distant runner-up Malibu Prayer went on to win four stakes races, including the 2010 Ruffian Invitational Handicap (G1), while Flashing — beaten 31 ½ lengths while Rachel Alexandra — took the Test Stakes (G1) in her very next start and add the Gazelle Handicap (G1) later in the year.

Calvin Borel arguably best described the brilliance of Rachel Alexandra.

“Believe me, she’s not normal, I’m telling you,” Borel marveled in The Blood-Horse. “She’s unbelievable. She’s, I don’t know, like a Secretariat or a Seattle Slew. I’ve never been on one like that in my life.”