History in the making, and the ducking

You win some, you lose some. And apparently when phenomenal filly Rachel Alexandra is declared a probable for a Grade 1 race never before won by a female, you gain one and might lose one among the older male horses that had been pointed toward the race.

Steve Asmussen, trainer of Rachel Alexandra, revealed on Monday that she would bypass the Travers S.-G1 and a third shot at 3-year-old males in favor of facing those boys' elders in the Woodward S.-G1. Both races are at Saratoga. The Woodward has never been won by a filly or mare.

The announcement spurred West Point Thoroughbreds to point its Grade 1-winning 4-year-old colt, Macho Again, toward the Woodward, as well. He had been training at Churchill Downs since a second place finish in the Whitney H.-G1 and initially was to skip the Woodward in favor of a little extra rest before the Oct. 3 Jockey Club Gold Cup-G1 back at Belmont.

That was great news for race fans, some of whom had actually suggested Rachel would be pointed toward a race -- reminder, a race never won by a filly -- as a way of ducking competition. Macho Again would have made the Woodward about as tough a field as Rachel could have been expected to face from this year's handicap division, considering Einstein was already bound for the Pacific Classic at Del Mar to face the best of the West.

But trainer Kiaran McLaughlin might make the opposite choice for his previously Woodward-bound horse.

McLaughlin said he contacted Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa al Maktoum, the owner of his 6-year-old Grade 2 winner, Asiatic Boy, about ducking Rachel and crossing the country to race in the Pacific Classic instead of Saratoga's Woodward, to which the horse had previously been pointed.

"I sent an e-mail overseas to talk to the owner and racing officials," McLaughlin told The Blood-Horse, adding that it isn't definite his horse will dodge a meeting with Rachel. The nomination to the Pacific Classic, which is run a day after the Woodward, merely gives Asiatic Boy another option.

"Nobody really wants to face Rachel Alexandra these days," said McLaughlin, which must come as news to the nobodies at West Point, who decided to alter plans and face Rachel rather than lay out of a race that hadn't been on their horse's schedule.

McLaughlin said giving Rachel an eight-pound break -- which she'll receive in the Woodward for being a 3-year-old and a filly -- might just be too much. Calling Rachel "great," a word he says is used too often but is appropriate in her case, McLaughlin flatly said he wanted no part of her. Wherever her principal owner Jess Jackson might send her. Ever.

"She's beat everybody that's gotten in the gate with her this year. Luckily, I haven't gotten in the gate with her and don't look forward to getting in the gate with her with Asiatic Boy," McLaughlin said. "... (S)he's great for the sport, and it's nice that Mr. Jackson chose some of these spots to show how great she is. He said he's hoping to run her next year as a 4-year-old, and that's nice to hear, but I don't look forward to running against her ever, with anything."

That might make perfect sense from a let's-don't-get-our-horse-beat-ever angle. But for McLaughlin to laud Rachel Alexandra as "great for the sport" and applaud Jackson for spotting her against males to prove her worth -- then tell us not to count on him and his horses to be a part of what's "great for the sport" -- leaves me disappointed in a trainer I normally find easy to root for.

I hope the Sheikh and trainer McLaughlin decide to keep Asiatic Boy in the East and face Rachel. If so, good luck to them.

If not, and if Rachel does happen to lose the Woodward, I hope it's Macho Again who proves to have been the man for the job.

Maybe West Point -- which sells and manages racehorse partnerships -- simply sees a Woodward with Rachel as too big a marketing opportunity to miss, win or lose. But winning would be a just reward for seeing history about to be made and choosing to be a part of it by running in, rather than from, the race.

He's too Macho to turn down a date with Rachel

Despite previous plans that had the horse resting up at Churchill downs for the Jockey Club Gold Cup-G1 in October, West Point Thoroughbreds, the partnership which owns Stephen Foster H.-G1 winner Macho Again, announced via Twitter feed this afternoon that the 4-year-old colt will head for Saratoga to race on Sept. 5 against Rachel Alexandra in the Woodward S.-G1.

With the rest of the field shaping up as detailed below, the Woodward against older males really will be a test of the dominant 3-year-old filly of 2009. Even though this year's handicap division isn't all that spectacular. Even though the race isn't 10 furlongs.

Particularly with Macho Again adding depth to the field, should Rachel make history by becoming the first female ever to win the Woodward, it will be unfair to claim that she didn't earn it.

Pride of ownership: Thrilling in the victory

I don't even think the contest is close. The best commercial in all of horse racing is the West Point Thoroughbreds ad known as "Sherm's Call."

In case you've missed it -- and if you're a fan who watches any amount of racing on television, I don't see how you could've -- the screen is largely black save the West Point logo, a disclaimer noting that the dialogue is an actual phone message left by a West Point horse co-owner, and the requisite information about how to contact West Point about partnership opportunities. No video was necessary. In fact, pictures might kill the moment.

In the ad, "Sherm" describes his horse, the West Point horse in which he owns a share, making his way forward from fifth place in the pack to take the lead, then draw off to win. The exuberance in that man's voice is indescribable. If you've clicked the "Sherm's Call" links here, you've heard it again for yourself.

I'm in tears by the end of that recording, every single time. ... In that moment, I want to be that guy.

My blogging pal over at Odds On Favorite, Bill Yates, got to be that guy, and his wife, Judy, "that gal," this weekend. Watching from their computer screen, they cheered home a gutsy 7-year-old gelding named Passed Over, who won Race 4 Sunday at Finger Lakes in his typical running style, "lagging" at the back and driving home with a rush. Bill tells the whole story of how they first saw the horse racing on HRTV long ago, how the horse slipped into semi-retirement and then returned to the races, and how Bill decided to call the trainer, David Markgraf, to see if he'd sell him a 10 percent share for Judy's birthday present. She loved it. Every man needs a woman like that.

The gray Langfuhr gelding has been paying the bills with seconds and thirds since Bill and Judy got on board. On Sunday, he broke through. And I can't imagine yet quite what that feels like to be a part of that, even if you "only" own 10 percent, even if you're just watching on TV or at the computer.

Congrats Judy, Bill, David and Passed Over. May he happily close from the clouds again and again, in good health, until it's time for his well-earned retirement.