Comments on: Rachel Alexandra against the ‘Old Boys’?

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 15:44:04 +0000

Very nicely done. Love this kind of stuff! Not easy to find information like this.

By: Colins Ghost

Colins Ghost — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:58:42 +0000

Thanks all for the comments and contributions.

Val: In the image of Twilight Tear above she is pictured with the yet unnamed foal who would become A Gleam. (Image is from H.P. Robertson's History of Thoroughbred Racing)

Teresa: Thanks for the contribution -- I focused mainly on 1936 and later - when the end of year champions became "official". It would be interesting to see how common it was before then. Beldame is the one that immediately comes to mind (1904). She beat older males in the Carter - her first race as a 3yo (also ran 3rd in the Met Mile, won Saratoga Cup, and won two stakes at Gravesend).

RG: Ta Wee is one I should have mentioned. Can't fault her for being a sprinter. For the record: Busher's two wins against older were both at a mile and a quarter. Twilight Tear ran 3rd against older males at 6 furlongs (in her 1st race of the year) and won the Pimlico Special at 1 3/16ths. Bewitch beat Citation at 2 but had some injury problems at 3 although she did beat older females in the Modesty at Arlington Park as a 3yo. She ran into her 6yo season and ran consistently well against males. She definitely deserves a place among the best race mares of the 20th century.

Thanks again everyone for your comments!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 23:05:10 +0000

About half of Busher and Twilight Tear's races were 7f or less so I think the pure sprinter Ta Wee can be considered. As a 3yo in 1969 beat older males in both the the Fall Highweight and Vosburgh(DH for 1st) in winning the SOY award. Won the Fall Highweight again and repeated as SOY the following year. Ta Wee and Shuvee(JC Gold Cup twice) members of a super crop of fillies foaled in 1966.

I would think Bewitch would qualify for going up against Citation so often.
RG

By: Teresa

Teresa — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:03:08 +0000

Add to the list…in researching the Test, I came across a filly named Emotion, who won the first Test, and it appears that she beat older males in Maryland when she was three years old. She was named three year old filly champ, at a time when such decisions were fairly individual and not terribly well recorded.

By: Valerie

Valerie — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:02:16 +0000

An excellent post (as always)—the 1940s were truly the Golden Age of racing! Interesting that Twilight Tear’s daughter A Gleam also defeated males (albeit not older ones) at 3, in the Westerner Stakes (now Hollywood Derby) and even finished ahead of future Kentucky Derby winner Hill Gail in the San Gabriel Stakes.

Not that I want to get her to the breeding shed any faster than she will, but, boy, I can’t wait to see Rachel’s progeny run—likewise Rags to Riches’ foals.

Thanks for the kind words and encouragement with the new endeavor.