Rachel Alexandra to Woodward

By Karen Johnson

Trainer Steve Asmussen said Aug. 24 that top 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra will run in the Sept. 5 Woodward Stakes (gr. I) and that stablemate Kensei would contest the Aug. 29 Shadwell Travers Stakes (gr. I).

Asmussen, accompanied by Barbara Banke, announced the plans following workouts by both horses at Saratoga Racecourse. Banke is the wife of Jess Jackson, whose Stonestreet Stable races Rachel Alexandra in partnership with Harold McCormick.

Working over the main track, Rachel Alexandra went six furlongs in 1:12, according to Asmussen, and Kensei was timed in :50 for a half-mile clip.

"I think she deserves a chance to run in the Woodward," Asmussen said of the decision to run the filly against older males. He noted that although Rachel Alexandra has defeated 3-year-old males twice, she would obviously not be voted 3-year-old champion in that division because of her gender.

Asmussen said Kensei is "doing extremely well" and that if he won the Travers, it "would be his career."

Kensei notched his second consecutive grade II victory when he won the Aug. 1 Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga.

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