Horse of Year Rachel Alexandra set to run next on July 24 at Monmouth Park

Rachel’s next start July 24 at Monmouth Park

OCEANPORT, N.J. — Bob Kulina wanted a race that no one at Monmouth Park would forget — Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra against super mare Zenyatta.

The matchup never panned out so the Monmouth Park president on Thursday settled for half the show, working out a deal for Rachel Alexandra to race at the New Jersey Shore track on July 24 in the Lady’s Secret Stakes.

“We had a great experience at Monmouth Park,” Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson said, “and we appreciate the overwhelming show of support the fans there have given us. It’s the perfect place to start what we hope will be another championship run.”

The announcement by Jackson came a day after the 4-year-old filly arrived at Saratoga Race Course in New York with expectations she would run there.

The last time Rachel Alexandra ran at Monmouth, she helped nail down her Horse of the Year honors with an electrifying win in the Haskell Invitational. It was one of her three wins against males, including the Preakness and the Woodward at Saratoga.

“We’ve been talking to them since Memorial Day and said if Rachel gets back together and looks like she did in her last race we would love to see her run again and come to Monmouth and be part of this elite summer meet we are having,” Kulina said. “We have been throwing options out there, two or three, trying to get it to work, and it came together today.”

The main option was Rachel Alexandra against Zenyatta.

“It never came off,” Kulina said.

The 1 1/8-mile Lady’s Secret for fillies and mares was moved from Aug. 1 — the day of this year’s Haskell — and the purse raised to $400,000 from $150,000 to lure Rachel Alexandra back.

Rachel Alexandra won all eight of her starts last year. She lost her first two starts this year before winning the Fleur de Lis at Churchill Downs on June 12.

Kulina said trainer Steve Asmussen wants to keep Rachel Alexandra on a five-week schedule.

“It would have made for an awesome Haskell,” Kulina said. “But at the same time I am glad she is coming here.”

Kulina said the average Saturday crowd is roughly 10,000-to-11,000 the week before the Haskell. He hopes the addition of Rachel Alexandra to the card might bump the attendance about 3,500 to 6,000 fans.