Everyone I know was greatly disappointed this past July when Rachel Alexandra did not race in Saratoga.

Instead, she would take part in the Lady’s Secret Stakes.

Rachel Alexandra won easily and offered little excitement or thrill as it was a completely one-sided affair.

But maybe one can still have the showdown that everyone is waiting for.

Experts are predicting Zenyatta Rachel Alexandra could happen at the Personal Ensign Stakes late August.

If so, I’ll be glued to my TV…and betting a bundle.

The Zenyatta vs. Rachel Alexandra at the Personal Ensign Stakes in late August is expected to pull in large crowds.

Neither parties have made official announcements as yet but Personal Ensign seems to be the likely destination for both the star horses.

Rachel Alexandra’s  latest start was at the Lady’s Secret Stakes which was run over a distance of 1 1/8 miles. In contrast, Zenyatta is perfectly at ease over the 10 furlong distance.

Zenyatta would have had the obvious advantage on a longer track but Rachel Alexandra’s trainers have been trying to level the playing field.

Zenyatta may have an advantage of running longer distances but Rachel Alexandra has more experience on dirt than Zenyatta. Personal Ensign is a 1 ¼ miles dirt track and would give no clear advantage to either filly if they do face off over there.

Zenyatta’s next start is expected to be at Del Mar before the 29^th August Personal Ensign Stakes. Zenyatta is in complete form as she has won the Clement L Hirsch Stakes for the last two years now and this year’s event is scheduled for August 7. Zenyatta’s trainers and owners expressed reservations about the track surface at Del Mar. Despite the efforts, no final decision has been made as yet.

Rachel’s trainers might want to have her at Personal Ensign but it’s not clear if they would let her race against Zenyatta.

Many believe that even if the reigning horse of the year, Rachel Alexandra, was scheduled for Personal Ensign, she might be pulled out of the race if the undefeated Zenyatta shows up.

So what do YOU think?

Zenyatta?

Or Rachel A.?

There is trouble brewing in Texas.

It’s about the last place you’d expect difficulties in the horse racing business, but there you go. It’s true.

The Texas Horse Racing Commission voted to allow Retama Park in Selma, Texas, to reduce its fall thoroughbred schedule from 30 days to 16, to be staged on weekends in September and October.

Keeping the full meet, Retama CEO Bryan Brown said, would result in “unacceptably” low purse levels because of reduced live and simulcast betting at the track.

Also this past week, Howard Phillips, owner of Manor Downs outside Austin, told the commission he would not apply for racing dates in 2011 and plans to shut down simulcast operations July 25.

That is not good news.

Commission members acknowledged the fact that they are overseeing an industry in crisis mode.

“It seems to me from a business standpoint that these operators are facing a dire situation,” said commission member Tom Clowe of Waco. ”

We are bound to understand these problems and do what we can to allow racing to continue … while we delve into solutions.”

Officials at the three major Texas tracks – Lone Star Park in Grand Prairie, Sam Houston Race Park in northwest Houston and Retama – have disclosed plans to consolidate their 2011 thoroughbred race dates for one year at Lone Star in an effort to produce a premier meet that would attract attention from simulcast bettors around the country.

I hope they survive.

Commissioners said they will discuss those plans with the tracks and with horsemen over the next two months before setting race dates in September. Track officials, meanwhile, plan to meet with Texas legislators to discuss proposed legislation that would provide expanded gaming options for Texas tracks, which track owners claim would put the state’s industry on level ground with Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

“We lose money on live racing,” said track owners. Losses are less on simulcast-only days, he said.

“The amount of money it costs us to stay open is just overwhelming us,” another owner said. “The industry, we all know it’s in dire straits.”

I’m hoping something is done. I promise you I’ll keep an eye on what the commission does.

New York State had similar problems a few months ago, remember?

You’ll forgive me this week if I concentrate on Saratoga Raceway.

I am partial to Saratoga.

I worked for a number of years near Woodstock and travelled up to Saratoga in the summer for my horse racing fixes.

Yeah. That’s right. I have a horse racing fix. Don’t you?

Anyway….

This summer, the troubled raceway will give away (courtesy of the NY Racing Association)two shirts, an umbrella and a baseball cap during its summer meeting in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

NYRA, which operates horse racing at Saratoga Race Course, released the giveaway schedule recently. The number of giveaways is the same as last year.

The four free items are:

• an Irish-themed Saratoga T-shirt, on July 29

• a hat celebrating the race horse Rachel Alexandra, on Aug. 8

• a black Saratoga umbrella, on Aug. 22

• a gray long-sleeve shirt, on Sept. 5

All giveaways are free with each paid admission to the race course.

The 142nd Saratoga meet opens July 23.

Patrons will receive free general admission that day, with racing beginning at 1 p.m.

The meet will run through Labor Day weekend—a total of 40 racing days, the longest Saratoga meet in more than a century.

NYRA was approved for a $25 million state loan in June, which kept the association from having to shut down and lay off all 1,450 employees.

Without the loan, NYRA expected to run out of cash this month, which would have forced it to cancel the storied Saratoga meet.

If you have never been to Saratoga, GO. It’s an awesome place.

If you have been, then you know what I mean.

Next posting, back to talk about horses and racing.

I love watching Goldikova race.

Luckily, I was able to watch her race in the Queen Anne Stakes the other day and she performed wonderfully.  Put her in a race at a mile on good ground and she’ll get it done time and again.

I had my doubts at the beginning of the race though, because Paco Boy looked good.

But the champion mare had just enough left in the tank to hold onto the top spot by a head.

From a friend who frequents UK racetracks: “I didn’t give Noble’s Promise” much of a chance going into the St James’s Palace Stakes  but I’ve got to give him a lot of credit for his effort.

He didn’t win (he finished 5^th) but he ran hard and fit in decently enough with a very good field.  No word on where Noble’s Promise will be pointed to next, but I’d be shocked if he’s not pointed toward a race on the lawn at a mile back in the U.S.

All in all an exciting few days at the track.

This, from our correspondent in Whittier, California.

It’s a cool story about Corey Nakatani, who left Southern California earlier this year for a fresh start.

Well, he enjoyed a happy homecoming June 1 when he rode 21-1 long shot Victor’s Cry to a victory in the $250,000 Grade I Shoemaker Mile at Hollywood Park.

Nakatani, a 39-year-old Covina native who’s won numerous Southland riding titles, finished a strong second (59-49) to Terry Thompson at the Oaklawn Park meet that concluded in late April while riding 113 fewer races.

He’s currently based in Kentucky, but that doesn’t mean he’s entrenched there.

“If the horses bring us back to California, we’ll be here,” Nakatani said after guiding Victor’s Cry to a head victory over Karelian, who shipped in from Kentucky and was the 9-5 favorite.

“I’d love to come back. California is home.”

Nakatani, who’s ridden such equine standouts as Lava Man, Lit de Justice, Serena’s Song, Rock Hard Ten and Sweet Catomine during a career that began in fall 1988 at Caliente Race Track in Mexico, knows the recipe for success in Southern California.

“If I got the opportunity to ride for the outfits you need to ride for, the Doug O’Neills and the John Sadlers, the Bob Bafferts,” he said. “If you rode for those outfits, you can come back and ride for them all.”

We wish him all the luck in the world.

The New York racing season looks like it’s been saved.

A bill that would loan the New York Racing Authority, which essentially runs the Belmont, Aqueduct and Saratoga race tracks,  has been introduced to the New York legislature by Governor Paterson.

That’s good news, one week before the June 5 Belmont Stakes.

Here’s what the bill will provide: it gives the NYRA a $25 million capital loan.

In return, NYRA would have to pay the state back by March 31st, 2011 or thirty days after a deal is struck with a vendor to operate VLT’s at Aqueduct.

Without the money, most people believe, racing would not continue at those tracks.

And that would be tragic.

1. Aikenite under jockey Javier Castellano with morning line odds of 20-1
2. Schoolyard Dreams under jockey Eibar Coa, 15-1
3. Pleasant Prince under jockey Julien Leparoux, 20-1
4. Northern Giant under jockey T. J. Thompson, 30-1
5. Yawanna Twist under jockey Edgar Prado, 30-1
6. Jackson Bend under jockey Mike Smith, 12-1
7. Lookin At Lucky under jockey Martin Garcia, 3-1
8. Super Saver under jockey Calvin Borel, 5-2
9. Caracortado under jockey P. Atkinson, 10-1
10. Paddy O’Prado under jockey Kent Desormeaux, 9-2
11. First Dude under jockey Ramon Dominguez, 20-1
12. Dublin under jockey Garrett Gomez, 10-1

The Preakness Stakes is the 12th race in Pimlico’s May 15 race card.

Race time is 6:12 pm., eastern time.

The 136th Run for the Roses ended with jockey Calvin Borel winning AGAIN, the third time in the past four years. This time, on Super Saver.

The horse went off at 12-1 odds.

So winning the Derby was nothing new for this great jocket (from Louisiana)…not so for trainer Todd Pletcher, who has had 24 (count em) entrants in the Derby before yesterday’s win. His first.

Borel knows this track. And we know Borel.

He broke from the gate and went directly to the rail. Waiting for just the right moment to make the break.

Confident, as always, he told reporters  ”I knew nothing was going to run him down.” This, despite a hard charge from Ice Box down the home stretch.

Pletcher, who had come close to Derby wins with Bluegrass Cat (2006) and Invisible Ink (2001), was happy to have Borel on his side for once, especially given his history at the famed Louisville course.

“Calvin Borel is a great rider anywhere he goes, but at Churchill Downs he’s even five lengths better,” Pletcher said.

We couldn’t have said it better.

Be interesting to see the horse he rides next year.

Ok. Now we have a problem, as bettors.

Eskendereya, whom I would have bet on this Saturday, in the 136th Kentucky Derby has been withdrawn.

Eskendereya, for those who aren’t aware of the horse, won the Fountain of Youth Stakes and Wood Memorial.

He would have been a strong favorite in Saturday’s Kentucky Derby, but the colt was withdrawn from the first leg of the Triple Crown on Sunday because of swelling in his left front leg.

Damn it.  Of course, we don’t want anything to happen to the horse, so it is right that he was withdrawn. Don’t get me wrong on that.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said at a news conference at Churchill Downs, “The horse isn’t lame. I wouldn’t call it that. He’s not uncomfortable; he’s slightly off. We’re hopeful that this is not career threatening.”

Pletcher still has as many as six horses eligible for the Kentucky Derby, as he tries to win the race for the first time. He has competed in nine of the past 10 Derbies with 24 starters, and his best finishes were seconds by 51-to-1 shot Invisible Ink in 2001 and 30-to-1 shot Bluegrass Cat in 2006.

“It is extremely disappointing, of course,” Pletcher said.

So who do we bet on now?

With Eskendereya gone, the probable Derby favorite will be Lookin At Lucky, who has won six of eight starts and was the champion 2-year-old in 2009.

Lookin At Lucky is trained by three-time Derby winner Bob Baffert.

Watch this week for MANY MORE postings on the Derby.

Correspondents in China (reporters for the U.K. newspaper, the Telegraph) note that an ambitious 10-year project  aims to create a “Tianjin Horse City” (see photo of the city above) with an international equestrian college, horse-breeding centre, auction base, animal feed factory, racetrack, and 7-star hotel with sweeping, phoenix-shaped grandstand.

How is it gonna be financed? Oil money (Dubai) of course.

The Dubai-based Meydan group, the developer of the world’s biggest horse racing complex, said it had been invited by the Chinese government to use its know-how to take horse racing in China to the next level.

China is hoping to emulate that success, having legalised horse racing in 2008.

So we’ll see. But I wouldn’t bet against the chinese.

Previous attempts to kick-start racing in China ran into difficulties, with the government shutting down a number of racecourse in 2000 in an anti-gambling campaign.

Racing was introduced in China by the British in the 19th and early 20th century, with the sport becoming a popular pastime.

However the sport was banned after the Communist revolution.

Work on the Tianjin Horse City is slated to begin in May, with plans to complete the 660-acre equestrian college, stud farm and animal feed factory by the end of 2011.

The Chinese racing industry has argued that legalising on-track betting could generate up to three million jobs, clean up illegal gambling and generate some £4bn in tax revenues.

We’ll see. But the plans look very promising. To say the least.