Deb Aronson - Alexandra the Great: The Story of the Record-Breaking Filly Who Ruled the Racetrack

W hen a little foal with a white upside-down exclamation point on her forehead was born one morning in Kentucky, the heart of Americas horse racing region, problems mounted quickly. Rejected by her mother, the filly would need to be accepted and nursed by another mare. As she grew, the tall, knock-kneed girl remained skinny and scruffy, with paltry muscles. Considered an ugly duckling, she was unsuitable as a champion racehorse, her owner proclaimed, and must be sold. But two days before the sale, an examination revealed a medical conditionnow she was impossible to sell! What would become of this problem filly?

Alexandra the Great tells one of the greatest underdog tales in American sportsthe story of Rachel Alexandra, who grew up to become one of the most remarkable racehorses in history. Despite dominating every filly her age, her owner refused to let her compete against male horses. When a new owner saw her potential and raced her against bigger, stronger males, Rachel Alexandra thrived and went on to win the Preakness, the first filly to do so in 85 years, and the Woodward, a feat never before achieved by a filly. Having grown into a strong, muscular, dominating athlete, Rachel Alexandra was named 2009 Horse of the Year, broke records, graced the pages of Vogue magazine, and showed people around the world exactly what it means to run like a girl.

Copyright 2017 by Deb Aronson

All rights reserved

Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated

814 North Franklin Street

Chicago, Illinois 60610

ISBN 978-1-61373-645-6

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Aronson, Deb.

Title: Alexandra the Great : the story of the record-breaking filly who ruled the racetrack / Deb Aronson.

Description: Chicago, Illinois : Chicago Review Press, [2016] | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016026020 (print) | LCCN 2016047260 (ebook) | ISBN 9781613736456 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9781613736463 (pdf) | ISBN 9781613736487 (epub) | ISBN 9781613736470 (Kindle)

Subjects: LCSH: Rachel Alexandra (Race horse) | Race horsesUnited StatesBiography. | Preakness Stakes. | Fillies.

Classification: LCC SF355.R33 A75 2016 (print) | LCC SF355.R33 (ebook) | DDC 798.4/50929dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016026020

Interior design: Sarah Olson

Printed in the United States of America

5 4 3 2 1

To my husband, Ben Williams, who is the light of my life. And to the late Jo Hooker, whose bright smile and endless enthusiasm about Rachel Alexandra made this project even more fun. She is deeply missed.

Index

LOTTA KIM SWEATED AND paced restlessly in her dark stall on a late January night in 2006. Her hooves rustled the deep straw. Her baby was coming, whether she liked it or not.

At midnight Jim, the night watchman at Heaven Trees Farm in Lexington, Kentucky, walked through the foaling barn, checking on those expectant mares he couldnt see from his office. As he walked down the aisle the scent of sweet, fresh hay, with a musty undertone of manure, filled the air. When he got to Lotta Kims stall he saw her walking around and around, and back and forth, unable to settle. She would give birth tonight.

Jim stayed with Lotta Kim, watching as she tossed her black mane. Her cinnamon-colored hide glistened with sweat. In the early, ghostly hours before the dawn, her water broke, amniotic fluid gushing onto the dry, clean straw. Then Jim called Dede McGehee, the owner of Heaven Trees Farm and a well-respected horse veterinarian. Miss Dede, Lotta Kim is in labor, Jim told her.

If Dede had been home, she would have headed to the barn. Her pink confection of a housecomplete with turrets, a room filled with a bountiful display of Kentucky Derby hats, and a chicken coop miniature of her house that she called Palais de Poulets (Poultry Palace)was just a short walk to her foaling barn. But Dede was on the roadheading home, but not close yet. Lotta Kim was young and healthy, and Dede did not expect any complications, so she thanked Jim and told him, If anything changes, let me know.

Dede McGehees all-pink home.Deb Aronson

Next Jim called Don Barcus, the farm manager, who joined him at the foaling barn to watch over Lotta Kim. She was a maiden, which meant this was her first foal. The always high-strung mare was scared and tense; she sweated and panted, her eyes wide. Normally first foals are on the small side, but this one was large, and space in the mares birth canal was tight.

Over and over, Lotta Kim got up and paced and then lay down with a grunt in the pale-pink cinderblock stall in the dark, quiet barn. For several hours she labored painfully until, finally, with Don and Jim gently pulling on the foals forefeet, the newborn slid onto the hay. It was a girl!

This was just one foal of hundreds born that season in the Kentucky bluegrass, the nerve center of American horse racing. It would have been impossible at that moment to imagine that this little creature, more leg and bone than muscle and heart, would grow to become a racehorse for the ages, breaking track records and introducing thousands of people to horse racing. In a few short years, little girls and their moms would fall in love with the filly faster than you can say girl power.

Jim and Don cleaned out the straw, now wet and dirty, and replaced it with dry bedding. They medicated the fillys naval and watched to make sure she would begin to nurse. She nosed around Lotta Kims belly, looking for her udder. But Lotta Kim had no milk. Often, once a foal starts nursing, the mares milk comes in. But not this time. Instead, when the filly tried to nurse, clambering around underfoot and rooting around in sensitive, ticklish areas, Lotta Kimfurious, sore, and exhaustedalmost stomped her newborn. Don and Jim rushed to protect the baby.

Whoa, whoa, settle down now, Lotta Kim, Don called out. He and Jim grabbed her halter and led her from the stall. They tried over the next few hours to interest the mare in her new baby, leading her back into the stall several times to see if she would let the filly nurse. But Lotta Kim ignored her. Finally, they took Lotta Kim away. The mare never looked back, never once whinnied for her baby.

As soon as he had led Lotta Kim away, Don climbed the stairs in the foaling barn two at a time. The next few hours were critical for the filly. Right after a mare gives birth she makes a special first milk, or colostrum. Colostrum is full of antibodies that help protect a foal from disease. Without colostrum, a foal can get seriously ill and even die. And a foal can only absorb colostrums antibodies within the first 24 hours of its life, though sooner is better.

On the upper level of the barn Dede kept spare colostrum in a freezer. When a mare has a stillborn foal or makes extra colostrum, Dede collects and freezes it just for situations like this. Don grabbed a container and thawed the thick, sticky, bright-yellow liquid. As he fed the little creature in the quiet stall, Don admired her two white socks and her unusual