(Fair Grounds and Tracksideview.com reports)

NEW ORLEANS, La. – Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra was in good order the morning following her second-place finish to Zardana in the $200,000 New Orleans Ladies, but  trainer Steve Asmussen said Sunday that Rachel would not ship to Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., on Monday as previously planned and she will not run in the $5 million Grade I Apple Blossom Invitational.

Owner Jess Jackson issued a statement Sunday afternoon confirming that she will not run on April 9.

“Yesterday’s race while a disappointment, helped us define Rachel Alexandra’s racing condition. While she is healthy, just as I had anticipated, she is not in top form. Therefore, I decided today she will not be going to the Oaklawn Invitational on April 9. Steve and I discussed this fully and we now regret we tried to accelerate her training in order meet the Apple Blossom schedule. We have a whole season before us to help define her greatness. She will tell us when her next race will be,” Jackson said.

“We tried and we really wanted to go (to the Apple Blossom). It’s unfortunate but the timing just wasn’t right. For the health of the horse. It’s obvious she’s not in top shape. The race yesterday was to define how far along she was. I repeatedly told people she was only eighty or eighty-five percent of what I thought was up to her top condition last year. That race proved it.”

 What will be her major goals for the year now? “It’s up to her. She has to show us that she’s back up to her ’09 form. We had progressively accelerated her conditioning and it didn’t work, so we’re going to gear back, let her develop at her own pace. I can’t give you a prediction as to when but it might take a couple of months,” Jackson said.

Earlier Sunday Asmussen said. “She came back well,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “She ate last night, very sound this morning, walked the shed row well. I’m very pleased with that. We don’t have any negative indications yet today,” he said. “Like anything, you want to be 100-percent and if you’re not you go from there. We don’t have any negative this morning other than the loss and the hurt feelings of yesterday. Our main concern is how Rachel feels and her well-being and we’re very pleased with her today.”

Reflecting on Saturday’s race, in which Rachel Alexandra stalked the early pacesetter and assumed the lead around the far turn before yielding to the eventual winner, Asmussen was still “disappointed” but remains steadfast in his belief that she simply was not fit enough to win and has much improvement ahead of her.

“We had talked about her being seventy-five or eighty-percent fit,” he said. “The filly got tired but she cooled out fine and came back well from it; it’s just a case if we can move forward in a positive direction fitness-wise, as well as with everything else. Yesterday’s race is over. We can analyze it all we want, but her physical condition and her state of mind are what we need to concern ourselves with and we’ll address that moving forward.”

Asked to expand on her state of mind Sunday morning, Asmussen said: “I was pleased with it today. She was relaxed in her stall. She went to her tub when we fed her last night and cleaned up everything. Walked well this morning and seemed very comfortable in her stall this morning.”

Jerry Moss, owner of Zenyatta, was reached by phone at his home in Beverly Hills, Calif. and asked to comment on Jess Jackson’s announcement that Rachel Alexandra will not run as originally scheduled in the Apple Blossom Handicap.

“We’re disappointed that we’re not going to be able to face each other in the Apple Blossom.  Hopefully, we can meet down the line.  We respect both Steve (Asmussen) and Mr. Jackson as horsemen and they’re going to do what’s right for their horse.  That’s all anybody could ask for.

“We’ll go on to the Apple Blossom as planned,” Moss said.