Rachel Alexandra, the sensational filly and 2009 horse of the year, was retired Tuesday following a disappointing season in which she won only two of five races.
Co-owner Jess Jackson said it was time to “reward her with a less stressful life,” and that Rachel Alexandra would be bred to Curlin, the 2007 and 2008 horse of the year, at Jackson’s Stonestreet Farm in Lexington, Ky.
“Imagine what possibilities those two super horses might produce,” said Jackson, who owns a majority stake in Curlin.
The popular 4-year-old Rachel caused quite a stir last year when she won all eight of her races. She beat fillies by 20 lengths in the Kentucky Oaks and 19 lengths in the Mother Goose Stakes before taking on the boys and winning the Preakness, Haskell Invitational and Woodward Stakes.
She had 13 wins in 19 starts and earned more than $3.4 million.
• Real Quiet, the 1998 Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner who missed a Triple Crown by a nose, has died at 15.
Woods fires back
NEWPORT, Wales — The Ryder Cup is getting personal for Tiger Woods.
Interrupting an otherwise dull news conference, Woods fired back at a comment Rory McIlroy made six weeks ago that “I would love to face” the world’s No. 1 player in the Ryder Cup unless his game rapidly improved.
Asked for a reaction, Woods leaned into the microphone and said only, “Me, too.” The quote from McIlroy — the closest thing to bulletin board material at Celtic Manor — came the week after Woods’ golf reached a low point in a dismal season. He had the highest score of his career and beat only one player in the 80-man field at Firestone.
• The United States held off a spirited challenge to win the Junior Ryder Cup with a 13 1/2-10 1/2 victory over Europe at Gleneagles.
Oregon extends Kelly
EUGENE, Ore. — The University of Oregon and football coach Chip Kelly agreed to a contract extension through 2015 that is worth $20.5 million.
The new contract will pay Kelly $2.4 million in addition to incentives tied to performance this year. Over the course of the deal, Kelly’s guaranteed base salary will rise.
Kelly led the Ducks to a 10-3 overall record, the Pac-10 championship and a Rose Bowl berth in his first season as head coach a year ago. He is the only Pac-10 coach to win the conference title in his first year.
• Michigan State’s Mark Dantonio plans to coach his team Saturday when the No. 24 Spartans host No. 11 Wisconsin, two weeks after he was hospitalized following a mild heart attack.
Footnotes.
Flyers goalie Michael Leighton has a bulging disc in his back and will miss a month, while forward Ian Laperriere is out indefinitely with post-concussion syndrome.
• In its latest move to cut costs, the University of California, Berkeley announced plans to eliminate four intercollegiate sports — baseball, men’s and women’s gymnastics, and women’s lacrosse.
• U.S. Open champion Kim Clijsters will miss next month’s China Open because of an infection on her right foot. The Associated Press
