I nearly had a seizure when I left the theater—that’s how much I liked it. Was it ALL a dream? And who was the main inception performed upon?
All intense questions for the movie-goer that I hope to answer with greater depth when I see the movie again.
Still, for those who haven’t seen it, the idea of “Inception” the movie, and inception the noun within the movie, is to slip into the unconscious of your target and plant an idea—inception—such that the target believes it was his idea all along, not some invisible hand pushing the target one way or the other.
So, what’s my point?
She then won the Mother Goose by 19, then the Haskell by six, and finally the Woodward by a diminishing neck. Rachel set the bar so high that even when she comes back and wins by 10 ½ lengths in the Fleur de Lis, it wasn’t quite enough. Not smashing. Then she sits nicely off Queen Martha at Monmouth and doesn’t kick clear by 15, rather she wins by only three lengths.
Could somebody have planted the idea that she was better than she is? Could a Dom Cobb have put us to sleep and so majestically orchestrate a dream in our own subconscious that she was too spectacular for reality? It would seem so because since we have awoken from such a sparkling campaign, her 2010 2-for-4 —which would be a pretty nice year for any horse of any caliber—just doesn’t garner enough attention and leaves people saying things such as:
“Let’s see: Four races so far this year. None of them Grade 1s.”
“It certainly didn’t leave me breathless.”
“Mr. Jackson should retire his horse now before her value plummets further. She has absolutely no chance of beating horses in the Classic or the Distaff.
Comments courtesy of The Paulick Report.
The idea, the lore of Rachel Alexandra is dead, along with the lore of Tiger Woods or Alex Rodriguez. The latter two look very human and for Rachel, she looks very equine. It’s not enough for Woods to win a tournament; we want to see him win by 15 strokes as he did at Pebble Beach in 2000. Racing fans expect no less from Rachel Alexandra.
I’d like to see the Patron Saint of Horse Racing, Jess Jackson, enter his filly in the Personal Ensign. Then, awaiting his trump card, Jerry Moss throws down the hammer and chases Rachel in a race where Zenyatta will be the overwhelming favorite. Jackson will have nowhere to turn and no excuse: the training is right, she will be entered and her withdrawal will be solely on the gutless act of a spoiled child taking his ball and going back to the vineyard.
A year ago we saw a freakishly talented filly take on very ordinary colts and fillies her own age. Then came the Woodward where Rachel ran into multiple Grade 1 winners. The Woodward was her Dubai.
Curlin, Rachel’s future backpack, was still a monster but, let’s be honest, not the same horse he was when he left the United States. He grinded out victories in the Woodward and the Jockey Club Gold Cup. They lacked the shock-and-awe of his 2007 Breeders’ Cup Classic and his 2008 Dubai World Cup wins when his turn of foot was as swift as Baryshnikov.
To the best of my knowledge nobody knocked Curlin the way people knock Rachel. It’s her turn to have to grind out victories and get it done. Gone are the days when she would win by so much daylight you could drive a cruise ship between her and the second place horse.
Gone are those days ... or were they ever there.
Was it all just a dream?
Brendan O’Meara blogs about horse racing here at HRI and at The Carryover. He also blogs about narrative nonfiction and his book project “Six Weeks in Saratoga” at The Blog Itself. His Web site is http://www.brendanomeara.com.
28 Jul 2010 at 06:28 am | #
I think that unfortunately for you, you are a columnist and not someone that understands horse racing, every time out a horse is not going to win by a street, and for Rachel to have endured those weather conditions and still put together an impressive race is something that goes along way to proving her greatness, many tracks cancelled that day, she ran against a number of speed horses and a horse from Europe that we’ll hear a lot more from, and still closed her final 1/8th in a little over 12 seconds flat. She is to be applauded for her efforts considering the heat, you on the other hand are most likely some excessively overweight taco and pizza eating person that knows nothing about athletics or competition. You write articles that down grade an athlete of this stature to get your readers to gasp. No one is going to gasp at your thoughts on the Horse of the Year because you sound just like an idiot.
You have a good day sir.
28 Jul 2010 at 07:42 am | #
Afleetalexforever: You beat me to it!!! I wanted to say the exact same thing to Brendan O’Meara and now I can’t. I’m astonished that so called journalists such as Bill Finley, Jason Shandler and O’Meara find fault with a 3 length win in 110+ heat index on a dead track. Finley is so ill informed he stated the track was fast. At least get your facts right even if your opinions aren’t. Sorry Einsteins, you won’t see any track records broken in those kind of conditions. I’d also like to add that although Rachel annhilated several fields last year, by the time the Woodward was done, she was spent. Now they’re saving their horse till November. Sounds like a good plan to me. Of course you knumbnut journalists can’t see things in that manner. You’re too busy being cynical. Now go to McDonalds and order yourself a super sized value meal.
28 Jul 2010 at 08:38 am | #
This is so sad! You would think that journalists could at least try to get their facts straight and then have someone proof their writings. I just read an article that had Steve Asmussen as Zenyatta’s trainer. Wrong! I just hope Rachel comes back and shows us all what she is made of. She raced her heart out last year and now all people do is trash her. She is so special, I don’t care if she wins or not, as long as she is safe. She will always be special to me. I love you, Rachel, beautiful girl.
28 Jul 2010 at 09:44 am | #
Brendan,
Keep the faith. I got it; was it all a dream. Some readers, unfortunately, will be quite literal in their interpretations.
Anyway, the Woodward was her Dubai. Liked that. Wish I thought of it; wish I wrote it. That’s OK, I’ll wait a repsectable amount of time and claim it as my own!
Sure glad you didn’t have Asmussen training Zenyatta. The site might have gone down again with all the anticipated incidiary commentary.
Call me when you go see Inception again; I might need an interpreter with a viewing over the track. Popcorn’s on me.
JP
28 Jul 2010 at 09:56 am | #
Thoughtful, well written article.
My take on Inception-when Leonardo spins the totem, and starts to watch to see if it will stop, he glances up to see his children and realizes-it doesnt matter if its a dream.
Just be in the game.
Thanks for your Dubai comparison as well.
28 Jul 2010 at 11:45 am | #
Jeez what is a girl to do?Only won by three lengths..humm I was there,and still recovering from heat exhaustion,and was very happy with Rschel’s win.Why can no one see that Steve is getting her in shape for longer distances?Maybe the mile and a quarter will suit the new bigger version OF Rachel.She was one of few that was not covered in sweat before her race..she showed complete composure and no i do not believe on such a day she should win by a huge amount of lengths.Why waste the precious energy?It is all part of her growing up into a horse that may be able to close better while rating more easily.Long live the queen Rachel!
28 Jul 2010 at 09:31 pm | #
O’Meara: Did someone plant the idea that you’re a knowledgeable horse racing editorial writer in your head? Well it needs to be unplanted because this article was the biggest pile of crap I’ve ever read.
29 Jul 2010 at 05:13 pm | #
Ace,
You’re cordially invited to write a guest editorial and HRI will publish it. The only condition is that you use your real name. Deal?
JP, exec.ed
04 Aug 2010 at 10:29 am | #
Deal.
04 Aug 2010 at 08:06 pm | #
nice.
05 Aug 2010 at 12:51 pm | #
Carryover 2.0, making DREAMS come true.