Fans would relish Rachel Alexandra-Zenyatta match

It sounds awfully familiar, the news that the New York Racing Association is trying to arrange a rich stakes race at Belmont Park this fall using a corporate sponsor to boost the purse and featuring the two best horses in training.

Apparently NYRA chief Charlie Hayward dusted off an old marketing blueprint from 1973.

Hearing the plan to pit Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta in this year’s Beldame, my mind drifted back 36 years, to when the NYRA started the Marlboro Cup featuring Secretariat and Riva Ridge.

Secretariat and Riva Ridge in 1973 were very much like Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, the best horses of their generation. Penny Chenery owned both colts, and the public wanted to see them race one another.

Jack Landry, an executive at Phillip Morris and a big horse racing fan, hatched the idea of a match race between Secretariat and Riva Ridge sponsored by Marlboro cigarettes. Chenery didn’t like the match race part, so all the best horses in training were invited. The other entrants included Cougar II, Kennedy Road, Onion, Annihilate ‘Em and Key to the Mint. In essence, it was the Breeders’ Cup Classic, circa 1973.

Secretariat easily won the $250,000 Marlboro Cup in world-record time, 1:45 2/5 for 1 1/8 miles on dirt. It was a marketing success for Phillip Morris, the NYRA, CBS (which aired the race) and, of course, horse racing fans.

It would be truly great if the pieces can be put together this year for Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta to meet. A big problem with the Beldame is getting other horses to run against these two. Anyone with a nice filly or mare will wait for the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic instead. Thus, the Beldame could easily become a match race.

Races like the Marlboro Cup, which were made to crown champions, eventually evolved into the Breeders’ Cup as we now know it. Thus, it defeats the purpose if all the best horses in training don’t show at Santa Anita.

However, where there’s smoke there’s fire. If the NYRA and other racetrack executives are trying to make this dream race a reality, and owners Jess Jackson and Jerry Moss are sincere about wanting it, then it still might happen. I believe the Clark Handicap at Churchill Downs, three weeks after the Breeders’ Cup, remains the best option.

• PICK THE PONIES — Las Vegas Hilton race and sports book director Jay Kornegay said the early bird period for the Pick the Ponies contest has been extended to Monday. The early bird fee is $400, a discount of $100.

Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published Friday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.