Half to Rachel Alexandra to Debut at Fair Grounds

On a Dec. 28 afternoon of racing with three stakes races at Fair Grounds Race Course & Slots, it is the pedigree of a runner in the eighth race, a $45,000 maiden special weight for 2-year-olds, that is most noticeable.

First-time starter Airstreem, a Tapit  colt out of the Roar mare Lotta Kim, is a half brother to Rachel Alexandra, who won 13 of 19 races and more than $3.5 million over her Hall of Fame career. A winner of 11 stakes, the daughter of Medaglia d'Oro  famously won the Kentucky Oaks (G1) by 20 1/4 Lengths, the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1), and the Woodward Stakes (G1) during an unforgettable 3-year-old campaign in 2009.

Airstreem's ties to Rachel Alexandra don't end with pedigree. Airstreem is trained by Steve Asmussen, as was Rachel Alexandra during her final nine races following a private purchase by Stonestreet Stables and Harold McCormick after the 2009 Oaks.

The colt has been working steadily at Fair Grounds leading up to his debut, breezing a bullet five furlongs from the gate in 1:01 1/5 Dec. 11. He worked again from the gate Dec. 18, covering the same distance in 1:01 4/5, before recording a half-mile workout in :50 2/5, a moderate breeze that is customary for Asmussen trainees the week of a start.

Airstreem is owned by Terry Green's Jackpot Farm and Dede McGehee and was bred by McGehee's Heaven Trees Farm in Kentucky. Besides Rachel Alexandra, he is related to four other winners, whom all made more than $100,000. Two became stakes-placed: Dolphus , second in the 2017 Pimlico Special Handicap (G3) and Wooderson, second behind Tom's d'Etat in this year's Alydar Stakes at Saratoga Race Course.

Airstreem went through last year's Keeneland September Yearling Sale as part of the Gainesway consignment, where he failed to meet his reserve when bidding stopped at $375,000.

He is an 8-1 shot on the morning line among an overflow field in which the favorites, Digital at 3-1, and Fair Catch at 4-1, already have raced competitively in their only starts. The former was second as the favorite Nov. 30 at Churchill Downs and the latter third Nov. 29 at Fair Grounds.

Saturday's eighth race also includes Kinzea Stone (by Lea ), a half brother to Sharp Azteca , winner of more than $2.4 million whose highlight victory came in the 2017 Cigar Mile Handicap Presented by NYRA Bets (G1). Out of the Saint Liam mare So Sharp and owned by his breeder, Hinkle Farms, Kinzea Stone ran a close sixth when he made his debut Dec. 1 in a grass sprint at Fair Grounds. Trained by Larry Jones, he is a 12-1 prospect.

Kinzea Stone twice failed to meet his reserve at public auction, first unsold for $95,000 at Keeneland in the 2018 September sale when he was consigned by Hinkle Farms, and then at $72,000 in the Harris Training Center consignment at the Ocala Breeders' Sales Spring Sale of 2-Year-Olds in Training