Rachel Alexandra, a three-year old filly, was named the 2009 Hose of the Year after the announcement was made on Monday last way during the 39th edition of the Eclipse Awards held at the Beverly Wilshire.
The hose became the first three-year old filly to win this prestigious award since the ceremony’s inception in 1971.

This served as the third consecutive “Horse of the Year” achievement for Jess Jackson, the owner of Rachel Alexandra. In 2007 and 2008, he achieved the honors for his horse named Curlin.

Jackson said after receiving the award that he was happy with the award but acknowledged the other nominee Zenyatta for being just as deserving of the award.

The final voting tally was as follows: Rachel Alexandra received 130 votes as opposed to Zenyatta with 99.

John Shirreffs, Zenyatta’s trainer, said that he was not disappointed with the outcome.

Despite racing among male racing horses, Rachel Alexandra managed to outrace them all at Preakness Stakes recently. The challenge this time is for her to repeat the feat at an upcoming tournament in Oceanport, New Jersey.

The female racing horse will compete at the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, a $1.25 million event that takes place this week. This will be attended by only the best riders and racing horses from all over the country. Tough competitors include Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, Papa Clem and Munnings.

Horse owner Jess Jackson said that the prestigious event will be a tough one to win since past champions are expected to participate. However, the spectators will be treated with exciting competitions. Even if Rachel Alexandra won’t win, Jackson said that it won’t be something to be embarrassed about because there are a lot of great racing horses participating in this tournament.

The overwhelming support at the Monmouth Park sparks hope of the revival of the horse racing industry despite the global financial crisis.

Reports have revealed declining revenues in these types of races which prompted racing venues to add slot machines and come up with racinos.