If you live in the Houston area, you probably know a thing or two about Jim McIngvale if you’ve ever slept on a mattress before. The venerable master of Gallery Furniture (he’s known around town as Mattress Mack) has offered up a very unique (and somewhat plausible) solution to the Zenyatta/Rachel Alexandra conundrum. A recent article in the amusingly-titled Chron states “McIngvale, the Gallery Furniture owner and philanthropist, on Monday told the Chronicle he will put up a $2 million purse if Zenyatta and 2009 Preakness Stakes winner Rachel Alexandra come to Sam Houston Race Park for a duel tentatively set for Oct. 3.”
Should the NYRA’s Belmont solution with the Beldame Stakes not pan out (the plan is to shift the purse from 600K up to a million) this seems like the only potential scenario that could see these two fillies do battle before year’s end. Rachel Alexandra is not planning on a run to the 2009 Breeders Cup thanks to the synthetic surface, so the Dirt at Sam Houston could be the saving grace for horse racing fans worldwide. McIngvale declared “Sam Houston has the best dirt course in the country… This is the best time for them to hook up.”
These types of match races are quite rare with only a few high-profile pairings having been through a similar process. The most famous is likely the Sea Biscuit/War Admiral showdown in 1938. Foolish Pleasure and Ruffian also slugged it out in 1978.
Zenyatta’s camp doesn’t sound entirely convinced about the concept at this early juncture, but the fact that experts estimate that her overall net worth would increase by over 50% should she win this race could lead owner Jerry Moss to give this some very strong consideration. This would be a special event, unlike any other in recent history, and the fact that we’ve got the two best fillies in a generation almost ready to go hoof-to-hoof is enough to make any racing fan excited. The winner would receive $1.2 million with the loser getting a tidy $800,000 for finishing second.
