In the boldest move yet to bring Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta together for the first time in a race, Oaklawn Park president Charles Cella has announced that the purse of the April 3 Apple Blossom will be raised to $5 million if both horses start.
If just one of the pair start, the purse of the race will revert to its original $500,000. The race will now be called the Apple Blossom Invitational, and its distance has been extended to 1 1/8 miles from 1 1/6 miles. The Apple Blossom, for fillies and mares 4 years old and up, was scheduled to be a handicap, but now all horses will carry 123 pounds.