March 15 - Horseracing fans will be disappointed to hear that the highly anticipated showdown between 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and the undefeated Zenyatta in April's Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park has been scuppered.

The decision to pull Rachel Alexandra was made by the mare's majority owner, Jess Jackson, after Rachel failed to win Saturday's 1 1/16 mile $200,000 New Orleans Ladies Stakes against four other runners at Fair Grounds Racecourse in New Orleans.

After Rachel Alexandra, who started the race as the overwhelming 1/5 favourite, lost by three quarters of a length to 5/1 second favourite Zardana, Jackson announced that he was going to pull her out of the Apple Blossom, despite its enticing $5 million purse.

Said Jackson on Sunday, 'I decided today that she will not be going to the Oaklawn Invitational on April 9.' He went on to say in a press release that the New Orleans Ladies helped define Rachel's racing condition and that she was clearly not in top form.

After years of hoping that the two best female runners the United States has seen for decades would finally go head-to-head for the first time, news that the showdown would no longer take place, possibly indefinitely, will be a tough pill to swallow for racing fans.

Rachel Alexandra's trainer, Steve Asmussen, also had a lot to say after the mare's disappointing run on Saturday which was her first defeat since 2008. 'She's not where we want physically... and that most likely eliminates the Apple Blossom Invitational.

'We're not comfortable with how she responded to the accelerated training program, so we're going to continue her training and see what happens,' he said. As for the Apple Blossom Invitational, with Rachel out the purse will revert back to $500,000.