After receiving the true rock-star treatment all weekend at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, Rachel Alexandra certainly appeased her legion of fans at Sunday's $1.25 million Haskell Invitational.

PHOTOS BY SCOTT FRIEDMAN Left to right: Julia Piancone, of Interlaken, gets up close with "Blue" prior to the Haskell Invitational on Sunday. Jockey Calvin Borel and assistant trainer Scott Blasi give Rachel Alexandra a well-deserved cooling off after she won the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park on Sunday. The 3-year-old filly dominated a solid field of talented colts by posting a six-length victory that certainly helped her Horse of the Year chances, despite her going off as the 1-2 favorite on the damp Monmouth track. With jockey Calvin Borel basically just along for the ride, Rachel Alexandra made it look easy in cruising to her eighth straight race.

"This filly is just unbelievable," Borel said. "I can't say how good she is. I don't know. I gave her a few taps at the 16th pole. I just wanted to keep her focused with a couple taps. She started looking around at the crowd, so I just kept her busy to the wire."

The race was really never in doubt, as Rachel Alexandra stalked the early pace set by Munnings, with Belmont Stakes winner Summer Bird running much closer to the pace than usual. On the stretch turn, the filly asserted herself, and through the stretch she was on cruise control as she kept opening daylight on Summer Bird, who had moved in front of Munnings.

Rachel Alexandra, daughter of Medaglia d'Oro and the first filly to win the Haskell since Serena's Song in 1995, ran the mile and an eighth in 1:47.21, just a few ticks off the track record of 1:46.80 set by Spend a Buck in 1985. Summer Bird was left in second with multiple stakes winner Munnings third, a length farther back, and Arkansas Derby winner Papa Clem fourth. Duke of Mischief was fifth, Atomic Rain sixth and Bunker Hill last.

Rachel Alexandra paid $3, $2.20 and $2.10 across the board and topped a $10.40 exacta with Summer Bird, who paid $3.40 and $2.60. Munnings paid $3.20 to show.

She earned a winner's prize of $700,000 for her Haskell victory, bringing her career total to $2,498,354 on a record of 10 wins in 12 lifetime starts.

SCOTT FRIEDMAN Jockey Calvin Borel motions to the crowd after riding Rachel Alexandra to a convincing win at the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park. Following the race, her trainer, Steve Asmussen, was understandably happy and proud, though not necessarily surprised with his prize filly's effort.

"I felt very confident that she would be able to handle the surface today," Asmussen said. "The Haskell was our major goal, and we were happy with the way she ran today.

"To compare her three races from the Preakness to the Mother Goose to today, it's hard to determine her best effort," the trainer added. "All of her races are very special for different reasons. She can handle the crowd, the weather, nothing surprises her."

Rachel Alexandra's winning streak stretches back to last November, when Borel became her regular rider. This spring and summer, the filly has beaten males in both the Preakness and the Haskell, and ran away from filly rivals in the five other stakes.

This was her third straight win for new owners Stonestreet Stables and Harold Mc- Cormick, who purchased Rachel Alexandra after her Kentucky Oaks win.

Her exploits have made her a crowd favorite wherever she goes.

"I can't tell you how amazing it is that everybody everywhere asks me about Rachel," Asmussen said. "I think it's fantastic, and Rachel is very deserving of the admiration."

She has especially earned the admiration of her competitors.

"That was Rachel Alexandra. That's what everyone came to see," said Tim Ice, trainer of Summer Bird. "Take Rachel Alexandra out of there, and we're the winner," said Kent Dersormeaux, who rode Summer Bird, adding that his horse didn't run a bad race in his own right. "He showed me a great deal of will and guts to hang in there and hold second.

"I might have taken my horse out of his game today. I rode the racetrack thinking it was important to have enough speed to be close. He showed me a very good turn of foot and put me right in the catbird seat."

Ice added that Summer Bird was also complimentary of his horse's effort.

"He was going real comfortable throughout," Ice said. "I'm very proud of how my horse dug in. It looked like the other horses were going to go right by him, but he fought back and pulled away for second."

Just over 37,000 racing converged on Monmouth Park on Sunday to watch Rachel Alexandra work her magic. Severe thunderstorms throughout Monmouth County may have scared some people away, but those that came were certainly entertained.

"We are thrilled that so many fans braved the elements to support the biggest day in New Jersey racing," said Dennis R. Robinson, president and CEO of the New Jersey Sports & Exposition Authority, which owns and operates Monmouth Park. "Today's crowd more than demonstrates the public's appetite for world-class racing, and Monmouth Park delivered.

"The one thing you can't control is the weather, and notwithstanding that one variable, the entire day was a wire-to-wire winner for the fans, horsemen and the state of New Jersey."

Get Serious, Captain's Love win day's other feature races

Dinan, Moore & Phantom House Farma's Get Serious was a wire-to-wire winner in the $200,000 Oceanport Stakes (G3), and Team Valor International's Captain's Lover romped to victory in the $200,000 Taylor Made Matchmaker Stakes (G3) on the Haskell Day undercard at Monmouth Park that featured seven stakes races before the main event Sunday.

Both graded races were originally scheduled to be run on the turf, but heavy rains early in the day forced the races onto the sloppy main track.

The field for the Oceanport was reduced to three runners, while the Matchmaker went with five.

In the Oceanport, Get Serious was sent to the lead from the gate by Pablo Fragoso, and the 5-year-old son of City Zip was never seriously threatened as he scored his seventh win at Monmouth in 12 career starts here.

John Forbes trains Get Serious, who stepped the mile and 16th in 1:43 flat over the sloppy main track and paid $3.40.

Kiss the Kid mounted a challenge in mid-stretch, but was forced to settle for second, a neck back, to complete the $7 exacta. Pleasant Strike was more than four lengths farther back.

Get Serious has won on both dirt and turf at Monmouth in his career, and this was his second career stakes win on a sloppy track. He took the Alysheba last fall at the Meadowlands.

"I think he tolerates it [the slop] more than anything, Forbes said. "I thought it was a great ride. He [Pablo Fragoso] did a great job of slowing him down."

"This horse really runs hard every time he races, and he loves to win," Fragoso said. "He broke well, and I was able to get him to relax down the backside. Once that horse got up to our side, he kicked into another gear and would not let him go by."

In the Taylor Made Matchmaker, Captain's Lover, who had never raced on dirt in her career, took a liking to the sloppy Monmouth strip as she romped to a seven-length victory with John Velazquez aboard.

Captain's Lover, a 5-year-old South African-bred mare trained by Todd Pletcher, raced the mile and an eighth in 1:51 3/5 and paid $7, $3.60 and $2.20 across the board as the favorite in the field of six fillies and mares.

Princess Haya rallied along the rail to get second, a length and a quarter before American Border. Princess Haya paid $4.20 and $2.60 and completed the $29.20 exacta, and American Border paid $2.40 to show.

Captain's Lover, who had finished third in the Miss Liberty Stakes on the grass here last month, sat off the early pace until entering the stretch, when she ran right by American Border, who had taken the lead rounding the turn.

Captain's Lover earned a winner's prize of $120,000, and the first three finishers earned a season to one of three Taylor Made stallions, Wildcat Heir, Northern Afleet and Southern Image.

Last year, the mare won a Group 3 stakes at Longchamp, and as a 3-year-old won stakes in South Africa.

"Any time you have a horse that has never run on the main track before, you're a little nervous," Pletcher said. "She's trained so good over it in the morning that we knew if the opportunity arose where she could race on it, we would do it. That opportunity came today, and she ran very well."

"She didn't break that well for me today," Velazquez said, "and she didn't get comfortable in her stride until the backstretch. I know she's a nice horse, but we didn't know if she'd be able to handle the slop. Once she got comfortable and started striding smoothly, she just ran her race."

In the $100,000 Majestic Light Stakes, Corrigan, Di- Cosmo & Leo-Sagâ's Actin Good put on a display of gameness as he clung to a narrow lead the last half-mile and held off Acting Zippy by a nose at the wire.

Actin Good, trained by Bobby Dibona and ridden by Kent Desormeaux, splashed the mile and a 16th in 1:43 3/5 and paid $12.60, $5.60 and $3.60 across the board.

Acting Zippy, the second choice in the field of seven older horses, completed the $63.80 exacta and paid $4.80 to place and $3 to show. Famous Patriot made some ground late to be third, two-an-a-quarter lengths behind the top pair, and returned $3.40 to show. Chirac, the 3-2 favorite, was fourth.

This was the first win of the year in three starts for Actin Good, a 5-year-old son of Yes It's True, who improved his career record at Monmouth to 4-2-2 in 10 starts here.

The winner battled with early leader Pampered Sir the first half-mile, gained a narrow advantage approaching the turn and then stubbornly held off every challenger through the stretch.

"We've been pointing to this race all along," Dibona said. "I knew he'd need a couple of starts to get to a peak, and he was really tenacious out there today. The Iselin (Grade 3 on Aug. 22) is a possibility for him."

"He had a lot of run turning for home," Desormeaux said, and when the other horse [Acting Zippy] stuck with us, he dug in gamely."

In the off-the-turf $100,000 Jersey Derby, Peachtree Stable's Endymion, Joe Bravo aboard, found more in deep stretch to turn back the challenge of 2-5 favorite Despite the Odds and score by nearly three lengths.

Cristophe Clement trains Endymion, a 3-year-old colt by Tapit who broke his maiden on the main track here in May and last out finished third in the Coronado's Quest Stakes run over a sloppy track. Endymion stopped the timer in 1:44 1/5 for the mile and a 16th, and paid $7, $2.60 and $2.10 across the board. He topped a $12.40 exacta with Despite the Odds, who paid the minimum $2.10 to place and show. Code of Honour was third, paying $2.20 to show.

"My horse ran a real big one today, and dug in all the way to the end," Bravo said. "He didn't want to let that horse go by."

In the $100,000 Regret Stakes, Silly Goose Racing Stable's Dâ Wild Ride wore down a stubborn Fearless Leader at the wire to score a head victory as the longest shot (5-2) in a field reduced to just three starters.

Sunday Geisha, the 3-5 favorite, finished third, nearly two lengths behind the top two, after holding the lead into the stretch.

Dâ Wild Ride, trained by Joe Or seno and ridden by Carlos Marquez Jr., paid $7 to win and topped a $14.40 exacta with Fearless Leader, who went off at 9-5.

This was the first win at Monmouth after three straight second-place finishes for Dâ Wild Ride, a 4-year-old daughter of Dâ Wildcat who raced the six furlongs in 1:09 2/5 over the sloppy track.

"This filly really showed her class today," said Marquez. "I wasn't sure if she was going to go by that horse, but she kicked it in for me as we got down towards the wire."

In the $100,000 Teddy Drone Stakes at six furlongs, Shillelagh Racing Stable's Fleet Valid moved to the lead at the three-eighths pole and held his edge to the wire, scoring by three-quarters of a length over Keep Laughing.

The winner, trained by Scott Volk and ridden by Pablo Morales, won his third straight at Monmouth in the stakes, stopping the timer in 1:08 3/5.

Fleet Valid paid $10.20, $4.60 and $3.80 across the board and topped a $48.40 exacta.

Keep Laughing paid $5 and $3.80 and He's So Chic finished third to pay $5.60 to show. Timely Advice, the 2-1 favorite, was fourth.

Volk claimed Fleet Valid, a 6-year-old son of Montbrook, for $14,000 at Aqueduct in April, and the horse has now won three straight at Monmouth.

The horse performed well in stakes company in his younger days.

"He's just a plain, good horse," Volk said. "He was a good horse when he was young, he hit the bottom, and now he's come back. He was a terrific claim."

In the $100,000 Lady's Secret Stakes for fillies and mares, Glencrest Farma's Devil House took command from the gate and never looked back under Chuck C. Lopez to score by three lengths.

The 5-year-old Chester House mare, trained by Bruce Levine, stopped the timer in 1:43 2/5 for the mile and a 16th and paid $11.40, $6 and $3.80 across the board. Talkin About Love closed swiftly on the outside to complete the $100.40 exacta. She finished a length in front of Jasmine Gardens, the 2-1 favorite, and paid $10.60 to place and $4.80 to show.

Jasmine Gardens returned $2.80 to show.

Devil House, who had not raced since April, has now won two of her five career Monmouth starts.

"We got a great trip and I was confident the whole way with her," Lopez said. "She has good natural speed and can carry it a long way. Today she carried it all the way and ran great."