I was all set to publish the exciting news that Rachel Alexandra had a filly (sired by Bernadini) on Tuesday. This morning I learned that the mare is in serious condition after complications developed from bruising in her small colon which was injured during foaling.

The mare had surgery yesterday at  Rood and Riddle Equine Clinic in Lexington, Ky yesterday. The prognosis is still undetermined. Her filly is doing fine and is at Stonestreet Farm being tended by a nurse mare.

The filly weighed 140 lbs when she was born. That’s a large foal — in fact it is is the largest foal born this season at Stonestreet Farm.  What’s they typical birth weight of a foal? A study that was conducted by KER about factors that influence foal birth weight studied 348 foals at a farm in Australia. There were 170 colts and 178 fillies in the study. The average weight for the colts was 123 lbs and for the fillies 120.5 lbs.

This is the second time that Rachel Alexandra has experienced complications after giving birth. She was hospitalized for 3 days following the birth of her first foal, a colt, last year for pain management. It makes you wonder if her days as a broodmare should be limited.

Keep jingling for his wonderful mare who showed such tenacity and courage on the racetrack!

Rachel Alexandra’s 140-pound filly, born Feb. 12, 2013 at 2:30 a.m. is healthy. The filly has returned to Stonestreet Farm and will be tended by a nurse mare.

That’s a heck of a large foal. A rule of thumb is that a foals weighs 8-10% of its mature body weight. If Rachel Alexander weighs in around 1200 lbs, that would suggest that her foal would weigh closer to 120.