Pedigree Look: Zenyatta

Note: Starting this week and going to the week before the Breeders' Cup, I will be doing Pedigree Look posts on former winners of Breeders' Cup races. Today I'm starting out with the one and only Zenyatta!

Name: Zenyatta

Year Born: 2004

Color: Bay

Sex: Filly

Sire: Street Cry (IRE)

Broodmare: Vertigineux

Broodmare Sire: Kris S.

Profile: You could say that 2007 was a great 3yo crop. With the likes of Street Sense (Street Cry (IRE)), Curlin (Smart Strike), Rags to Riches (A.P. Indy), Hard Spun (Danzig) and Any Given Saturday (Distorted Humor). However, all of those horses where done or retired by the time another daughter of Street Cry had begun her career. It would take her on a journey where not only she would touch people living in the US, but around the world as well. Of course I'm talking about Zenyatta (Street Cry (IRE)).

Her name is very unique, as she is named after an album by the British band The Police (the full name is Zenyatta Mondatta). After being unraced at 2, she began her career in November of her 3yo season. She was able to fire off three wins including winning the El Encino, the second leg of the La Canada series. She then made her first G1 apperence in the 2008 Apple Blossom where she was facing the previous year's Breeders' Cup Distaff winner Ginger Punch (Awesome Again). She would win by just over 4 lengths. After wins in the Milady, Vanity, Hirsch and Lady's Secret, it was time to face the best of the East in the renamed BC Ladies Classic. Not only was a rematch with Ginger Punch, but Hystericalady who finished right behind her in the Lady's Secret and the winner of the Delaware Oaks that year, Cocoa Beach who was one of the best Older Horses in New York, 3yo Music Note who was going after a championship, and Bear Now who was the Canadian darling. She was able to beat all of them once again and get Older Female Honors, but not Horse of the Year as Dubai World Cup winner Curlin once again held that title.

In 2009, she returned in June with a win in the Milady. She then went onto win the same 3 races she would the year before ending her season in the Breeders' Cup. However this time around it wouldn't be in the Ladies Classic, but in the mile and quarter Classic. While several fillies had run in the race before, no female had ever won the race. Even though the field wasn't full of world beaters, there where still some very tough competition. Derby winner Mine That Bird, Belmont winner Summer Bird, top turf horse Gio Ponti, Europe's Twice Over, the previous year's Travers winner Colonel John and Pacific Classic winner Richard's Kid where all entered. Well it turned out like every other race with her on top. It was then announced that would be her final race, but only days before the Eclipse Awards in 2010, it was decided that she would remain in training for her six year old season. Still the votes where in and Zenyatta had once again lost Horse of the Year honors. This time to Rachel Alexandra who defeated males 3 times and becoming the first 3yo filly in the three branch system.

2010 would be her final year of racing. After winning the Apple Blossom a second time as well as the same races she did in 2008 and 2009, she would take one more shot against the boys in the Classic, this time at Churchill Downs. Held under the lights for the first time, it looked like she was going to once again pull it off with her closing kick. Sadly, the Arch colt Blame who had won the Stephen Foster over Churchill surface would hold her off, denying her the 20^th win in her career. She ended with 19 wins in 20 starts with 1 second and earnings of $7,304,580. However, she had done enough and was named Horse of the Year to go on with her Older Female honors.

Zenyatta had her first foal this year, a colt by Bernardini. She is back in foal to Tapit.

Sire

Zenyatta is by Street Cry (IRE) (Machiavellian). He won the Dubai World Cup and Stephen Foster during his career. Along with siring Zenyatta, he is the sire of Derby winner Street Sense, Melbourne Cup winner Shocking (AUS) and multiple G1 winner Seventh Street.

Machiavellian (Mr. Prospector), his sire won the Prix Morny Agence Francaise and Prix de la Salamandre, both Group 1 races in France. As a sire he would sire several nice horses including G2 winner Shakis (IRE).

His dam Helen Street (GB) (Troy (GB)) won the Irish Oaks and was placed in the Yorkshire Oaks. Street Cry is her best foal, but she is also the dam to stakes Helsinki (GB) (Machiavellian) dam to French and English G1 winner Shamardal (Giant's Causeway). While all three foundation stallions appear in Helen's pedigree, the Byerley Turk is the one that appears the farthest away.

Dam

Zenyatta's dam is Vertigineux (Kris S.). She only won twice in her seven race career, but did finish fourth in the Robert Dick Memorial in 1999. As a dam, her record would be much better. Not only did she throw Zenyatta, but she also has multiple G1 winner Balance (Thunder Gulch) and stakes winner Where's Bailey (Aljabr). She is back in foal to Street Cry for a full sibling to Z.

Her sire Kris S. (Roberto) won the Bradbury Stakes in 1980 at Santa Anita. As a sire, his most famous foal is BC Distaff winner Hollywood Wildcat. He's also the sire to Arch (who I talked about earlier), Arlington Million winner Kickin Kris, BC Juvenile winners Brocco and Action This Day, as well as multiple G1 winner Rock Hard Ten.

Verti's dam For the Flag (Forli (ARG)) only won once in her career running both in England and the US. Her best foal is G3 in France, Restrained (Robellino). For the Flag is a ½ sister to G3 winner Helenska (Nijinsky). This is the also the same female family as Kentucky Oaks winner Sweet Alliance (Sir Ivor) (dam of Irish Derby winner Shareef Dancer (Northern Dancer) and G2 winner War Deputy (Deputy Minister) who I talked about before the Olympics when I profiled his son War Buckaroo (Expotential)).

I am Guilty

That's right, I'm guilty. You might be guilty of the same thing that I am. What is that? Well, it's bickering, finger pointing, being armchair trainers and owners. With recent events with the connections of Havre de Grace's decision to skip today's Apple Blossom Handicap, the Internet it up. Facebook, Twitter and forums where full of discussion about the skipping. As expected, the reaction was negative that she was skipping a Grade 1 race for a Grade 2 at a track where she hasn't had the most success. However, what people where critical of is the reactions of trainer Larry Jones and owner Rick Porter. They said it was "whining" for the weight spread (she was giving six pounds to Plum Pretty, ten pounds to Tiz Miz Sue). When I was reading many of these responses though, I felt that there where times that there was whining about the whining. Being critical is one thing, being flat out rude is another though.

 This is nothing new though. In matter of fact, there was criticism of the past two Horse of the Year winners as well. With Rachel Alexandra, it was why she skipped races such as the Breeders' Cup. It got louder when she was retired after her loss in the Personal Ensign. There was some name calling on several of the platforms that I mentioned earlier in the post. In the case of Zenyatta, most people where stomping their feet with her connections refusal for leaving California except for three races (twice for the Apple Blossom and once for her final race in the Breeders' Cup. I was one of those who where very disappointment by the decisions of mainly Zenyatta's connections, but at times of Rachel's as well. However, now that both are retired and have foals on the ground everyone is falling in love with them again.

In this day of age, where social media is getting more and more predominate in horse racing, you are going to see more complaining. We're also in an age where horses do not carry as much as Kelso, Forego, Man O' War and other all time great horses. At this point, no trainer or owner is going to please the bettor, newspaper handicapper or fan of the sport. Can we be disappointed about it? Absolutely, but for every 2 things that an owner may say that is stupid, they may say 1 smart thing. I am no means defending Porter, Jones or decision to skip the Apple Blossom. I'm disappointed in not seeing Grace doing her thing as much as the next person. But it's going to be okay, she'll be back to fight another day. It maybe that I see things as if there glass where half empty and not half full kind of girl. I hope that she and the other horses have a safe racing year.

Z, Rach and Goldi talk

*Location: Kentucky and France*

Zenyatta: I can't believe it's been a year since I retired! I remember like it was yesterday.
Rachel Alexandra: Me too! It doesn't seem like it's been two years since I defeated the boys.
Goldikova: WAAA!!!!!!!
Z and Rach: What's wrong?
Goldi: *sniffles* I lost my last race. Makes me sad since I lost to two boys!
Z: Don't feel so bad. I lost too.
Rach: Me too.
Goldi: Really? I lost to Court Vision. Who did you lose too?
Rach: Persistently. Oooh that name gives me the shivers.
Z: Blame for me. Makes me happy that Mike won this year with Drosselmeyer.
Rach: Goldi, don't beat yourself up about your loss.
Z: Agree, I mean every great horse ends their career with a loss. Just ask Zarkava.
Goldi: She never lost, I lost to her.
Rach: Okay then, how about Frankel?
Goldi: He hasn't lost either! WAAA!!!
Z (whispers to Rach): So what are we going to do?
Rach (who is looking something on her laptop that has her boyfriend Curlin as her wallpaper): Lets see. Got it!
Rach and Z: Sea the Stars!!!!
Goldi: He won his final race.
Rach and Z: Back to drawing board.

Yes I was bored and decided to do this. Regular posts return next week!

19 Straight by Rapid Redux

So Rapid Redux won his 19th race in a row! Congrats, that tied a record that was shared by New Mexico superstar Pepper's Pride, as well as the one and only Zenyatta. Next up will be a try of holding the record on his own which would be a North American record. However, I'm a little bit bugged by this win streak by the Pleasently Perfect gelding.

This was a horse who up until actually 1 year ago was struggling in claiming races (he was claimed on October 13, 2010 for $6,250 after crossing the wire first, but dq'ed to last by his current owner Robert Cole). After winning his first start for his current team (which actually happend 1 year ago today), he finished eighth in his next start. Has been nothing, but money since with all wins.

So what gives? Why has this horse all of a sudden turned things around. I asked this question to a few Facebook friends of mine, knowing that I am a little bit of a overthinker sometimes I said that I was not impressed. Of course I was shot down right away, which is why I expected. Both Pepper and Z where critized for their connnections less risk taking decisions, why is Rapid Redux off limits? Any horse who has that type of win streak should not off limits to criticizm. That's just the way the ball bounces sometimes.

However, there is a different between Pepper and Z as well as Redux. Pepper's connections where never willing to go outside of New Mexico, thus not knowing how good she really was. As Kentucky breds, the options for Redux and Z where much smaller. They had no choice, but to face "Open" (what I mean is horses born anywhere no matter the state or country) company. Also before his struggling in claiming company, he was owned by George and Lori Hall (of Ruler On Ice, Fire On Ice fame) and even ran 3rd in the Tyro as a 2yo (abeit he was last, but he was good enough to be stakes placed).

Dispite me being a bit not impressed by Rapid Redux's success, this is something that has impressed me. During his win streak he has gone to 7 different tracks and has had 7 different jockeys. That to me is impressive.

Number 20 will be the most diffcult as there will be people who will be rooting against him so that Zenyatta can stay on top. As for me, I'm on the fence. I have to see where the track is and who shows up. Needless to say though, I will be watching no matter what happens.

Derby Top 20 3/29

This is more then likely the only week that I will be putting up the list on a Tuesday. Next week my plan the list back to Weds. This week there are some small changes, but they are more towards the bottom of the list with some slicing and dicing going on. For this reason while Mucho Macho Man dropped, he didn't drop as much as he will next week. Also all twenty postions are now filled with three newcomers and 1 horse being dropped. This weekends Florida Derby will tell more of who has a chance and who doesn't. Let the fun begin! Also there are a few horses on this week's list that need to do well in their next preps if they even want to get into the Derby field (as of right now Nehro is the 20th horse, but he will need to get another prep in as several of those below him still have yet to run their final preps). Here is this week's list:



Also some sad news to report, Zenyatta has lost her Bernardini foal. Apperently she will be bred again.

Bernardini the new Ruben Amaro Jr.?

I love baseball, in matter of fact after Basketball and Horse Racing it's the one I follow the most. So you are asking why I'm I comparing Bernardini to the Philadelphia Phillies General Manager Ruben Amaro Jr. Well late last year when pitcher Cliff Lee was a free agent there where two teams seriously in the mix: Texas Rangers and New York Yankees. Of course niether of them got him as the Phils snuck in and signed him to a deal to make the starting rotation the best in the Big Leagues.

With Zenyatta, all the talk was between two horses Indian Charlie and A.P. Indy. When it looked like that Indy was going to win the heart of this year's HOY, his son swoops in to take the prize of being her first mate. Why the sudden change of heart? It could be a couple of things:

• Zenyatta has a 1/2 sister by Bernardini whose is named Eblouissante, while Balance (another 1/2 sister who herself is a G1 winner, has a colt by Indy)
• Bernardini like Zenyatta did not start at two, however his dam Cara Rafaela finished 3rd behind My Flag in the 1994 BC Juvenile Fillies.
• He has wins at a mile and a quarter (Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup).
• He finished a close second in his final race the 2006 BC Classic.
• His first winner A Z Warrior won on a synthetic surface (she went on to be a G1 winner on dirt, he also has a G1 winner in Italy on grass).
• Indy has been having some fertility problems for the past few years (although one of the mares he did get into foal 2 years ago was 2006 BC Distaff winner Round Pond, she had a colt last year).

These are just some hypothetical situations. As for what I think of it? I'm not a big Bernardini fan, so I'm disapointed. However more importantly, I hope the baby is born healthy and sound next year.

With that we now know that the past two HOY will be going to 3yo Champions respectively. Of course Rachel will be going to Curlin.

The Derby and Oaks lists will be released tomorrow due to a small delay, sorry for the inconvence.

Perfect Zenalie

The road to the 2010 Horse of the Year honors will go down as one of the most heated battles ever. On one side, you have the blueblood bred Blame who won 3 G1's including the BC Classic. On the other side, you have the bluecollar bred Zenyatta who won 5 G1's was runner up in the Classic. Most people assumed that the 3 time Older Female Champ would come just a bit short for the third year in a row for the highest accolade of the night. However, it turned out that they where wrong.



Zenyatta becomes the third Female this century to win Horse of the Year honors behind Azeri and Rachel Alexandra. She also becomes the third HOY to win the award the year after winning the Classic (Cigar who lost in his defence of the Classic, but had won HOY the year before as well and Skip Away who lost HOY in 97 to Favorite Trick, but won HOY in 98 after losing the Classic to Awesome Again). Blame was a very close second, while Goldikova got more votes then people expected she would finishing in third.

While people are dispointed and upset with Blame not winning HOY, in a way it maybe a good thing he did not win. Since 1990 only 8 horses who won the Classic, have gone onto win Horse of the Year honors. Those that are left:

1990- Criminal Type (did not participate)
1993- Kotashaan (won the Turf)
1994- Holy Bull (did not participate)
1996- Cigar (3rd in the Classic)
1997- Favorite Trick (won the Juvenile)
1998- Skip Away (6th in the Classic)
1999- Charismatic (did not participate)
2001- Point Given (did not participate)
2002- Azeri (f) (Won the Distaff)
2008- Curlin (4th Classic)
2009- Rachel Alexandra (f) (did not participate)
2010- Zenyatta (f) (2nd in the Classic)

Now in Charismatic and Point Given's defence, both suffered career ending injuries. Still they did not take part in the BC their respective years. That doesn't mean Blame didn't deserve HOY, he absolutly did. But it's just a title, the horse's themselves don't care about it. In a way, too much pressure is put on the horse. Should Blame's fans be dispointed? Tt really depends on who you talk to. Him not getting Horse of the Year is not going to deminish the fact that he defeated Z on the track where it counts. His trainer Al Stall was gracious in defeat which is different from last year when Jerry & Ann Moss post awards show basically threw Rachel under the bus.

Valerie of Foolish Pleasure and Fillies First put together a nice list of Champion Females from around the world from this past year.

As for the other awards of the night:

2yo Champions: No suprise that Awesome Feather and Uncle Mo took them. Both deserved them off their wins in the BC.

3yo Champions: Again no suprise that Blind Luck (one vote away from being unanimous which I found suprising) and Lookin at Lucky won. Shame Lucky has been retired, and "Clover's" 4yo didn't start out as expected.

Older Champions: Suprised that Blame was unanimous, you would think Zenyatta would be? Nope. At least this year it was Goldikova and not some random horse like Icon Project that got the vote.

Sprinters: Not suprised by Dubai Majesty, but Big Drama was a little bit of suprise at least for me it was.

Turf: Gio Ponti was a bit of a suprise, I felt that Winchester should have won since he did defeat him. However, that was seemed to be the tone of the night. Goldi won for the Females which was no suprise at all.

Steeplechase: Slip Away which is also no suprise.

In all it was basically chalky last night. Personally I'm glad that it's finally over, Z has ridden into the sunset the ultimate champion and we can now focus on horses that will be running this year.

At least until November comes around.

At Last

Need I say more. A longer post coming tomorrow.

My Pick for Horse of the Year is...

So here we are, the Eclipses will be announced tonight. I gave who I think will be the winners when the finalists where announced, except for Horse of the Year. The past couple of months I've been going through the 3 finalists: Blame, Goldikova and Zenyatta. Orginally I was going with Blame because he defeated Z. Then I went to Goldi thanks to her third win in a row in the Mile. Then I decided on Z because well she's Z.

However last week when I was getting ready to write a post onto why Blame should be HOY, but I can't. I know it's supposed to be Horse of the Year and not Horse of the past Three Years, but Zenyatta may have just enough to finally get HOY. While Curlin lost twice and Rachel was undefeated, Blame actually has a weaker camapagin then the both of them combined. Look at who Zenyatta defeated this year compared to Blame. With the exception of 2 (Haynesfield and Quality Road), none of the horses Blame defeated came back to win. Zenyatta meanwhile defeated Switch who finished second to Dubai Majesty in the F/M Sprint and won the La Brea to close out her 3yo season and St. Tritians who gave Zenyatta the toughest race to date was done for the year after her hard battle. Also Zenyatta once again won every major Southern California female race, along with the Apple Blossom which would have been the setting for the expected match-up between Rachel and her.

Blame also had the hometrack advantage, which is the same thing that happend to Z in 09 when it was held at Santa Anita which is near what was her true hometrack Hollywood Park. I think if Mike Smith had moved two seconds earlier, she probley would have been the Classic winner.

I would not be suprised if Blame wins, but I also would not be suprised if Goldikova wins either. That being said, my pick for Horse of the Year is Zenyatta.

A Legend was born

3 years ago on this date, a Street Cry filly was making her first stakes apperence. At that time she only had 2 starts under her belt, and both of them where only within the previous 5 months or so. Maiden and an allowance wins before her first stakes race in the El Encino. However, she had some good stock behind her, 2 of her sisters where stakes winners, with one of them Balance being a G1 winner. Zenyatta's El Encino win was the start of a remarkable career that lasted until this past November when she finally lost in her defence of the Breeders' Cup Classic. Here is the win.



On Sunday, the El Encino will be run again. This time the field is highlighted by Blind Luck, however she could have a hard time with several other challengers. I'll preview the race, along with the rest of the weekends races tomorrow.

UConn, UCLA, Pepper and Z- Amazing Streaks

What do the UConn Women's Basketball Team, the UCLA Men's Basketball Team, and two horses New Mexico legend Pepper's Pride and of course the one and only Zenyatta have in common? Consecutive win streaks. Today the Huskies tied the Bruins for most wins in a row, on Tuesday they more then likely will hold that title on their own (they already have the Woman's Record for consecutive wins). That got me thinking about Pepper and Z. However, much like it's not fair to compare John Wooden's teams to Geno Auriemma's teams. It's not fair to compare to two fillies to each other.

For one, all of Pepper's wins where against state bred competition and never faced outside company. She tied and broke the record against Allowance company. There was a lot of heat on her owners and trainer for not taking a risk and going to outside company. Now she is living in Kentucky in foal to Distorted Humor, in a way poetic justice. While we never knew how good she really was, there is always that what if.

For Zenyatta, it's even more impressive. Yes as a KY bred, she had no choice but to face open company. Keep in mind though, due to her sheer size and nervousness that her siblings (especially Balance from what I hear), she didn't make her first start till her 3 year old season. And that was after Hard Spun, Street Sense, and Any Given Saturday where retired, Curlin was done for the year, Octave was retired and lastly Rags to Riches. She was really until her Apple Blossom win, knowns as Balance's little sister. As we soon realized though, she was her own horse and she will be the standard bearer for fillies and mares in the future. Unlike Pepper however, Z did not finish her career undefeated, but in a way that made people love her more.

UCLA was beaten by Notre Dame, UConn lost their first streak to Villanova. Blame was Z's ND and Nova, while Pepper never had to go though that. With that being said, Zenyatta did win the BC Classic the first filly or mare to win the race and finished second in the AP voting twice (last year to Serena Williams, this year to Lindsey Vonn). In the end, much like UCLA and UConn have set the bar, Pepper's Pride and Zenyatta will be the standard for consectutive wins in North America. If their foals could be half as good as they where, that would be great for racing.

Here is Pepper's final win,



And Z's

Horse of the Year Chat- The Animated Edition

When looking at something not related to horse racing, I stumped upon this website called Xtranormal where you can create animated movies. The voices are computer generated and they didn't pronounce Zenyatta correctly, but here is a little video of HOY of the year descussion.

Rachel and Z- It's Hard to Say Goodbye

I thought that now would be a good time to do a tribute video to both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. Since I had already done one for the each of them individually, this time around. Finding to the right song, was not hard at all. About a year ago I had found a group called Straight No Chaser which is an alcalpalla group Indiana University who are now recording artists. When they where still in college they had done a cover of Boyz II Men's It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. I happen to like Boyz II Men and thought that they would be perfect for this video.

Here is the video of Rachel and Z accompied by Boyz II Men's It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday. I hope you enjoy.

A Dancing Queen says goodbye

As England is celebrating the engagement of the future King of their country, the US is saying goodbye to a Queen. Of course that Queen is a horse. Zenyatta will call it a career after a very gallent second place finish to Blame in the Breeders' Cup Classic. While it's no suprise that she will be retiring, I think there where a few people who where holding out hope that she would return for her seven year old season. It's certinally going to be a different not seeing her or her "arch-rival" Rachel Alexandra running next season. Both of those two lovely future Hall of Famers (and both will get in on their first try as long as the HOF does not change their voting procudure) have in a way reignited horse racing. However, that's not here nor there to talk about Rachel in a Z post.

Here is a little bit of her story:

While in 2007 the headlines where focused on Street Sense, Curlin, Hard Spun and Rags to Riches, a three year old filly by Street Cry out of the Kris S. mare Vertigineux was just really starting to get her career underway. Trained by 2005 Derby winning trianer John Sheireffs and owned by Jerry and Ann Moss (Jerry being the M in A & M Records), Zenyatta was known only as G1 winner Balance's little sister. Little did we know is that Balance would be known as Zenyatta's big sister. In her first three races she was ridden by David Flores, however after he decided to stay in California for the SA Derby, a riding change was made for her first chance on dirt in the Apple Blossom. Her new rider would be Mike Smith who rode the Moss' Giacomo to that 2005 KY Derby upset (at 50-1) over eventual 3yo Champion Afleet Alex and beaten favorite Bellamy Road.

It would be the only riding change in her career. Together Z and Mike won all of the major G1 route races for Fillies and Mares in California. Won both the BC Ladies Classic and Classic (and was a head away from winning the Classic again) the first female to win America's richest race. She has won the Eclipse for Older Female twice (she'll be picking up her third Eclipse in January) and has come in second for Horse of the Year.

Zenyatta also did something that I have never seen another racehorse do. Dance. She just had this auroa about her that was different from any other horse that I've seen.

My biggest regret is never seeing her in person. Hopefully she will be able to pass along her heart to her foals. So who is the lucky guy? No announcement yet, however the fact that she is going to Lanes' End and not to Mill Ridge where the Moss's normally board their mares somewhat tells me they are going to take a chance and go to AP Indy. The problem is the greatest son of Seattle Slew standing at stud is having fertility problems. She could also go to Candy Ride who like her, was undefeated in California after being brought her from Argentina. Or she could just be boarded there and go to a stallion who stands elsewhere. It will be certinally interesting what ends up happening.

For now lets enjoy some videos of Zenny.

At Keenland in 2005 as a yearling,



Breaking her maiden



Her Classic win

Souper Horse!

When you think of Charlotte Weber when it comes to horse racing, you think of all the nice horses that she has owned. My Typhoon, High Fly and Miesque's Approval are just three of them. However, the best one could be a Giant's Causeway colt who is a half brother to one of the greatest females of all time. The great female I'm talking about is Zenyatta and her little brother Souper Spectacular could be the next great turf horse in the US.

Named in part as Weber is an heiress to a vast soup fourtune, Souper Spectacular started his career on the dirt, he was moved to the turf. He's been nothing, but money since then. Just take a look at his latest start which was this past weekend.



While the Hollywood Derby is coming up too quickly for him to make it, I would not be suprised if a stakes race is in his future. He's going to have some big expectations to live up to though. We all know about Z's accomplishments and Balance was not a bad horse herself. Their dam has really never thrown a bad horse (well there was Treasure Trail, but that's a different story). I'm looking foward to what he does next year as a four year old against the likes of Paddy O' Prado, Yankee Fourtune and Champ Pegasus.

HOY?

Since John Shirreffs is in KY for the Queen Elizabeth II which will be run tomorrow at Keenland, a press conference was called so that the press could ask him questions. One of his answers though was pretty interesting: Zenyatta should win HOY, even if she loses the Classic (to read more of what he said click here). Really? Really? That's saying that the following horses don't deserve HOY over Zenyatta:

Quality Road
Blame
Lookin at Lucky
Blind Luck
Richard's Kid
Haynesfield

If QR, Blame, Lucky, Richard and Haynes win the Classic then they are HOY, if BL wins the Ladies Classic and all the horses, including Z lose the Classic, she has a chance. ALL of these horses deserve HOY more if they win the Classic if Zenyatta loses (heck if she loses the Classic and if Life at Ten wins the Ladies Classic she could sneak in there and take the Older Female title away from Z, but that's highley doubtful). Why does Shirreffs think this way, here is excerpt from the article:

“I would think that would be almost too much,” Shirreffs said. “For what she has done for the last three years, I would have to say that would be a real slap in the face. Not only in performance, but [also] what she has done for racing in general.”

A slap in the face? Really John, you've had your chance 2 years in a row. 2008, I agree that you should have won dispite Curlin's record. Last year Rachel was just too good. I'm a fan of Zenyatta, but a comment like this is why I'm not a fan of her connections. That's a shot at horses who really right now are sitting in the catbird's seat with Zenyatta. That somewhat makes me want to root against Z in the Classic.

With that being said, Shirreffs did admit that horse racing did miss out in trying to force a RA/Z matchup instead of enjoying them both. As I've said before the three voting blocks for the Eclipses should have allowed a tie for HOY. I guess somethings will never change.

Here is a little clip of the presser from Ed DeRosa of the Thoroughbred Times (my discription is below the video):



This video is about what she didn't leave Cali except the Apple Blossom (and soon the Classic).



A cute one on Z's quest to find carrots (my guess her favorite treat)

I hope everyone has wonderful weekend of race watching. I'll be back with new posts next week.

Dear Sports Illustrated

This maybe silly to ask, but I have a request for 2010 Sportsman/Woman of the Year. However, it's a bit unconvential as this person is actually not a person. It's a horse. You see her name is Zenyatta and she has gone perfect in her career. Few horses have gone perfect in their careers. Colin and Personal Ensign are the two most notable names who have finished their careers undefeated. Man O War didn't, nether did Seattle Slew (who won the Triple Crown while still undefeated), Smarty Jones, or even Secretariat.

On October 2nd of this year, Zenyatta tied the North American record for consectutive wins. The horse she tied with Pepper's Pride retired undefeated herself 19 for 19. However, all of her races where against New Mexico breds, so we really didn't get to see how talented she really was. Zenyatta on the other hand doesn't have that luxary. As a Kentucky bred, all of her races have been against open company, also she got her start later then other horses born the same year she was. That's saying alot as horses born in 2004 included, Street Sense: the first Breeders' Cup Juvenile winner to win the Kentucky Derby, Curlin: the 2007 and 2008 Horse of the Year, Hard Spun: one of the most exciting horses around in 07 and only the second (I believe) horse to finish second in the Derby and Classic in the same year (Easy Goer being the other), Rags to Riches: the 2007 Belmont Stakes winner, the first filly to win a TC race in 19 years and the first to win the Belmont in over a 100 years and many more horses such as Any Given Saturday, Dreaming of Anna and Octave just to name a few. If you look at her record there isn't much more to explain:

* First Horse to win 2 different Breeders' Cup races (Ladies Classic/Distaff and Classic)

* First Filly/Mare to win the Classic
(at this time of writing) 12 G1's including all three of Southern California's major G1's for Fillies and Mares

* Defeated G1 winners: Ginger Punch (Champion), Mine That Bird, Richard's Kid, Hystericalady, Tough Tiz's Sis, Summer Bird (Champion), Romance is Diane, Twice Over (GB), Gio Ponti (Champion), Life is Sweet, Cocoa Beach (CHI), Music Note, Carriage Trail, Santa Teresita, Colonel John, Awesome Gem, Girolamo, Rip Van Winkle (IRE), Einstein (BRZ).

* Stakes winners who are not G1 winners that she has beaten include: Regal Ransom, Bear Now (Champion), Sealy Hill (Champion), Brownie Points, Just Jenda, St. Tritians (GB), Zardana (BRZ), Dawn After Dawn, Switch and many more.

The one downside about her career is that she never faced 2009 Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra, a matchup that the racing community was asking for almost a year. Zenyatta will be making one final start in her career. That will be in the Breeders' Cup Classic which she won last year. Just to see how beloved she is, especially in California, take a look at her final start in Cali. This was the Lady's Secret a race named after a Horse of the Year, next year this race will be known as the Zenyatta.

Sports has it's ups and downs, the highs of championships and the lows of defeat. I hope that if she where to win the Classic, that you would consider her for Sportswoman of the Year for 2010. She has brought such joy to horse racing, a sport that has been suffering for quite some time.

Thank you for your time,

Rachel Levine
Delaware

Beware of Switch

What do Blind Luck and Zenyatta have in common? Well they are both closers, both have won at Hollywood, have wins on both a synthetic surface as well as dirt, and both have won a mile and a quarter. Other then that, there really isn't that much more in common. Zenyatta didn't get her career started until almost of the better 3yo's (sans Curlin) retired and Blind Luck was a multiple G1 winner at 2. After tomorrow, though they will have one mroe thing in common... a common opponet. Who may that be? Why it's Switch and if Mike Smith is not careful tomorrow, this John Sadler trainee by Quiet American could pull the biggest upset ever. It will send shockwaves throughout racing not only here in the US, but around the world too.

Why could Switch be the most dangrous candiate to upset the Queen? There are a few reasons why:

1. She is a synthetic specialist: To be more specific she is a Cushion lover. All of her wins have been at Hollywood and when she hasn't won, but finished in the top three it was on a synthetic surface. Her two times off the fake stuff she has finished out of the top three each time (both this year losing to Evening Jewel and Devil May Care respectivley).

2. She has a win at the distance: It's well known that Z perfers at least a mile and an eighth. She can win shorter, but since she kicks in so late in the stretch it may be too little too late to catch Switch. She won the Hollywood Oaks at this distance.

3. She has beaten a Champion: In that Hollywood Oaks, it was the return for Blind Luck after her KY Oaks win. Now Blind Luck is much better on dirt then she is a synthetic surface,  and she did get a bad ride that day. Never the less, Switch did win. Here is her Holly Oaks win.



There are a few things that may make me wrong, one is that she is breaking on the rail and there should be enough of a pace for Zenyatta to run at. Also I don't know much about her jockey.

With all that being said, will Switch win? Sadly I think Zenyatta will be too much for this field and should tie Pepper's Pride's record. However, I will be shocked if Z throws a clunker and we do see another horse win. It's going to be a fun race indeed.

What's to Prove?- Zenyatta in Cali

Note: This topic was suggested by the Thoroughbred Bloggers Alliance. As you may or may not know, I'm a member of the TBA. You can read more TBA member blogs by visiting, tbablogs.com.

Zenyatta is running supposed to run this weekend, in race. However, it's not in New York where the Whitney will be. She's running in her home state of California in the G1 Clement Hirish at Del Mar. Here's the problem though, Del Mar is her least favorite surface. Add in it's a sixteenth shorter then her perfered mile and an eighth distance, and she's facing a bunch of nobodies (no offence to those horses though! especially since 2 of them are stakes winners.). What does she have to prove in Cali, now? I say nothing.

She's won just about every major main track stakes race for older females (the one she hasn't she's ineligble for as she's a KY bred and not a CA or FL bred). She's defeated older males (BC Classic), and she's undefeated on all three major Southern Cal tracks (Del Mar, Hollywood and Santa Anita). It's time to take the show on the road, however this won't happen sadly. Could things change and we see her at the end of the month in the Personal Ensign? Maybe, if it does it would be the first time that Z has faced her East Coast counterpart in Rachel Alexandra. I'm sure either ESPN or NBC would be interested in showing the PE since it would feature 2 of the greatest females to ever run in the US.

Whatever happens tomorrow, GO ZENYATTA!

Also tomorrow? The Whitney featuring Quality Road, Blame and Mine That Bird this should be a good race. On Monday there will be a Live Chat starting at 7pm. Have a wonderful weekend everybody!

What if?

Neither Rachel Alexandra, or Zenyatta ever made it to the track? Or ended up being horses who wheren't what you would consider the cream of the crop. I know this may sound weird, because they will go down as two of the all time greats when they finally retire. However, horse racing looked it was making somewhat of a comeback, at least to me.

Here are a few examples:

Right after the Preakness, I went out to dinner with my mom and sister, and NBC was still on the tv when we got to the restaurant. Lester Holt who hosts the Weekend Nightly News talked about Rachel's win and there where people who where cheering at the replay! As we we where waiting for our table, a guy mentioned that Rachel won to his family.

ESPN breaking into it's College Football Show to show Z's Lady's Secret win LIVE. That doesn't happen everyday, especially breaking into ESPN's bread and butter sport.

ESPN using HRTV's coverage of Z's Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap to break into Sports Center earlier this year. They only showed the race, and a little bit of the reaction, but still.

TVG letting those who only have HRTV see the HOY announcement, their feed was also broadcast on ESPNews.

The point I'm making is, had it been any other horse (say Mine That Bird), I don't think the General Public would be making as a big deal. Does that mean horse racing is on the comeback? Unfortanlly, there is still a lot to do. Sadly I doubt it will get back to it's orginal glory.

However, with the help of Rachel and Z (plus Secretariat coming out later this year), horse racing took a small step forward over the past 2 years.

Weekend Preview to come Friday! Among the races that will be previewed are the UN, Suburban, Queen's Plate and much more!