ZENYATTA - 15 not out!

Fantabulosa! Many thanks for the link, Arkers, that's made a nice day brilliant for me. Can't believe how wide she goes and much earlier to challenge than usual, but there she is, ears pricked like she's out on an exercise canter, and job done again. She appears to be wearing ear defenders - don't remember if she's always done that? Presumably as her fan base has grown so huge and the shrieks are deafening, they've decided not to have her distracted in any way.
 
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If she's a one trick pony, give me one of those any day! Not only a really good racemare but a stunner to look at to boot.
 
Well, she's turned 18 feckin' good tricks as far as I'm concerned, with every chance she'll chuck in a few more before she retires. If the make-up of a one-trick pony is a superb attitude and conformation - especially given her size, the ability to run past everything else and win wheelbarrowfuls of money, then please, Mummy, can I have one in every colour?
 
Does the same thing everytime .. How many of her 18 races have been in different countries? How many have been even outside California? How many times has she raced on a non-oval track? How many 125 (or greater) rated performers has she beaten?
 
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She has only raced twice outside of California and that was at Oaklawn but she will be now on her way to run in the Breeders Cup Classic at Churchhill Downs with a run or two ahead of that.

She has done wonders for the racing industry especially here in the US at a time when our sport is in serious decline.

If you don't appreciate what Zenyatta has achieved then we all may need to find another hobby.
 
You appreciate what you like to, and I'll do the same.

There is nothing exceptional to me about this horse, good as she is.

Why can't she run abroad?

Why does she have to run on just her preferred surface?

She typifies American sports for me - it is too insular, and fails to see the sporting world outside their own country.
 
I'd agree with you had she not dispatched the BC Classic field in such an impressive and frankly, easy fashion. She faced some pretty solid colts that day and put them to the sword comfortably. I had a very similar opinion before the Classic but that changed my mind.

I agree it's a shame she's not raced outside of the States and on Turf (although the owners can't be accused of ducking challenges) but the Americans probably think the reverse of Sea The Stars, stayed on his own continent on his preferred surface.

I think she's been great for the sport and a horse like that would do wonders for the sport over here, she has an iconic following.
 
Sea the stars though raced in 3 different countries on vastly different tracks and distances.

I think her wins, the bc aside, are barely comparable with goldikova runningin the prix d'astarte each time she runs. What we get here is a mare with owners whorun her in all the best races, in different countries and continents, on a variety of tracks irrespective of the going.

Zenyatta's owners won't even run in the best races in the US let alone travel outside America.
 
STS raced in turf races only, Zenyatta has raced on cushiontrack, pro-ride and traditional dirt.

STS ran on one continent - 3 countries spread over 800 miles.

Zen raced in one country - Oaklawn being around 800 miles from California (according to google maps)

Zenyatta took the Breeders Cup Classic last year against the best colts in the US and a number of the best that Europe had to offer - nothing that Zen and her connections can do about STS or Rachel Alexandra's no show.

Zenyatta shipped to Oaklawn to take on Rachel Alexandra in an enhanced $5m Apple Blossom - Zenyatta ran and won whilst Rachel Alexandra's connections bottled it (again) having reported that she was short of a run for a big race having been turned over by Zenyatta's stablemate Zardana at the Fair Grounds.

The best horses in the US at the moment are generally considered to be Zenyatta, Quality Road, Rachel Alexandra and Gio Ponti. Zen has already beaten Gio Ponti at the Breeders Cup, shipped to face Rachel who didn't turn up and will face Quality Road (who was beaten by Blame this weekend) at the Breeders Cup.

Short of forcing them all to race against her - Rachel Alexandra could ship West if they're really that keen on facing her, all the races Zenyatta has been in this year are those that RA is eligible for also.

Would have loved to see her take on the best on turf but then she wouldn't really gain anything from taking home the Arlington Million and there'll still be negative comments whatever she does.
 
Irish Stamp said:
Zenyatta took the Breeders Cup Classic last year against the best colts in the US and a number of the best that Europe had to offer - nothing that Zen and her connections can do about STS or Rachel Alexandra's no show.
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I can't have that. RVW had a very tough 3yo campaign and was a spent force by september. Twice Over is not and never will be a top colt. See New Approach's Champion Stakes.

Gamla Stan said:
STS.........stayed on his own continent on his preferred surface.
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You say preferred surface like grass is somehow made in a factory. Any septic coming out with shit like that would deserve a right going over.
 
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I dismissed Zenyetta but she did convert me somewhat with her Breeders Cup win and the style of it.

Do I think she is a Zarkava or Goldikova...no, but equally to get any horse to win 18 on the trot let alone a mare at whatever grade is a remarkable feat and she is special for that reason if none else. Whats more her style of racing leaves her open to a hard luck loss, which makes her winning streak even all the more remarkable.
 
I'd take some posts a bit more seriously if they didn't say things like 'preferred surface', etc. Why in hell's name would you run your winning horse on something they didn't do well on? You have found the key to your horse winning over and over - the trip, the going, the running style and the jockey who does best on it - so why on earth would you bugger about with that? I thought that's what trainers got paid to do: find the key to winning as much as possible for their owners, exploiting their horses' strengths rather than deliberately chancing any weaknesses. Call me old-fashioned, but if those tactics produce a "one-trick pony", then bring it on!
 
On the one hand it's hard not to be impressed with her, and she is uber talented. But it is such a huge pity that Shirreffs and the Mosses are so totally conservative in their choice of races. As one of the top ranked horses in the world, and almost certainly the top ranked American main track horse, there is no reason she shouldn't be racing against the top males every time she steps on the track. No alone does she not travel to run in the big open company races in the US, she doesn't even run in the big races right in her own backyard. There is no reason she shouldn't have run in the Big 'Cap at Santa Aninta, the Hollywood Gold Cup and that she shouldn't be in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar in a few weeks. What kind of perverse joy they get in pummeling the same inferior Cali bases fillies almost every time she runs escapes me.
Is she a great mare? Yes, but she has hugely unsporting connections. Someone said earlier that it's good for the sport in the US... I don't get that at all. As someone else said, it's like watching A-Rod hitting home run after home run off of high school pitchers... who would find enjoyment in that?
This mare had the perfect oppurtunity to write herself into the history books as possibly the greatest ever. They had tailor made oppurtunity in Dubai, surface right up her alley, they could have also have annexed the Santa Anita Handicap, gone to Churchill at taken the Stephen Foster, and then taken the Whitney on Sat. All of which she was well capable of doing. Imagine what that would have done for the sport in the US?
Instead we get to watch her race against three legged donkeys.
At this point I almost find myself cheering against her when she runs.
 
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Jeez- no wonder racing is so depressed in the US with comments like the above..

As Kri points out, she's been cleverly placed to win everything she's turned up at and she has very obviously strengthened up steadily to fit that enormous frame of hers without being overtaxed. She also appears to have stayed sound so far - another feather in her trainer's cap, I'd contest.

Noone on here has said she's the best ever, have they ? They've merely said how great she is to have done what she has. So no matter what the negative comments are about her owners, just remember they're having the last laugh - they're the ones in the winning enclosure with a very healthy bank account and a gorgeous mare that belongs to them and we're merely onlookers with opinions that they couldn't care less about :p!
 
Songsheet said:
Jeez- no wonder racing is so depressed in the US with comments like the above..

As Kri points out, she's been cleverly placed to win everything she's turned up at and she has very obviously strengthened up steadily to fit that enormous frame of hers without being overtaxed. She also appears to have stayed sound so far - another feather in her trainer's cap, I'd contest.

Noone on here has said she's the best ever, have they ? They've merely said how great she is to have done what she has. So no matter what the negative comments are about her owners, just remember they're having the last laugh - they're the ones in the winning enclosure with a very healthy bank account and a gorgeous mare that belongs to them and we're merely onlookers with opinions that they couldn't care less about :p!
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Jerry Moss is worth billions, he hardly needs the money. As to her being the greatest... the point is she could very well be the greatest, but we will never know, because she is forced to race against vastly inferior opposition.
I'm sure glad ol' Lord Derby didn't adopt the same plan with Ouija Board or Santic with Makybe Diva, but then they were actual sportsmen.
 
I don't know ZENYATTA's owners, so no idea if they are 'sporting' or not. Remember, luck plays a huge part in the campaign of any top class animals and for every OUIJA BOARD and MAKYBE DIVA, there's a DAWN RUN or RUFFIAN or BINT ALLAYL and probably many, many more that didn't get to finish their campaigns out. I don't know much about her trainer, either, but maybe ZENYATTA is a mare that wouldn't take defeat well - which you could contest would be a flaw in her make up but who knows ? Jinnyj might have a view on this as she's been up close and personal with the mare.

It's all down to personal preference - some want to see a horse beat everything and if it gets beaten, that's just tough. Others maybe prefer to see a horse rack up a string of unbeaten runs, as this mare has, even though they may not be running against the very cream of the crop and watch her simply enjoy what she's been bred to do, which is race and win.
 
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