Sunday Morning Notes
– Zenyatta may be most exciting horse racing this year (and yes, I’m including Big Brown in the also-rans; he’s a Triple Crown season comet). The 4-year-old filly ran her unbeaten streak to five in the G2 Milady at Hollywood on Saturday. Bumped and squeezed at the start, Zenyatta showed a super turn of foot, closing from last into a slow pace (the first quarter in :24.74, the first half in :48.19) and kicking away to a 2 1/2-length win. “She always makes everyone look like they stopped,” said co-owner Ann Moss after. “It’s like she’s out for a gallop and everyone else is stopping” (LA Daily News).
– The power of having a Triple Crown contender in your barn made manifest: NYRA track superintendent John “Fast Track” Passero has adjusted Belmont track maintenance at the request of trainer Rick Dutrow, who was concerned about the recent condition of the dirt surface:
Passero said the track was graded less, harrowed more in the last week, giving it an additional quarter inch of cushion.
– Tale of Ekati breezed six furlongs in 1:11.19 this morning over the muddy main track in his final prep for the Belmont Stakes. “This was the move I was hoping for last week,” said trainer Barclay Tagg. In other Belmont news, Tomcito is out with a “reaction” and Casino Drive worked in company with stablemates Spark Candle and Champagne Squall.
– Frank Amonte, now 72 and riding at Suffolk Downs, continues in his quest to be the oldest jockey to win a race.
– When Romenesko posted the memo from Lexington Herald-Leader publisher Tim Kelly announcing a voluntary buyout program meant to cut 4% of the newspaper’s staff, I wondered if turf writer Maryjean Wall might be among those accepting the deal. Unfortunately for readers, she is:
Wall, who plans to finish her PhD in history and teach, landed the racing beat in 1973 and was one of the first women to cover the sport full-time. Given the state of the newspaper industry and declining racing coverage, she might also be one of the last to do the same …
– Bill Handleman declines to get caught up in Triple Crown excitement: “I cannot bring myself to root for Big Brown … I cannot bring myself to utter his name in the same breath with Affirmed and Seattle Slew, much less Secretariat.”
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