Zenyatta
Final Appearances
Zenyatta paraded for fans in sunny California on Sunday, in snowy Kentucky on Monday. Despite the cold, a good-sized crowd turned out at Keeneland to see the champion one last time before she retreats to stud. I wish the same could have been done for Rachel Alexandra, unceremoniously retired at the end of September. But even though honoring the filly was something Churchill Downs was interested in doing, her connections were not, explains Jennie Rees: “However, six days before the fall meet began, Stonestreet Stable quietly sent a van to pick up Rachel at Churchill to take her to the farm …”
10:50 AM Update: Many thanks to Susan for pointing out a recent post (with photo!) on the Stonestreet Farms Facebook page: “For those of you who are interested in seeing [Rachel Alexandra], we wanted you to know that after the first of the year, we will be announcing … occasional visitation days …”
The Numbers
The Racing Post’s Rating of the Breeders’ Cup Classic:
All the best dirt horses in America featured and it produced an above average winner, and, for that matter, an above average runner-up. Blame had proved himself a progressive horse in the top division this season and on Saturday he climbed the final pass to the top of the handicapping ranks with an RPR of 131. Zenyatta, in receipt of a 3lb mares’ allowance, matched her previous best ease-adjusted RPR of 128+ from last year’s Classic. On the raw figures, this was the best performance of her life.
Both Blame and Zenyatta received a Beyer Speed Figure of 111 for the Classic. That matches Blame’s previous top in the Whitney, in which he defeated Quality Road, and is one less than the career-high 112 that Zenyatta was given for the 2009 Classic. The consistency suggests we saw the best of both.
How about Uncle Mo? Mike Watchmaker on the Juvenile winner’s BSF:
The 108 Beyer he earned in the Juvenile was the second highest since Beyers were first published for this race in 1991. The highest Beyer ever in the Juvenile was War Pass’s 113 in 2007. But that Juvenile was run over a sloppy, sealed track, and we all know that conditions like that can often produce aberant [sic], untrustworthy figures.
Mo’s figure ties that of Street Sense in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, also at Churchill Downs. Street Sense went on to win the 2007 Kentucky Derby off two preps, which is what trainer Todd Pletcher plans for his young star.
Breeders’ Cup handle, attendance, ratings, and website traffic were all up this year. From Tuesday’s press release announcing the gains:
Traffic to the Breeders’ Cup web site and micro sites, also experienced strong growth. Traffic to the Breeders’ Cup main web site, www.breederscup.com, was up 25% over 2009 and traffic to its specialty handicapping site, www.breederscup360.com, was up 600%.
I’m so pleased. And now that we’re a couple days away from the stress of keeping the BC360 site up, I can delight in the fact that we broke the server on Saturday afternoon — that’s how good traffic was across the BC network. On BC360, every significant metric — pageviews, unique visitors, time on site — showed tremendous growth. We had visitors from 127 countries, up from 90 in 2009, with increased numbers from the UK, Canada, and Australia. All credit to the editors and contributors, and thanks to everyone who visited!
While compiling the final BC360 stats report on Monday, I noticed that the iPad, introduced in January, came in #6 among visitors’ browser/OS combinations, and that not only did it register so high for a new device, but that it seemed to supplant smartphone usage, which was down across devices. Part of that may be due — at least for iPhone users — to the successful introduction of the Breeders’ Cup iPhone app this year, but it also occurred to me that people may prefer the tablet for mobile web browsing over the smartphone experience. Turns out, I may have stumbled onto a trend: “Are tablets the smartphone killer?,” asks Wired. It’s certainly plausible.
Getting It
A dear friend, who doesn’t follow racing, emailed me on Saturday night:
I Googled Breeders’ Cup this afternoon — like it would help me “get” what happened. It didn’t. Looks like a lot of races and some kind of fight was reported — including the heights of the jockeys involved. I can see horse racing is its own world with weird horse names, legacies, and soap opera personalities. I also saw references to the Ladies’ Classic and laughed.
Not a word about Goldikova, or Zenyatta, or Blame.
I wrote back, knowing that I wouldn’t, I couldn’t, get across the wonderful strangeness of our little world, the essential mystery of every champion, every race that draws us back to the racetrack, no matter what heartbreak or disappointment befalls us there. We’re in search of the sublime in the form of a thoroughbred, and for 19 races, Zenyatta delivered.
Like a lot of other people, I made the pilgrimage to barn 41 on the Churchill Downs backstretch each morning of Breeders’ Cup week to gawk at her, the perfect mare. I took in her glowing coat and her calm amidst the constant crowd; I felt privileged to be so near. To look at Zenyatta was to wonder — how did she do it each time, coming from so far back? Could she do it again?
She almost did in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Almost.
I stood on the press box balcony, overlooking the finish line. I knew at the wire that she hadn’t gotten there first, even as I wished that what I knew would somehow turn out to be wrong. The crisp white “5” of Blame’s saddlecloth blared “Winner” as the pair flashed past, he on the inside and inches ahead. Back in the press box, even the coolest turf writers stood stunned. “I wanted that win so much,” said one to me, surprise in his voice.
And he had picked Blame to win. He had a ticket to cash.
That’s racing, a game of love and money, emotion and reason.
In the post-race press conference, jockey Mike Smith cried, blaming himself for a result not his fault. “She should have won, and it hurts.” She should have, she could have, she would have. I looked at the fractions. There, the first — the quarter she ran in :26.01, losing contact with the field, as Blame went in :24.45. And there, the last — the quarter she ran in :24.17, gaining on a slowing Blame, going in :24.96. Faster, but too late. If only …
I didn’t cry until Sunday morning, and that was while sitting at a Cincinnati airport gate, awaiting a flight to Boston. It wasn’t because Zenyatta lost; it was because an era was at an end. We’ve been lucky to witness the greatness that we have, in Rachel Alexandra’s 2009 campaign, Goldikova’s historic career (to continue for another year, a bit of good news), and Zenyatta’s almost perfect 19-1 record. Years from now, I won’t say that I saw Zenyatta lose.
I’ll say that I saw Zenyatta.
The Week That Was
A few photos and videos from Breeders’ Cup week at Churchill Downs …
The sun rose late each morning at Churchill Downs. Here’s Filly and Mare Turf contender Harmonious, going out for exercise in a dark and chilly hour.
Ladies’ Classic winner Unrivaled Belle, with jockey Kent Desormeaux up, before working four furlongs at Churchill on Monday morning.
Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Big Drama on the track Tuesday morning.
Ladies’ Classic favorite Blind Luck schooling in the Churchill paddock.
Breeders’ Cup Juvenile runner-up Boys at Tosconova on the Churchill track.
Trainer Rick Dutrow watching Boys at Tosconova gallop.
Goldikova returning to the barn.
Trainer Freddie Head talking with reporters outside Goldikova’s Churchill barn on Wednesday. “I’m very confident,” said Head of the mare’s chances to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile again.
Breeders’ Cup Mile contender Paco Boy out for training on Friday.
Workforce walking the turf course on Friday. The Arc winner was a late scratch from the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday due to trainer Michael Stoute’s concerns about the condition of the surface.
Zenyatta, in the Churchill Downs chute on Thursday morning, walks by with her pony. This may be my favorite 10 seconds of video, ever.
Zenyatta coming off the track on Thursday.
Andrew Rosen, owner of Theyskens’ Theory, and rider Frankie Dettori before the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies on Friday. The filly, sent off as the 5-1 second favorite, finished sixth. Dettori won the Breeders’ Cup Turf on Saturday with trainer Brian Meehan’s Dangerous Midge.
Goldikova, garlanded, paraded, and cheered after winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile for a historic third time. View from the press box balcony.
The Breeders’ Cup Classic field going to post. Tense moments watching.
The Way It Is
Gary West on the Breeders’ Cup Classic results deciding HOTY:
Zenyatta’s 14 victories before this year, and all the goodwill and inspiration she has meted out, and all the publicity and attention she has brought to the game and all her brilliant charismatic flashes probably won’t trump what happens when the latches of the gate spring open a few minutes after sunset on Nov. 6 at Churchill Downs. That’s just the way it is.
If Zenyatta loses to another leading HOTY prospect, it’ll be a crisis.
Monday Notes
Frank Mitchell asks, “who are the great mares of the past 100 years?” Coming up with names isn’t a problem (there are so many), but refining the ranking methodology could be tricky. Record in open company has to be one of the criteria. Regarding that, you have to give Alan Shuback credit for pointing out the unpopular fact that, as the two near their final races in the Breeders’ Cup, Goldikova has proved more than Zenyatta.
The Racing Post rates Dewhurst winner Frankel “as the best European juvenile in the 21st century.” On the all-time list, he ties for third. No doubt Frankel’s freaky, and so is Champagne winner Uncle Mo, as measured by Thorograph. [More Frankel: BHA handicapper Mathew Tester bumps his rating up to 124. That’s the second highest for a Dewhurst winner this young century. It’s also second for the season to Dream Ahead’s top-rated nine-length Middle Park win, and as such, “doesn’t do justice” to the colt, sniffs Hotspur.]
The Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies lost one contender and gained another over the weekend. Oak Leaf winner Rigoletta has been ruled out with a splint injury. Undefeated homebred Awesome Feather earned herself a shot at Churchill Downs after winning the My Dear Girl division of the Florida Stallion Stakes at Calder. “Breeders’ Cup!,” exulted owner-trainer Stanley Gold. “That’s what we discussed going into the race. If she won and did it right, we’d go …”
So, I guess this guy plays football? And he visited Zenyatta?
Fabulous Frankel
Well, that was impressive. With seeming ease, Frankel drew off to win the seven-furlong Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes by 2 1/4 lengths over ground rated good to soft. His final time of 1:25.73 was three-tenths of a second faster than older horses going the same distance in the Group 2 Challenge Stakes.
What’s more, he did it without Tom Queally going to the whip. “I didn’t have to resort to the stick,” said the jockey, “and if you don’t punish young horses like this at this stage of their career then it is a bonus.”
Post-race reaction quotes on the Sporting Life liveblog give a sense of how pleased trainer Henry Cecil was with Frankel’s performance:
1452: More from Cecil — and this is the headline-stuff. He says: “It’s lovely to have a horse like this. At home he works unbelievably well, I’ve never had a horse work like him as a two-year-old. He’s in second gear and doesn’t run away with you but goes into a sixth gear. If he was a formula one car he’d win everything, as long as I didn’t drive him” …
1448: As Frankel returned, Cecil lent over to Lord Grimthorpe and said: “We need to find him a pacemaker” …
William Hill responded to the win by making the 2-year-old Galileo colt, now 4-for-4, the 4-5 favorite for the 2000 Guineas, “although whether he will remain odds-on through the winter is open to some doubt as other firms were not quite so impressed.” Bookmakers also cut their prices on runner-up Roderic O’Connor, while raising odds on the previously undefeated Dream Ahead and Saamidd, who finished fifth and sixth. Of the two, Saamidd’s effort was considerably more disappointing. The colt balked at entering the starting gate (ultimately requiring a blindfold), and never looked comfortable racing. Dream Ahead, at least, briefly gave chase to Frankel before fading.
You know who else is fabulous? Zenyatta. The big mare graces a full page in the November issue of W magazine, flattering text by Steve Haskin (“She … transcends the Thoroughbred as we know it”) accompanying a stylish head shot (love the forelock tousled just so — she’s a fashion magazine natural). A W photo shoot, a billboard, a country song — I can’t think of any living racehorse in recent years who has crossed over into mainstream culture as much as she has (except, perhaps, for poor Barbaro). Trainer John Shirreffs, talking to media at Keeneland on Friday, was absolutely right about one thing — Zenyatta has done a lot for the game, generating good will and positive coverage with her accomplishments.
Added to the watch list today, Brethren, a debut winner at Belmont Park and half-brother to Super Saver, just in case he turns out to be fabulous someday.
Awards Trivia
Goldikova has surpassed Canford Cliffs in the running for this year’s Cartier Awards Horse of the Year. A record third win in the Breeders’ Cup Mile will clinch it, just as a second straight win in the Breeders’ Cup Classic will assure Zenyatta of the Eclipse Awards Horse of the Year title. If both win, it’ll be the first time in the 20 years that the European and American awards have existed concurrently that mares are named HOTY in the same year. It’ll also be the second time in three years for both the Cartier and Eclipse awards that a female horse is named Horse of the Year. Not quite two years after Foolish Pleasure dubbed 2008 the first “Year of the Chick,” distaffers are still on a roll.
What It’s All About
1) Zenyatta running her record to a perfect 19 in the G1 Lady’s Secret Stakes. “Everything was a blur to me,” trainer John Shirreffs told Steve Andersen after the race. “Where’s the wire? You’re looking at her, looking at the wire. I can’t begin to describe it.†Much like the 2009 Clement Hirsch at Del Mar, the Lady’s Secret looked lost in the final yards. Until it wasn’t.
2) Goldikova winning her eleventh Group/Grade 1 race in the Prix de la Foret. Challenged by Paco Boy and Dick Turpin in the stretch, she gamely dominated going over soft ground. She’s now headed to the Breeders’ Cup, where she’ll attempt to win the Mile for an unprecedented third time.
“We are living in a small ‘golden age’ — let’s call it a gilded age,” writes Steve Dennis. “We had Zarkava, Sea The Stars, Rachel Alexandra. We have Zenyatta and Goldikova. These are true champions, these horses who win again and again, beating the best around.” Let’s enjoy.
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Jessica Chapel writes and edits in Massachusetts. Railbird is a Thoroughbred horse racing blog published from June 2004 to July 2019. More / Contact
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