I second what haligator said. We are witnessing another “tremendous machine” in our lifetimes and it’s so very very special.
She is just THE BEST and such a thrill to watch. Slow or fast she gets the job done. Come on, ANYONE, lets take her on and you will see the Champion she is.
ABSOLUTEY AMAZING.
Here is the replay
In case you missed it: Replay of Zenyatta in Clement L Hirsch
(Replay could also be found in the Bloodhorse story dressagetraks posted earlier but I thought a direct link would be helpful.)
She was my favorite in 2009 and remains so today. AWESOME.
[QUOTE=dressagetraks;5024156]
As a side note, I LOVED that TVG said in effect to the Fox Networks who were joining them, “We know there’s a Dodgers pregame show starting now, and we know the Dodgers are in a championship race, but instead of cutting away right now, you are staying with us to watch OUR champion. We’ll get you over to baseball in a little bit.” 
:yes:
Yes, let the baseball fans watch our champion while waiting for their sport. I well remember many times having to watch something else that ran over while waiting for the horses to finally get on screen. And I can’t think of a single better horse to watch for a non racing fan right now - the way she wins and the way she plays the crowd, she pulls the viewers in.[/QUOTE]
Haha that was awesome! A little taste of their own medicine! Can’t count how many times had to wait on some other sports broadcast that overran to finish so I could watch the horses!
[QUOTE=Flashy Gray VA;5024146]
Good heavens, she just float float FLOATS. She floats 4 wide, she floats on the rail, she floats on poly, she floats on dirt.
But it’s a 17 hand monster dominant intimidator freight train of doom nothing-will-stop-me-doesn’t-it-look-like-I’m-just-cantering floating.
I can’t think of any other way to describe it, it’s surreal.
Those marvelous pretty floppy ears flicking between Mike Smith, her vanquished competitors, and the crowd tell the whole story to me.
All hail the Queen indeed.[/QUOTE]
Perfect description!
[QUOTE=Flashy Gray VA;5024197]
I second what haligator said. We are witnessing another “tremendous machine” in our lifetimes and it’s so very very special.[/QUOTE]
Amen!
She is just poetry to watch.
[QUOTE=dressagetraks;5024156]
I LOVED that TVG said in effect to the Fox Networks who were joining them, “We know there’s a Dodgers pregame show starting now, and we know the Dodgers are in a championship race…” :
Yes, let the baseball fans watch our champion while waiting for their sport. [/QUOTE]
The Dodgers are in a championship race ?
They’re seven games behind !
Fourth out of five teams.
This mare is amazing. To close into fractions like that, at a race well short of her best distance, on a track she doesn’t like, with the distraction of tens of thousands screaming her name, and get the job done.
I have gotten our farm manager hooked on her. He doesn’t pay any attention to races outside of WA. Last night, he knew I wasn’t in a place where I could see the race. He sat down and watched it with his little boy, who has Down’s syndrome, told the baby all about Zenyatta, and how “there is no horse that can beat that horse,” recorded it for me on his phone and came to my house this morning to show it to me. This is a very shy guy from Mexico who has only ever rooted for our own small-time horses. And Z has won him over.
I turned a friend onto big Z, told her to watch. Called her up last night, and she answered the phone, “Hello, Zenyatta Fan Club.”
Big article in the local paper about her today.
Just love her. Adore her. Can’t say enough about her.
Easy peasy.
Watching them gallop out after the finish -her butt is more than twice the size of the 2nd place finisher!
Incredible mare.
And kudos to Blame, indeed!
I was at Del Mar on Saturday and watched Zenyatta. She is truly a gifted athlete, a beautiful mare, and has tremendous presence. In the paddock there was a big crowd all around, and the flash bulbs were going off as if she was Grace Kelly at a movie premier.
What was interesting to see on the replays of the race on the tv monitors was that she overtook the leading horse not by speed, but by length of stride. Really cool to watch.
Does anyone have any idea how much the DMTC paid her owners to bring her down to Del Mar ? Not sure how you put a price tag on that.
They weren’t paid. They were running for the purse money. They cough don’t need big money races created for THEIR mare.
I noticed that, too. “Freight train” is a pretty good description for her when she gets going - although she is a very attractive one.
(I haven’t been following her all along - are there any races in which she actually looks like she’s WORKING?)
Yes they were paid (impeccable source).
Zenyatta has won the Hirsch stakes two years in a row (now three). There was no reason for her to come down just for the winner’s take of $180,000. She didn’t need the race. It’s certainly not worth the trouble and risk.
Del Mar has been hurting this year and with only the possibility of her racing, they drew the largest crowd ever (with the exception of Opening Day and the Pacific Classic). Chances are it wasn’t the commemerative glasses they gave away with her picture on the front that got people in the gates.
The big stakes at Del Mar are usually race 6 or 7, not 9 as her race.
It wasn’t confirmed to the crowd until approx. 5 pm that there would be no changes in race 9 (Hirsch stakes). By that time, there were 35,000 eating, drinking and betting for 5-6 hours, while not knowing if she would be scratched late or not (which we all knew was a possibility).
Many tables in the Turf Club were turned over twice…the first group came, had lunch, stayed for a few races and left. Once empty, the tables were cleaned, and within 15-20 minutes, a new set of folks were ushered to their “table”. The Maitre d’ was handed a nice tip, and all was well.
Del Mar benefited just by having Zenyatta on the property for a few days, with only the possibility of her racing. It was nice that she raced, but by the time her race went off in the early evening, DM had their big revenues for the day.
A man at the table next to ours said to his wife “Yep, we’re being played.”
People nearby laughed…we all knew it was true. But it was a fun day anyway, and I’m glad I had the chance to see her. 
I’ve been inspired to re-read the Laura Hillenbrand book “Seabiscuit” just now because I’ve been telling friends, THIS horse my “Seabiscuit”, my Man-O-War, my Secretariat (though I was 7 yrs old when he ran my parents didn’t care about racing so I completely missed that:no:)
Anyway, its funny the post above reminds me, I’m in the part of the book where tracks all over were putting up money and trying desperately to lure the 'Biscuit, and hopefully War Admirial - I’d forgotten that several tracks tried - and failed costily- to put together the match race -
Anyway, it made me feel sympathetic to race track owners & secretaries when a “Super Horse” is around - it has to be a stressed out job trying desperately to get those guaranteed crowds to YOUR track, so I suppose desperate measures are to be expected!
For me, just revelling in being alive and witness to this great mare - I think I’m going to borrow that line, answering my phone “Zenyatta Fan Club!”:D:lol:
When I saw that the Beldame at Belmont might be her next race, WOW - I sooooo planned on going to see her. Wouldn’t you know the same evening my daughter emails me and says “Still planning on coming out to the (football) game? It’s October 2this year - can’t wait to see you!!” :eek: … :sadsmile: :mad: 
They’re going to the Zenyatta Stakes (formerly Lady’s Secret gasp another race she ran in last year!) instead of the Beldame.
http://www.drf.com/news/zenyattas-next-stop-could-be-zenyatta-stakes
Shirreffs seemed cool to the idea of sending Zenyatta to Belmont Park for the $350,000 Beldame Stakes on Oct. 2, saying he did not want to be away from his horses for too long.
“The only thing that concerns me is if I go to New York, do I go directly to Kentucky?” he said. “And how long do I stay away from the [California] stable? I’m not a good telephone trainer. We have to decide the best decision.”
Zenyatta was scheduled to be shipped to Shirreffs’s year-round base at Hollywood Park on Tuesday and will be walked this week. Later this month, she will begin more extensive training for her October race.
“Now we have some spacing between races,” Shirreffs said.
In other words, we want to keep her undefeated streak intact instead of facing horses in Zenyatta’s class.
I love the Big Z as much as the next person, but jeez, give us a race to watch instead of seeing her beat up the poor fillies that she has been.
