Is Zenyatta still racing or is she off to the breeding shed? I confess I knew nothing of her until Animan Planet’s new series. I don’t follow racing all that closely. Now Trakehners, that’s another story.
Here ya go. She’s a FAVORITE of mine. 
http://www.chronicleforums.com/Forum/showthread.php?t=176396&highlight=zenyatta
It was absolutely ridiculous that she didn’t win horse of the year. I guess you only have to race 5 times to win the honor. Sad times.
I was bummed also.
[QUOTE=trakmom;3871690]
Is Zenyatta still racing or is she off to the breeding shed? I confess I knew nothing of her until Animan Planet’s new series. I don’t follow racing all that closely.[/QUOTE]
Worth re-citing as the AP Jockeys series didn’t otherwise mention it. She is owned by Mr/Mrs Jerry Moss; Jerry is the “M” in A&M Records who released the album Zenyatta Mondatta (1980) the third album by The Police for whom she is named.
[Note: A 3-yr old horse under the name Synchronicity (More Than Ready - Since Time Began by Rubiano), sold for $85,000 as a weanling and then $170,000 as a yearling racing at Aqueduct is not owned by Jerry Moss ;)]
You can watch the Eclipse Award [for older Female] with the Moss family for Zenyatta here
She has not had - and won’t have - an official workout this month. Just steady gallops at Hollywood Park.
Thanks everyone for filling me in on this filly. She sure is one of those rare horses that are not seen too often in any horse discipline. She just acquired another fan.
You have excellent taste!
[QUOTE=DickHertz;3872125]
It was absolutely ridiculous that she didn’t win horse of the year. I guess you only have to race 5 times to win the honor. Sad times.[/QUOTE]
why didn’t she win?
What a striking horse! I don’t necessarily follow racing as often as you all probably do, but was so taken by her presence in the Jockey series on AP. Gorgeous!
[QUOTE=2LaZ2race;3873268]
why didn’t she win?[/QUOTE]
Because they’ve diminished the award to whoever wins the Dubai World Cup and returns to the mainland is given the award regardless of whether a horse went undefeated against mostly graded company.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;3873353]
Because they’ve diminished the award to whoever wins the Dubai World Cup and returns to the mainland is given the award regardless of whether a horse went undefeated against mostly graded company.[/QUOTE]
No, she didn’t win the award because she didn’t race in O P E N company. Staying in the comfort zone of your division beating up on girls does not a OPEN champion make.
Curlin, for all his flaws, took on the best horses in the world.
She may be a great horse, but we won’t know until the day she takes on the best and beats them.
Do the jockeys ever receive verbal credit at these events? I know some would say he was just the “passenger” but someone had to guide her to the wire.
I just think he should have received some credit :yes:
Such a wonderful, beautiful and deserving filly. I am so happy for everyone involved.
[QUOTE=scpezold;3873739]
Do the jockeys ever receive verbal credit at these events? I know some would say he was just the “passenger” but someone had to guide her to the wire.[/QUOTE]
Interesting you should ask - not seen on that clip - but Jerry Moss did asked the MC if he could return to the stage to thank Mike Smith for the rides given on Zenyatta. He did so and said he fully intended to mention him.
Steve Crist’s DRF blog - Eclipse Night
9:12 pm: Jerry Moss reopens the debate over the meaning of Zenyatta’s name while accepting her award as champion older filly. Everyone agrees that it came from the title of The Police album “Zenyatta Mondatta,” but Moss said the phrase means “Top of the World” in Sanskrit while Sting has always insisted they are merely pleasing-sounding nonsense words. Sanskrit scholars are invited to weigh in.
9:25 pm: Moss returns to the stage to thank Mike Smith for his rides on Zenyatta, which he forgot to do during his earlier speech.
Regarding the votes for Horse of the Year it really wasn’t close, in case someone is suggesting as much. Here are the votes cast: Curlin, 153; Zenyatta, 69; Big Brown, 13; Raven’s Pass, 2; Einstein, 1; Goldikova (IRE), 1; Peppers Pride, 1; Voter Abstentions, 2.
I’ve liked Zenyatta all along (see prior threads when she broke her maiden) - however the key point is racing outside of restricted company. The previous fillies/mares who have won HOY like Ladys Secret raced against the boys.
Flashback - NYT January 7, 1987 ‘Lady’s Secret Leads Eclipse Winners’
Lady’s Secret, a gray, 4-year-old daughter of Secretariat, won a record eight Grade I races last year in a long campaign that won her the nickname the Iron Lady and made her the nation’s most popular horse. She finished behind Precisionist twice and lost three of her four starts against males, but was overpowering against fillies and swept Belmont Park’s fall filly triple series - the Maskette, the Ruffian and the Beldame.
Lady’s Secret is a virtual cinch to be named Horse of the Year on Jan. 30, won the champion older filly title and helped win statuettes for her owner, Eugene V. Klein; her trainer, D. Wayne Lukas, and her jockey, Pat Day. Lukas and Klein also won the award last year, and Day was the champion jockey two years ago.
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;3873647]
Curlin, for all his flaws, took on the best horses in the world.
QUOTE]
So, if Zenyetta had run in the Classic and ran 4th, she should win the award? Makes no sense. She is a filly for god’s sake. So the HOY should be a 2-3 time a lifetime mare who is a freak and all others should just be what they are…
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think a horse with Zenyatta’s accomplishments in 2008 should win when there is a male horse who deserves it. There was no outstanding male in 2008. That is my gripe. They just give it to Curlin because he won the Dubai World Cup. Yippee !!!
As an aside - Zenyatt’s 1/2 sister (via the dam Vertigineux) tries again to break her maiden today at Gulfstream Park in the 9th race.
3-yr old Treasure Trail (Pulpit - Vertigineux by Kris S.) was sold for $550,000 as a yearling and has sadly done little in the spirit of Zenyatta or even Vertigineaux. Trained by Shug McGaughey she is has run three times on the dirt. Those efforts: 4th at Belmont on October 26, 5th at Aqueduct on November 23, and 6th at Gulfstream on January 4.
John Velazquez, as before, gets the ride.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;3874107]
[QUOTE=Drvmb1ggl3;3873647]
Curlin, for all his flaws, took on the best horses in the world.
QUOTE]So, if Zenyetta had run in the Classic and ran 4th, she should win the award? Makes no sense. [/QUOTE]
If Zenyatta beat the best horses, then she should be HOY. Curlin didn’t just run in the BC Classic, he also beat the best dirt horses in the world in Dubai, and just about everything else that opposed him on dirt in the US. The only US horse to finish in front of him the whole year was Tiago in the classic, by a head.
He showed up to the dances. She didn’t
She is a filly for god’s sake. So the HOY should be a 2-3 time a lifetime mare who is a freak and all others should just be what they are…
What does being a filly have to do with it?
F/M get a weight allowance in open company. Any half way decent filly runs against males, and the good ones win (see Zarkava, Ouija Board, Makybe Diva, Pride, Alexander Gold Run, Goldikova, Darjina, all in the last couple of years).
So, you go from Curlin only getting beat by a head by one american horse to naming a dozen European TURF horses.
[QUOTE=DickHertz;3874227]
So, you go from Curlin only getting beat by a head by one american horse to naming a dozen European TURF horses.[/QUOTE]
Mayke Diva was not European.
Turf has nothing to do with it. If that was the case then why don’t you see US Turf F/Ms run in open company? Well? The same reason you don’t see them run in open company on dirt… i.e there are an overabundance of restricted F/M races on the US racing calender, so trainers/owners can play it safe and pick up easy checks beating other fillies. Not so in other parts of the world, if you have a top filly, once she gets beyond 3yo they pretty much have to race against males.
Check this out.
There are 21 G1 races in the US for older F/m. There are 30 G2 races for older F/M. That’s 51 races with nice fat paychecks and top shelf blacktype.
By contrast, in all of Europe there are 7 G1s for F/Ms 3U and only 8 G2s, and only 4 of all those are at middle distance.
Good fillies/mares can, and have, raced against and beaten males. If zenyatta is as good as everyone thinks, then she should do the same.
I have to concur with Drvmb1ggl3 on this one. Not awarding Zenyatta HOY doesn’t take anything away from her effort for the year and the Moss family don’t seem overly bothered by it.
She did everything asked of her but she only took on female company in her races. From a logic perspective the same could be said of Pepper’s Pride: she took did everything asked of her, was given significant handicap weight assignments and rose to the challenge again and again. Heck she didn’t even get nominated for older F/M Eclipse.
Curlin won twice overseas and of which the Dubai Classic was a commanding victory. He tried the grass - which was out of his comfort zone - and finished in the money. He raced on synthetic - which also was out of his comfort zone - and flopped. Still he took up the good fight and tried it. I suspect if the Breeders’ Cup had been held at Churchill or Belmont Curlin likely would’ve won.
Curlin was at the end of 2008 co-favorite as the top ranked horse in the world along with New Approach (IRE) by The World Thoroughbred Racehorse Rankings (WTRR). These are compiled by the International Federation of Horseracing Authorities (IFHA), an organization established in 2003 with headquarters in Paris, France made up of members from around the world.
Zenyatta is tied for 6th with a rating of 125 (vs. 130 for Curlin/New Approach)
I’ll be interested in hearing about that one.
