Zenyatta

Arrrgy · Training, equipment change, Lack of works and lead switch problems say yes. If she was mine, she wouldn't run for another month. · 7 hours ago

horses · So what exactly is the point here? So, now, due to the NTRA's great efforts, anyone that is a racing fan that is not at a racetrack, OTB, watching on TVG/HRTV, or watching on any one of the numerous ADW's all of which offer free video... that those remaining 5 racing fans can watch it on NTRA.com??? · 12 hours ago

Arrrgy · My friend in GB, WI is thrilled that she can now watch these races. Apt. won't let them have a dich. No OTB... · 7 hours ago

bband · The truth is that racing secretaries are big wimps when it comes to assigning weights. They rarely assign high weights, except in the case like this where Zenyatta's camp really can't complain. They create big spreads to entice the others to run. · 21 hours ago

Medlocke · bband, I think your absolutely correct. Zenyatta, anytime she races in Handicap's, because of her size and physical nature, is always the only horse in her races that get's saddled with a "boulder" while the rest of the field run's with a "brick." Rachel Alexandra drew top weight of 123 lbs. in the New Orleans Ladies Handicap, but she's only giving away from 2 to 6 lbs. Anything wrong with that picture? But provided both win their prep's, and one can only assume they will, finally fairness will be at play in the 2010 Apple Blossom Invitational, provided Rachel's camp actually shows. Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and any other potential fillies or mares that will race in the Apple Blossom will all carry 123 lbs. All of them. To me, handicapping that race, that's one of the two deciding factors that makes me think Zenyatta will win. I think the two things Rachel needs to have a shot at beating Zenyatta are both gone. 1. The Distance- Rachel Alexandra's best chance of beating Zenyatta, no matter how many times they might race, will be at 1-1/16th. Since the distance was extended to 1-1/8th, advantage Zenyatta. 2. The weight- Zenyatta has been saddled with and won with as high as 129 lbs. in her career. I'm not certain what Rachel's top weight carried has been, as I think, starting her 4yr.old season, this is her first Handicap, and first time giving away weight. If anything, as a 3yr.old, I'd say she got weight given to her against the colt's. I don't see the conventional dirt at Oaklawn being an advantage for either. Rachel has raced and won over it twice. Zenyatta won, drawing off by 4 or 5 lengths in the 2008 Apple Blossom over it. So to sum it up, IMO, for Rachel to ever have a shot at beating Zenyatta, the race will have to be 1-1/16th and she'll have to get a weight break. But that's a break she'll never get in any race the two of them are entered in together because she won 2009 HOY. It would be extremely unusual for the horse that won HOY honors to get a weight break in a Handicap with other fillies and mares. TJMO. · 19 hours ago

mid0827 · zen - That's great. Yes, Jess is chicken. Rachel is outstanding, but don't anyone kid yourselves that the Woodward wasn't 100% hand-picked for a crappy field on speed favoring track. She can't win using her style at 1 1/4 miles, that's completely out of the question. Are you dutching both races because they will be 1-5? · 2 days ago

Arrrgy · More red flags: “She came out at 6:20, turned and went the right way, then galloped about three-quarters of a mile,” said Fair Grounds clocker Billy Pettingill, who has observed Rachel Alexandra’s progression on a near-daily basis since the filly arrived at Fair Grounds in late November. “It was pretty easy. Then they picked her up with the pony and she was off the track at 6:28. They didn’t even gallop her a whole round, they just let her stretch her legs a little bit. They turned her loose about the three-eighths pole and she went from there, through the stretch, and back to about the five-eighths pole." This just doesn't sound as good as they say. There's a reason she didn't have a routine gallop. Clear Sailing looks to step up a few more. 8-1? · 1 days ago

medlocke · Ideally, 127 lbs. probably isn't what you want your mare toting in her first race back after a more than 4 month layoff. But fortunately for John Shirreffs, given her physical structure and nature, if there's any horse in racing that 127 lbs. after such a layoff will not be a big factor for, it will be Zenyatta. She's toted as high as 129 lbs. in her career and still managed to find the winners circle. Plus, I'm sure that Shirreffs and the Moss's both expected this kind of weight assignment going into the Santa Margarita on Saturday. This kind of weight, or there about, is likely what Zenyatta will be saddled with for any Handicap race that she may run in for 2010. Bottom line, even spotting the field so much weight, I don't see this race being the one, especially over the Santa Anita surface, that puts the first blemish on "The Queen's" racing record. JMO. · 2 days ago

amfuller · The second highest weight is 115lbs, if any horse can overcome a 12-16 weight difference I think Z can, she's a big girl. · 2 days ago

Rossington · I'm old enough that I've seen all of the fillies on this list from Ruffian on up race in their careers. Although each is uniquely different in their racing style, the one common denominator among all of the fillies that I saw race that are on this list is a "tremendous will to win." No quit in any of these fillies, that's why they're on this list. As far as just pure, blinding, front-running speed and ability, Ruffian for me easily surpasses them all. She would bolt out of the gate, go straight to the lead, and never relinquish it, during all 10 for 10 of her completed races. She tragically broke down in her 11th start in the 1974 match race against 74' Kentucky Derby winning colt "Foolish Pleasure." A race she was leading until she broke her leg. I also, for my money, don't think there's any question about that Zenyatta is the greatest on this list for a deep closer. As great as Ruffian was for a confirmed front runner, Zenyatta is just as equally great as a deep closer. I've never seen another filly/mare that possesses the size, strength, and a stride length that enables her to make up so much ground so quickly, that she has won nearly all of her 14 lifetime starts by taking the wide, overland route. Remarkable. The best filly on this list for distance, as a stayer, for me is Genuine Risk. She more than proved that in 1980 by beating colt's at 1-1/4 in the 80' Kentucky Derby. Came right back, finishing 2nd to Kodex at 1-3/16 in the 80' Preakness. Then cemented that legacy by racing, and again finishing a game 2nd to the colts at 1-1/2 in the 80' Belmont Stakes. The greatest one single race, that showed the most heart for a filly on this list would be, for me, Personal Ensign's triumph in the 1988 Breeders Cup Distaff. I say that only because she was racing over a muddy, sloppy track. Against another great filly in 88' Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors, and at the 1/4 pole, Personal Ensign looked like a filly who's undefeated record would suffer it's first blemish. But digging into that Churchill Downs mud, and showing the "heart" of a champion, that she was, Personal Ensign summoned the "will to win", ultimately nailing Winning Colors at the wire. She overcame terrible track conditions, and a very high quality competitor in Winning Colors, and ultimately prevailed. That's my take on 4 of the fillies on this list. It's all only the way I saw them. I'm sure everyone did not see it through the same eyes that I saw it through. · 3 days ago

Rossington · invasor, Excellent call on Goldikova, IMO. I think she's long overdue her proper notoriety as one of racing's great champion fillies. · 3 days ago

Barbados Buck · If you are not near a TV that day, the Horse Racing Radio Network will provide live coverage from Oaklawn Park via world-wide streaming and many radio stations across the U.S. For more information go to www.racehorsereport.com and click on the HRRN link or visit www.horseracingradio.net. · 10 days ago

cigar · Great news about the radio... making it on TV on a Friday will be difficult. · 10 days ago