2010 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)

Date/Track:
11/6/2010, Churchill Downs
Post Time:
6:46 PM ET
Distance:
1 1/4 m (Dirt)
Age/Sex:
3+ M
Time:
2:02.28
Breeders' Cup Classic 2010
Positives
Negatives
  • All running styles can win but rally types preferred
  • 2nd is dominated by stalkers
  • 82% of 3rd place finishers are stalkers/closers
  • 60% of 4th are closers
  • Wire types finish less than 20% in each of 2nd, 3rd and 4th slots
  • Must have run a sharp last race + sharp Grade 1 race during campaign
  • Fave runs 1st-2nd 60%
  • Less than three starts in the campaign
  • No wins at 1 1/8 miles and up
  • Never run at the 1 ¼ distance
  • Posted a new Beyer/BRIS top figure in previous race (unless a 3 year old)
  • Travers winners are 0-12
  • Gelding

What the Nation is saying about the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic (G1)...

Similarities abound between the Horse of the Year vote of 2010 and the Juvenile Male vote this year...Read More
  • Show All 31 Comments
  • travel_vic · other than both being thoroughbreds I fail to see anything in their actions similar · 6 days ago ·
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  • DakotaLuv15 · They are both Showing potential in hte racing industry. I thnk Hansen may win the derby. · 3 days ago ·
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Quietly, one of the best performances on an excellent Saturday of racing took place in Oaklawn Park’s Essex Handicap. On paper the race looked like it would be Pin Oak Stable’s Alternation to lose. Although 2011 became largely a season of unfulfilled potential for the attractive son of Distorted Hum...Read More
  • Winplacsho · It's nice to see Alternation back, it seemed like he fell off the map after that subpar effort in the Jim Dandy. I agree that this horse is similar to Blame in a couple of ways: running style, under the radar by being midwest based & no triple crown starts as a 3 year old. · 3 days ago ·
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The sport of Thoroughbred horse racing used to be a sport of great pride, but now it has fallen from grace. In an attempt to regain its glory and avoid any black eyes, those who actually are in the know, and know what is what, have begun to needlessly appease those who are clueless to what really go...Read More
  • Show All 13 Comments
  • travel_vic · Miss Keller is a good example. New rider at Woodbine a few weeks back was told only to hand ride her and look at the result. · 99 days ago ·
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  • DeadHeat · vic, some horses are better hand ridden and some are not and need the whip. As I said above, a big hulking horse like Curlin, Zen or Rock Hard 10 may not respond to hands and body like a smaller horse, ie BL would. Fillies normally don't like being hit, in my exp. some can improve from it, but the fillies typically need the body and voice. If you have a horse that won't listen to any of your aids, and a high strung TB geared in race mode may not respond needs to be reminded that you are up there sometimes. Donna Brothers on the Works this morning "its better to have a stick and not need it, than need a stick and not have it." If you have a horse that is veering out of control and won't straigten, a jock then goes for the whip when reins fail. If there is not stick to get his focus back and to make him stop veering then what? Do you want a few horses to clip heels and have half the field go down? · 99 days ago ·
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Zenyatta! Going into the 2010 Breeders’ Cup at Churchill Downs on Nov. 5 and 6, you would have thought Zenyatta was the only horse participating in the races... Read More
  • Show All 49 Comments
  • getthefacts · Then you must have understood or been told wrong. While she did draw a fairly large crowd, they were far from lined up 4 deep. Anyone who wanted to walk up and see her had plenty of room. · 103 days ago ·
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  • getthefacts · Just proved there is more myth to the supposed Legend than actual Legend. · 103 days ago ·
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Nineteen up, nineteen down. Zenyatta has done it all. Her quest for a pair of perfect 10s comes in a few weeks at Churchill Downs with the world watching in the Breeders' Cup Classic. But there is an undeniable question standing in her way to 20 consecutive victories -- the competition. Even the mos...Read More
  • Show All 47 Comments
  • MarcelloMarocco · Icyhotboo- Ahhhh whats wrong?....hate hearing the truth?....redundent...Lol...hardly · 118 days ago ·
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  • MarcelloMarocco · I never new Correcting myself was considered be redundant?.... · 118 days ago ·
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She didnt even need 5 seconds. Just the little bob of the head. Mike shouldnt feel bad, she ran the race of her life against some of the best horses we will ever know. I still hate it when people compare her to Rachel. Rachel has NEVER faced this type of competition and didnt veen show up to the BC. Zenyatta is the queen, and always.
  • dubby30 · She ran the race of her life against who. "Some of teh best horses we will ever know" You have got to give me some of what you're on. · 155 days ago ·
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She didnt even need 5 seconds. Just the little bob of the head. Mike shouldnt feel bad, she ran the race of her life against some of the best horses we will ever know. I still hate it when people compare her to Rachel. Rachel has NEVER faced this type of competition and didnt veen show up to the BC. Zenyatta is the queen, and always.
Zenyatta should of won, but stayed back too far, too long. If she had another 5 seconds, she would of won it. Mike Smith shouldn't feel bad, all good champions loose some. Big Disapointment, but her best race, truly was the one she lost.
I WISH Zenyatta had gotten her nose in front!
  • Show All 3 Comments
  • ThaSpa · She absolutely was not in front of Blame a half stride after the finish. She was never in front. Overhead view dispels that. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLejHqQH2Ag&feature=related Can't go by the side view, once they cross the finish line the angle is distorted and the horse closer to the camera looks further along than they really are. · 195 days ago ·
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  • yukichan · @Brittany- As Ann Moss would later say: "She shoulda just stuck her tongue out" · 195 days ago ·
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Blame ended Zenyatta's 19-race win streak with a thrilling head victory in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic. Read More
  • Show All 38 Comments
  • icyhotboo · no blooy you sound like you duh. as though she didn't win? · 391 days ago ·
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  • humphrey · One run dimensional horses are always subject to early pace pressure · 390 days ago ·
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Brian Zipse runs through his favorite races of 2010. Read More
The debate figures to rage-on well into the New Year about whether or not Horse Of The Year is Blame or Zenyatta. Their respective records are similar, their abilities only a head apart.The challenging part about this year’s award is that Zenyatta brought the Breeders’ Cup to an entirely new group o...Read More
  • Show All 17 Comments
  • lewpe · Travis' disection of the race is slightly off when, in fact, Zenyatta did get a nose past blame at tone point in the stretch run. He considers their respective records similar but that due to the Classic win Blame should win HOY. That being the case, he fails to note that winning the Classic did not earn Zenyatta the title in 2009. Winning the Classic may not necessarily mean HOY title when only 11 of the last 26 Classic winners took home this title. There is more to winning HOY than just winning the Classic as was so displayed in 2009. · 445 days ago ·
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  • icyhotboo · In 2009 she didn't get beat by just anybody but a filly who left her heart at Saratoga runing and defeating older males. · 445 days ago ·
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I almost signed up on Facebook today, just to comment on Travis Stone’s blog. I said ”almost”. I don’t really have a need for Facebook, so my comments will appear in this format. Mr. Stone, It is astounding to me that you describe Zenyatta’s finish in the Classic, as “she ran her race, but she came ...Read More
  • humphrey · This horse is a phenomenon, but best of all time???????? Most people commenting here think "all time" goes all the way back to 1973 · 447 days ago ·
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With just a few weeks left in 2010, Horse Racing Nation takes a look back at some of the highlights of a remarkable year in racing. (All photos are courtesy of Eclipse Sportswire). Read More
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  • icyhotboo · how true humphey almost makes wish I died in 79. · 450 days ago ·
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  • humphrey · Novermber 5, 1985 I had an audience with the then, lead stallion at a little farm in Paris Kentucky and fed peppermints to the best son of BOLD RULER. Even sent Mrs. Tweedy a shot of him cribbing on the fences there at Claiborne........Better than visiting the Pope, the Queen and the President all rolled into one afternoon. · 449 days ago ·
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Turf journalist and bloodstock advisor Frances J. Karon lived the dream at the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic. With hand held video camera, she joined Zenyatta's entourage, covering the big mare's race prep and the race -- from on the race track!Zenyatta walks and dances over to the saddling enclosure. ...Read More
I think it was an awesome race that show a lot of grit by two awesome horses! My respect for both horses soared. For Blame, who has been racing great this year, and for beating the Super Mare; and for the Super Mare for showing that she has so much grit to come from SO FAR BEHIND and make up ground SO FAST, passing all of the other horses like they were standing still, and almost catching Blame before the wire suddenly appeared. This is what horse racing is all about and why I LOVE IT!!!!
  • Show All 7 Comments
  • momscommand · To Humphrey: I agree about Citation and Noor. However, Citation had a serious injury and had not raced for over a year when he met Noor; he was far from the Citation of his younger years. His owner stubbornly brought him back to get more racing $$$$ knowing full well he was inferior to his old self. By the way, have you read the article with these comments? · 453 days ago ·
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  • momscommand · To Humphrey: The article contains: Both Goldikova and Zenyatta won five Group or Grade 1 races in 2010, but there is little resemblance in the quality of the fields the two were beating in those races. In her four Group 1 victories in Europe and her Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile triumph, Goldikova was beating 16 winners of 37 Group or Grade 1 races. The overall Group/Grade 1 record of her competition in those five races is 157-37-25-19. In her five Grade 1 victories this year, Zenyatta was beating not a single Grade 1 winner. The overall Group/Grade 1 record of her competition in those five races is 28-0-1-2. Moreover, Zenyatta beat just two Grade 2 winners in those five races, St Trinians in the Vanity Handicap and Switch in the Lady's Secret. In fact, while Zenyatta’s five victories this year were all technically Grade 1’s, the quality of the competition indicates that they were no better than Grade 3’s. · 453 days ago ·
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It wasn't neutral, it wasn't unbiased, it wasn't an unemotional accounting of what was happening at Churchill Downs last Saturday. "Blame is on the inside, Zenyatta on the outside. Blame. Zenyatta. Zen-Yat-Ta. ZEN-YAT-TA. Zenyatta is flying, Blame and Zen-Yat-Ta and Blame has won it by a head. Zenya...Read More
With darkening skies creating an almost surreal atmosphere, Blame and Zenyatta put on a show for the ages in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic (gr. I), creating a mosaic of emotions that ran the gamut between joy and sadness, and in the end, admiration.In perhaps her greatest performance, Jerry and A...Read More
Zenyatta proved popular across the United States Nov. 6 as television ratings soared for the second day of the Breeders' Cup, which was highlighted by the mare's appearance in the Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I).From 6:15-7:15 p.m. EDT, the segment that included the Classic, ESPN reported overnight ra...Read More
  • Show All 3 Comments
  • icyhotboo · curious because I got hooked on racing when hey brought Bret Hanover to Vernon Downs , a small track in central, New York.From there I started with the flats and still love both. · 457 days ago ·
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  • railbird33 · For me it was the great "Iron Horse" Ramblin' Willy during the 70's at Scioto Downs in Columbus, OH. I guess Uncle Mo's connection should consider a PR firm to get the "star" attention of Smarty, Barbaro & Z. · 457 days ago ·
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Losing on Zenyatta hurts more than I can explain, just because it was my fault. She should have won, and it hurts. Read More
  • Show All 11 Comments
  • zenyatta02 · I don't believe it was Mike's fault at all. Did anybody else see how far back she was in the begining of the race? I found it amazing that she came up to only lose by a nose after the rough race. She would definitely have passed Blame in another half stride, but we've seen Zenyatta's other races. Usually she stops running after she's passed the other horse or when she hits the finish line. At the line she stopped running hard. · 458 days ago ·
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  • MarybethAbney · Zenyatta is still the greatest. Mike Smith is pretty wonderful too. · 458 days ago ·
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