10 winners in 16 stakes races. Well done, Stacy!
Great points zoee. It would have been nice to see Zenyatta step out of the female ranks to face males more, but she competed against and beat most of the top horses in training during her career.
You are probably right ruhlmann. Jerry Hollendorfer is no fool. He is thinking about a championship season and seems to be carefully thinking about the best option for his fiilly Blind Luck. It might be prudent to skip the Delaware Handicap, especially if that race has a short field with no pace. The Clement Hirsch at Del Mar is a grade one and Blind Luck is based on the West Coast so that spot makes sense. Hollendorfer mentioned the Personal Ensign at Saratoga as a possible late August target.
This writer makes some valid points. Uncle Mo could be the real deal but others are certain to offer more value in the Derby.
I see that we are playing the "count how many horses" they beat game? Count me in. Zenyatta beat all 113 horses that line up against her during her 19 race win streak.
No matter what you think of Zenyatta you have to give her props for staying in top form for such a prolonged period. She won her first race on 11-22-07 and remained undefeated through 10-2-10. During that span she won 17 straight graded events (13 G1, 4 G2). If she would have shipped all over creation to face males, etc. there is no way she would have remained in training and on top of the heap. Synthetic tracks are safer for running/training and that is also why she maintained form. As for Rachel, she had a great year in 2009 but if she was managed better she might still be thrilling us on the racetrack.
The key to Zenyatta's success and longevity was shrewd placement, proper spacing between races, and allowing her to fully mature. Rachel Alexandra did had a great 3yo filly season but her star burned out rapidly because of that grueling campaign. She never fully recovered and one has to wonder if she would still be running if she wasn't sold and remained under the care of patient, veteran trainer Hal Wiggins.
iThoroughbred, are you seriously saying that Zenyatta is flawed because she did not run in the Triple Crown series? Zenyatta turned 3 in '07 and did not even make her first career start until late November of that year. Also, please tell me about the "so many more horses" that have better records. Zenyatta won 19 of 20 with 13 grade one wins, 4 grade two wins, 2 BC wins including a Classic win and near miss against the boys. The all-time greats list is fun but there really is no way to compare horses of different eras/genders racing at a wide variety of distances/surfaces. All of the great horses past and present should be celebrated. No need to trash one in order to prop up another.
I am sure his Hutcheson speed figure will be much higher.
Actually, late runners struggle in 8f races at Gulfstream Park (15% wins in 82 races). Late running sprinters are usually not successful routing but Dancinginherdreams is more of a mid-range stalker. I believe people were bashing Leparoux because she was too far back in the Forward Gal. Now he is being criticized for having her too close to the pace. I think she will benefit from showing positional speed in her two long sprints at Gulfstream and should be ready to route now. She is still young and learning how to run so don't be too down on her.