I wrote before that I was standing against Zenyatta in the Classic - that was based on price and certainly nothing to do with sentiment. And since I just can't come up with any other particular horse that I like, how about I just root for her? After all, as opposed to a certain other owner, Jerry Moss is playing the game; and he's rolling the dice for no other real reason other than the sport of it. After all, Zenyatta has little to gain for the owner financially from a win given her gender; and then there's the presumed notion that Rachel Alexandra is already the Horse of the Year. On the other hand, she truly has a lot to lose with her undefeated record on the line. Little doubt she would have (again) crushed her stablemate Life Is Sweet in the Distaff on Friday.
But she's all in, and for that, she deserves some support. And it doesn't have to be at the betting windows. Go Baby Go.
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Saturday, November 07, 2009
You Go Girl!
Posted by Alan Mann at 11:39 AM
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14 Comments:
Z will have to outfinish RVW and as far as his problem feet I'll let O'Brien decide. Euros repeat.
RG
You wrote:
"After all, Zenyatta has little to gain for the owner financially from a win..."
54% of $5,000,000 qualifies as, "little"?
I know that fining an NBA star $25,000 doesn't hurt much, but I think even really rich people consider 7 figure sums real money.
Go Z, Go!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hv49V2RzgHw&feature=player_embedded
Life is Sweet earned a 107 Beyer figure. Zenyatta is pretty clearly better than Life is Sweet. Could Zenyatta run a 110 or 112?
I'm not the guy who usually takes fan favorites in these races. I bet against Cigar like seven times. But Zenyatta appears to be the most likely winner in this race...by a ways.
>>54% of $5,000,000 qualifies as, "little"?
Well, yeah, you're right...though we're really talking about 54% of $3 million, the difference in purse money between this and the Distaff. But you know what I mean, in terms of her long-term value.
First: Zenyatta won... deserves HOY.
Second: Am I the only one who can't handicap these races? I hope a return to dirt helps.
Third: Poor Mine That Bird...he makes Dust Commander look like Man O'War. He might be the saddest Derby winner in the last fifty years.
I liked Gio Ponti in the race and I knew he'd be a good price. I wanted to make sure I collected if he ran second.
So I looked for horses to hook him up with. The more I looked at Zenyatta the only fault I could find was that she had never run a mile and a quarter.
She made a believer out of me but I'm not abandoning Rachel and, if I had a vote, it would still be Rachel for HOY.
RA will have next year to prove her championship caliber. People questioned and, most importantly, claimed Zenyatta would never run in the Classic. The general consensus was her owners and trainer would simply run her in the Ladies' Classic and accept their Eclipse for top older female. Then, when she was entered, they said she couldn't win. Well, she did, in an absolutley authoritative and exceptional manner. She managed to overcome a delayed start when Quality Road was ultimately scratched, not a perfect pace scenario considering her come-from-behind running style, was forced to weave through traffic in the stretch and still managed to win going away against the top horses running in the world right now. I don't really give a damn if someone thinks she doesn't warrant being awarded HOY. I know, without a doubt, she earned it today. And I'll bet Jess Jackson knows it too.
Mine That Bird ran a good 2nd to Rachel in the Preakness and got a
3rd in the Belmont. He has nothing to be ashamed of. And I've certainly seen worse Derby winners.
Mine That Bird is simply a better horse on dirt, agree he has no reason to be ashamed.
How many horses have competed in all three legs of the triple crown lately, much less finish 123?
This takes quite a bit out of a horse, especially a little guy like him.
He was mismanaged thereafter, should never have left NY after the Belmont, aiming at J Dandy, Travers and JCGC and taken a stand against the synth as did Rachel.
As for Zenyatta, honestly, she deserves HOY despite me being a Rachel supporter.
Why? Not because she did not ship to Synth Heaven, but because Rachel never won at a Classic distance, a horse should not even be eligible for HOY without winning at 10f.
Rachels biggest wins were vs. Summer Bird and MTB, both of whom Z left in the dust (rubber?) yesterday. Ignoring surface for a moment, that is all that should matter.
Z beat the best on the Championship day, she deserves the award as would have Summer Bird or Gio Ponti if they had prevailed.
It would be wonderful if we could get all these terrific fillies and mares in the same race someday.
Goldikova, Z, RA, Life IS Sweet, and six entrants du jour from Godolphin/Darley to fill out the field, wow what a race.
Someone should create an animated fantasy race since unfortunately it will never happen.
PS - I suspect MTB will now be transferred to one of the "super" trainer barns and will compete exclusively on dirt in a campaign aimed at the Classic at the scene and distance of his greatest victory.
Do not be surprised if he emerges as a top handicap horse next season, along with Summer Bird of course who should also stay in training.
As for the BC "dirt" races run on plastic, until the same winners run and win on real dirt they are synthetic champs, not true national champions. As long as real dirt is the surface at the majority of the the nation's leading tracks, that is the only surface for measuring dirt race champions.
SoCal racing shot itself in the foot with it's rush to plastic, just as the Golden State at large has rushed to so many poor policy decisions with unintended consequences. In any event, the Eclipse Award should be based on the candidate's entire campaign with points earned for placing in stakes races on all surfaces. Add 'em up. /S/greenmtnpunter
green, I agree they should add a synth champion to the existing dirt and turf, but HOY has been won by turf horses in the past so why would the best synth horse be excluded if she has the best record?
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