All in the Family

Zenyatta has a two-year old half-sister by Bernardini named Eblouissante; so his scheduled mating with Zenyatta will not be that stallion's first sexual and, it is hoped, paternal encounter with the family. Of course, he ends up with the younger babe, though he could of course find himself back with the mom too. The whole thing is kinda rude and gross if you ask me. The dam, Vertigineux, who recently turned 16, has a yearling daughter by Henrythenavigator.

Seems a conservative mating, at least from the standpoint of inbreeding; just a single and commonplace 4x5 cross of Mr. Prospector. The resulting foal will have the Triple Crown winners Secretariat and Seattle Slew - as well as the almost Triple Crown winner Spectacular Bid - in its first four generations.

Owner Jerry Moss told the NY Times that “We’re going to want to keep him or her." But, we'll just see about that, won't we?

UPDATE: Meant to mention that I heard from a couple of readers who have indeed seen For Rent signs up on shuttered OTB parlors; specifically those on 48th St. between 5th & 6th Aves, another on Jamaica Ave in Bellerose, Queens; and another near Port Authority (which an acquaintance of the reader was shown by an agent). Of course, some of the parlors would have closed under a restructuring. So I'm still waiting to hear Hazel Dukes sing "Turn out the lights, the party's over." (Not that she's fat or anything, just sayin.')