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The quality is shite, but watch her coming round the final bend – Arazi all over again.
She was giving away 12 – 19lbs. I will try and find a video of better quality.
The quality is shite, but watch her coming round the final bend – Arazi all over again.
She was giving away 12 – 19lbs. I will try and find a video of better quality.
She was laughing at them…
- Total Posts 17716
The confidence Mike Smith has in Zenyatta is unreal……maybe never beat much there but one second she looked to be having traffic problems until he decided "lets go sideways", she does a little bit of an Ali shuffle lengthens a tad, race over…….totally effortless.
Really hope whatever turns out to be our best 3 year old takes her on in the Breeders so she can prove she really is a once in a lifetime horse.
Why do I get the feeling that Aiden will send Rip for the BC Mile this year!
Calvin may not have smacked Rachel senseless this time, but he wasn’t exactly easy on her.
BETTER QUALITY OF ZENYATTA’S 2010 DEBUT SUCCESS
John Shirreffs trained Zardana upsets Rachel
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing … adies.aspx
Zenyatta overcomes weight handicap, traffic trouble to win 15th straight
John Shirreffs trained Zardana upsets Rachel
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing … adies.aspx
Zenyatta overcomes weight handicap, traffic trouble to win 15th straight
Even better, JHorse.
Thanks.
Rachel Drops out of the Apple Blossom
http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/racing … ossom.aspx
Oh well, maybe later this year RA and Z will meet. Bet Shirreffs and Zardana’s owner Arnold Zetcher are kicking themselves today. RA was 11 1/2 lengths in front of the third horse. Without Zardana in the race Rachel would have romped, then gone to the Apple Blossom and gotten smoked. Zardana could still have avoided Zenyatta and found a different prep race for the Apple Blossom. A third or fourth finish for Zardana in the Apple Blossom, with the expanded purse would have been worth a lot more than the money Zardana won yesterday. Of course, if RA gets in better shape and has another good season in 2010, a win over Rachel Alexandra would add a lot of value to Zardana’s foals.
- Total Posts 17716
Can’t say I blame them and they did say from the start she wouldn’t be ready for the initial date.
I reckon they will be pretty sick they were forced into running her on Saturday in a rush to get ready for the Apple Blossom as she clearly wasn’t ready.
It’s along season and I’m pretty sure these two will eventually meet.
Good point on if Zardana hadn’t run JH. She would have looked like a superstar (Not saying she isn’t) without Zardana in the race.
Zardana looks good after knocking Rachel Alexandra out of the Apple Blossom. Wonder if they brought her back to Hollywood Park instead of taking her on to Oaklawn because she won’t be taking on Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom?
Queen Z worked an easy 6f in 1:13.40 breezing Fri. 4/2 in what will likely be her final major work before the 4/9 Apple Blossom. Not as fast as the 1:11.80 Z worked before the Santa Margarita. John Shirreffs described the work as; "It was a routine work," Shirreffs said. "All we want to do is maintain. You don’t want to get her all excited going to the plane." In a smart move, Shirreffs took Zenyatta back to the barn when just prior to her workout a horse was injured and temporarily closed the track. Zenyatta is scheduled to ship to Arkansas next Tuesday.
http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/ … id=5052180
Still no word on who Zenyatta’s challengers, if any, may be in the Apple Blossom but entries will be drawn next Tuesday, same day Zenyatta is shipping to Arkansas. One potential challenger is Just Jenda, a a very fast local horse and multiple Grade 3 winner who has earned $480,680, though 9f might be a problem for her. The trainer also sounds a bit reluctant with quotes like "We know we’re running for second" and "everybody knows Zenyatta is unbeatable." The following is a quote from the TVG.com blog, can’t find the original article;
http://community.tvg.com/t5/The-Grandst … m-p/143170
"Just Jenda tuned up for a possible start in the Grade 1 Apple Blossom with a flashy five-furlong move Monday morning at Oaklawn. She went the distance in 58.80 seconds, with clockers catching her galloping out six furlongs in 1:12. If she goes in the Apple Blossom, a 1 1/8-mile race for fillies and mares, she is expected to meet undefeated champion Zenyatta.
"The work was beautiful," said Cindy Jones, who co-owns and trains Just Jenda. "The Apple Blossom is a consideration. We’ve got to see who goes in it. We know we’re running for second, and a mile and an eighth is not her best distance. A mile and a sixteenth is pushing it, and so it just depends on who goes. If we have to run hard, hard, hard to get third or fourth, then no, it’s not a consideration. She’s doing awfully good right now, but everybody knows Zenyatta is unbeatable."
An alternative could be to run Just Jenda in the Grade 2, $400,000 La Troienne at Churchill Downs on April 30, Jones said.
The Apple Blossom is one of the main events in Oaklawn’s annual Racing Festival of the South. It will be held Friday, April 9. The festival will feature nine stakes worth at least $2.8 million. The races are spread out over the final week of the meet, with the season-ending Arkansas Derby set for April 10.
Just Jenda has run once this year. A multiple Grade 3 winner who has earned $480,680, she finished fourth in the Grade 3 Azeri, the local prep for the Apple Blossom, on March 6. The race, which has become a key one with winner Freedom Star coming back to take the $100,000 Harry Henson at Sunland and third-place finisher Afleet Deceit an allowance at Oaklawn, was Just Jenda’s first start since October, and she needed the out, Jones said.
"We had a short horse, and she still hung in for fourth and only got beat five lengths," Jones said.
The workout Monday, which came first set on a 50-degree morning, suggests she will take a big step forward. Just Jenda jumped into the drill and was strong throughout, with Oaklawn head clocker Jim Hamilton timing her through fractions of 11.80 seconds for the opening eighth-mile, 24 for the first quarter, 36 for three furlongs, and 47.40 for the half-mile. Jockey Terry Thompson was aboard for the move, which was the fastest of 13 at the distance Monday.
"Every time she’s had a bullet work, she runs a heck of a race," Jones said. "When she doesn’t, she doesn’t win."
Jones also has Grade 2 Black-Eyed Susan winner Payton d’Oro under consideration for the Apple Blossom. Her other option would be the $100,000 Bayakoa, a 1 1/16-mile race here Wednesday, that also could draw multiple stakes winner Euphony.
Oaklawn was to draw the Bayakoa field Friday. Entries for the Apple Blossom are Tuesday
Only four owners had the courage to enter their horses against Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom.
#1 Be Fair, Calvin Borel
#2 Taptam, Cliff Berry
#3 War Echo, Shaun Bridgmohan
#4 Zenyatta Mike Smith
#5 Just Jenda, Terry Thompson
Air Horse One
Click video link on news page to see local TV news story;
Ah, and Jess Jackson’s latest overweight horse is still on a diet. What a shame. He can always bring Curlin back for the "fans." At least he’s not brining his ego to the racetrack.
Now Zenyatta will have the rest of the field rounded up by the quarter pole and looking round half a stride later.
Reminder that the Apple Blossom is tonight at 7:25 EST (not sure what that is in GMT) and will be streamed online at http://www.drf.com I think you have to be a member to watch, but registration is free. Have seen pictures and videos of her schooling, and she is absolutely gorgeous and looks fitter than ever.
I don’t think Zenyatta even got into a gallop, looks like she won in an easy canter.
who would have thought ?
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