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YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!
THAT is why I was so keen on Zenyatta!
14 not out!
Reet Hard, where are you now>?
Very good, thought Twice Over was the best chance europe had and so the form has a solid enough look to me. Good filly…
Amazing!!!
on a slightly more negative note is it just me or could the start have been handled better ?
YESYESYESYESYES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I second that emotion.
She looks quite brilliant and great for the sport. Tremendous from Twice over as well.
RVW really had it all to do today. No chance with that preparation.SHL
Wow i can’t believe that….that was just incredible
The greatest Filly i have ever seen….can’t believe i just witnessed that.
The is something i am privileged to witness…how i wish i was at Santa Anita.
Rip Van Winkle…was terrible…no other words to describe, AOB Had the Melbourne Fiasco and now the Breeders Cup 09 fiasco. There horses missed the break every one of them including Rip….terrible results for a man with such horseflesh. How is he unable to get this right? Different horses outside of Europe.
However lets not take anything away from the winner……i can’t help but wondering would she has stuffed Sea The Stars
Amazing!!!
on a slightly more negative note is it just me or could the start have been handled better ?
Perhaps it wouldnt have changed the outcome but I thought the handlers were not good at all and why arent they wearing hard hats??…god know they looked like they were afraid of being kicked in the head.
I think surrounding the horse and winding him up so much before finally putting a hood on it was a mistake. The guy standing at the near side of the gate when the horse looked like he might enter probably shouldnt have been there.
A monty roberts rug may have been a good idea also.
SHL
Zenyatta is magnificent, but whilst we all get caught up in one of the great performances she did only beat Gio Ponti and Twice Over.
As for Aidan O’Brien – clueless is what I’d describe his training efforts as. He should stop wasting his time going to the Breeders Cup if his horses are going to run like that. The Breeders Cup is being treated as an afterthought by Ballydoyle the whole time, from the starting issue, which is not an overnight thing to the medication decisions – these aren’t pathetic token Listed races in Ireland if they never knew.
What a sire Street Cry is too. A Melbourne Cup winner and BC Classic winner in the same week.
The form isnt that strong to me, Tartan Bearer would placed probably, there is no way in hell Twice Over is better than Rip Van Winkle.
I think 2008 was a far stronger renewal not taking anything away from the winner as she would have had a damn fine chance of taking last years.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW!!!
Now that
WAS
a race. A stunningly beautiful athlete with the talent to match.
I think Zenyatta has really highlighted some interesting points and questions.
This horse is now serious box office globally and her record of 14 from 14 is undoubtedly something special. Her connections have been really courageous and taken on a new challenge rather than going for the easy win in the Ladies’ Classic. Not only have they provided racing with its greatest moment this year they have a horse that has done the one thing that shows racing at its best – she made the race an emotional experience.
That is what racing needs if it is going to transcend the usual crowd, and it is surely what all top sports have.
This brings us on to our old friend Sea The Stars…
1. Would he have beaten Zenyatta?
2. Did he perform to a higher level in his Arc victory?
3. Which horse captured the global public more out of the pair?
I thought, like many, that STS was exceptional in the Arc….but am I the only one to feel robbed of the epic showdown that could have been tonight?
I hope, more than anything, they allow Zenyatta to run in the World Cup in March…racing needs her, I need her, and don’t you need her?
Zip
Zenyatta is magnificent, but whilst we all get caught up in one of the great performances she did only beat Gio Ponti and Twice Over.
And Summer Bird. And Colonel John. And Einstein. And Mine That Bird. Proper, proper, proper horse. Look how long it took for her to be pulled up. Stunning.
The form isnt that strong to me, Tartan Bearer would placed probably, there is no way in hell Twice Over is better than Rip Van Winkle.
I think 2008 was a far stronger renewal not taking anything away from the winner as she would have had a damn fine chance of taking last years.
How anybody can possibly say that this year’s 3yos are better than last year’s, I just don’t know. Must be insanity.
I think I’ve calmed down enough to post something of a analytical response.
I thought she was beaten halfway. She didn’t look to be travelling with her renowned smoothness and looked too far back to make an impact. Then there was that glimmer of hope when she passed none other than Rip Van Winkle turning in.
This wasn’t the Zenyatta we have seen beating up on her own sex, sling-shotting round the outside and coming away hands and heels. No, she had to come between horses. She had to come around horses, loosing momentum at a crucial stage in the stretch.
In the end, Mike Smith gave her a few taps and she won with her ears pricked. Actually, yes, that was the Zenyatta we know and love (if not before, surely you do now).
That was a great, great field, too. She went past horses that have won some of the most prestigious races in the US and beyond.
She is the best filly I have ever seen and I think she would have to go very close to being the greatest.
Seeing her before the race, pointing her toe and doing her little jig. She’s big, beautiful and very, very good – and doesn’t she know it.
A great advert for the sport.
Take nothing away from The Rip – this wasn’t his race, but hopefully he’ll be back next year to fulfil his potential.
On a personal note, I started a Zenyatta thread last October and regular viewers will know how highly I’ve spoken of her and I’m so proud to say I’ve never deserted her.
Not a bad preview on the previous page, either. Bang on, really.
Zenyatta is magnificent, but whilst we all get caught up in one of the great performances she did only beat Gio Ponti and Twice Over.
As for Aidan O’Brien – clueless is what I’d describe his training efforts as. He should stop wasting his time going to the Breeders Cup if his horses are going to run like that. The Breeders Cup is being treated as an afterthought by Ballydoyle the whole time, from the starting issue, which is not an overnight thing to the medication decisions – these aren’t pathetic token Listed races in Ireland if they never knew.
What a sire Street Cry is too. A Melbourne Cup winner and BC Classic winner in the same week.
Well she did win very easily though but point taken that they weren’t brilliant horses she beat. I just think that Ballydoyle really have so much amo, they just have to keep firing it somewhere.
At the end of the day, that horse has been in training a long time and with the journey over not going well, I just didnt understand how AOB was sounding so confident. I think ox will be sitting at home confident that they made the right decision. This race as an afterthought is not the way to go about it.
SHL
Zenyatta is magnificent, but whilst we all get caught up in one of the great performances she did only beat Gio Ponti and Twice Over.
And Summer Bird. And Colonel John. And Einstein. And Mine That Bird. Proper, proper, proper horse. Look how long it took for her to be pulled up. Stunning.
The same Twice Over who was stuffed by my favourite horse of all time by 5 lengths last year. He beat the Tregoning horse in the Champion Stakes.
The same Gio Ponti who beat Stotsfold by a length and something.
Colonel John is a nothing horse in anyone’s world. Gitano Hernando??
Summer Bird might not be the same horse on the Pro Ride, not that I care as I hate one paced plodders.
Zenyatta’s sensational but she wasn’t really tested by those horses. We all know who we wanted to see her up against in the last two years. Be it Zarkava, STS, Rachel Alexandra, who btw would have no hope against her on the Pro Ride.
One other thing, she might be better over 12 furlongs. We’d just never know about that though.
How brave was her jockey to thread through the field like that! And how brave was she to take him there. I can still remember the night that Royal Academy won….this night will also stay in my memory forever. I don’t think I’m going to sleep tonight I’m so wound up….thank you to all the people that have been telling us about this mare and putting up links to her races. What I did notice was that the horses seem to get very wound up in the saddling stalls in America..I’ve never seen them being saddled over there before. It’s so wonderful to see history being made [and great for Henry Cecil to get 3rd as well].
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You simply don’t give Group 1 fillies or colts 15 lengths of a start and pass them like they were trees without being special..
Mike Smith rode her with so much confidence I was saying to myself at half way "what disappointment" and I thought for a while she had bitten off more than she could chew and wasn’t going to be in the hunt she was so far behind.
It’s not that those in front weren’t motoring..Twice Over ran on as game as a pebble and has probably ran the best race of his life. The way went past him and she wasn’t even coming off an even keel was minblowing.
All our top horses ran below their best, Zacinto, Delegator, Mastercraftsman and Rip Van Winkle so Sea the Stars no doubt is safe in the mind of Timeform but had he gone there????????? best not get too far into that one
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