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R.A won’t run in the Breeders, it’s been common knowledge for some time. If i were John Oxx i ‘d rather run against R.A than a bunch of good guys in the Arc. She’s probably not even been eyeballed in her career because there are no other really good horses over there. In the event that something really good did emerge, they would probably avoid each other anyway ala Big Brown/Curlin and Zenyatta/Rachel.
The American’s are good at two things, the first is avoiding each other, and the second thing is making excuses.
Steven Asmussen was said to be the guy who would do things other American trainers wouldn’t, such as consider flying Curlin in for the arc. He dosen’t seem as adventurous nowadays after Curlin got hammered in the Breeders Cup.
To sum it up in short, yes Rachel Alexndra is a superb filly, there is absolutely no doubt. However, we will probably never find out how good she is because there’s nothing that great to race her against.
That was a $1.2m race, and what did she beat ? MITB is a good horse, but his quality has been kicked into touch since then. That’s twice this season i’ve watched an American race on a sloppy track, and twice the door has been left open for one single horse to cruise through and stroll it past the finishing line.
In my opionion, Munnings is proving value for his $1,700,000,000 price tag.
$1.7 billion for a racehorse? Really?
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Rachel Alexandra will keep on winning and winning and winning……until she meets Zenyatta!
That’s IF her connections are brave enough.
Why all this talk about Sea The Stars and Ripper challenging for honours in, I would think, the Breeders Cup Classic?
Zenyatta will destroy the pair of them, too!
Connections won’t be running her in the BC. It’s a good job really, and Zenyattas connections should do the same, because the Breeders Cup classic is gonnae be RipVanWinkle day.
You’ll be lucky
Over 1m2f ? Don’t think so. One minute Murtagh says he thinks they may have been running RVW over the wrong trip the next minure he’s talking 1m2f again.I must admit of he were to take on Sea the Stars over 1m2f again I would be very tempred to back him but the Breeders is a different ball game.
There must have been somthing that made Murtagh say what he did about the trip and most likely it was because he never went through with his run in the Eclipse.
This Zenyatta may take a bit longer to get going than RA but everytime I watch her run she does the same thing. She passes horse at speed and then when the jockey relaxes she comes back on the bridle but maintains the speed she hit and looks like she could take off again.
Everything about her tells me she would eat Rip Van Winkle alive.
I reckon Zenyatta would be 7/2 with all 4 horses running but 7/2 with only RVW to worry about could be stealing money.
- Total Posts 17716
Rachel Alexandra will keep on winning and winning and winning……until she meets Zenyatta!
That’s IF her connections are brave enough.
Why all this talk about Sea The Stars and Ripper challenging for honours in, I would think, the Breeders Cup Classic?
Zenyatta will destroy the pair of them, too!
Connections won’t be running her in the BC. It’s a good job really, and Zenyattas connections should do the same, because the Breeders Cup classic is gonnae be RipVanWinkle day.
Rip Van Winkle. fast pace? 1m2f? Wonder filly? Dirt? wouldn’t be me
Zenyatta 7/2 is unreal she’ll be 4/5 on the day.
I thought the race is gonnae be on a pro-ride track again this year, as opposed to dirt ?
I do agree that Zenyatta should be favourite, and the price of 7/2 right now will be shorter come the night if she runs (9/5 maybe ?). I just think that RVW was a good price at 10/1, considering i always thought he’s a top horse who would be lower come BC time if they run him.
Zenyatta is without doubt a star, but hasn’t raced a top 10 horse yet. If she could stay 10 L behind top class colts then come in late with the same pace then yes, 7/2 is a great current price.
I’ve taken the small gamble on RVW because i think he will be superbly suited to a flat track. And if he goes for it, Zenyatta will have to be wearing Super grans roller skates to catch up if she’s sitting well behind the pace.(and she might just have a pair)
I wouldn’t put a single soul of Zenyatta. I’m chuffed with RVW though, and it will be a fantastic spectacle if they both turn up.
Should i be worried that they switched RVW to 8F at Goodwood, and Mastercraftsman will contest the Juddmont ?…hmmm i will answer this one myself, i will be worried if MCM wins it with STS in the field
Forgot to say…i have my doubts that Zenyatta will even run in the classic. That’s a whole new can of worms. RA won’t turn up, and i can see Z going to the ladies classic then retiring
A very impressive performance from Rachel Alexandra.
Their respective styles suggest that RA would get first run on Zenyatta and, even though I’m firmly in the latters camp, from what I witnessed yesterday she would be very hard to catch.
However. Zenyatta’s mid-stretch power is incredible and, if within a few lengths turning in, I think she would be too hot to handle inside the final furlong.
She gave 15lbs to the runner-up in the Vanity and won by just over 2L. At first glance it doesn’t look that impressive, but watch her ears as she passes the winning line – she was far from extended off a moderate gallop.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTeV9Wb2OWo
An interesting comment from Mike Smith after the race:
"I was trying to time it where I won by a length," Smith told trainer John Shirreffs after the race.
Rachel Alexandra has beaten the boys, but I don’t think she’s been tested on the Santa Anita surface. Zenyatta, to my knowledge, hasn’t beaten the boys, but does handle the surface.
Would love to see the two of them meet.
Rachel is not slated to run in the BC at Santa Anita. Her owner Jess Jackson hates synthetic tracks, he says it’s not proper racing. Of course we all know it’s mostly because his super horse Curlin got beaten last year in the Classic, and he blames the surface (like many American racing fans do), not the fact that his horse was over the top and met two damn good horses on the day.
Zenyatta defintely likes the synthetics, all but one of her races have been in SoCal on some variety of rubber, either the Cushion track at Hollywood, the Polytrack at Del Mar, or the Pro Ride at SA. And yes, she has never faced males, plus she has never run farther than 9f, like most fillies in the US. Actually the majority of her races have been at 8.5f.
RA too is suspect beyond 9f, as you can see from her Preakness run, where she appeared to weaken, another 100yards and she would have been caught that day.
While they are two great fillies, I would probably bet against them going 10f in the Classic, esp if Sea the Stars showed up.Vitner – i don’t think 10F would be a problem for Zenyatta. I just think the two biggest problems would be her opponets, and the turning up for the classic.
She has the major advantage of always running in her home state, and we all saw how well the surface suited her in the BC Ladies.
I would question whether or not her trainer would be willing to give up a potential 13 race unbeaten run, to have a go in a race that would be by far her toughest task to date.
I don’t think 10F would be too much of an issue for RA either to be honest. She was all out in the Preakness because she gave a front running performance. Her tactics in the BCC would’ve been similar to the haskell, making it more than likely than 10F would be alright.
Alternatively, Zenyatta will win the Hirsch, take her other two races because the trainer dosen’t feel the need to meet the best horses over there(which furthers my suspicion about the BCC), then the trainer will come out and tell everyone that the classic is the one they always had in mind.
I also think Shiriff will be waiting nearer to the time to make sure Asmussen dosen’t pull a fly one and enter Rachel for the BCC, thus making him look the baddy if he pulls out. And Sea the Stars seems to be known over there, so Shirrif will be keeping an eye on him aswell. This guy seems to want 14 from 14.
Big run back from Quality Road in the Amsterdam last night – similar Beyer’s to Rachel too so should be interesting when they meet in the Travers
Zenyatta got up in the final stride to land the Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar on Saturday evening and extend her unbeaten run to twelve.
Still last and eight lengths off the lead turning in, jockey Mike Smith challenged very wide around the final bend. Zenyatta took her time to hit top gear, but her mid-stretch power got her out of trouble to win by a nose from Anabaa’s Creation and the long time leader back in third.
Not visually impressive, especially when you compare it to Rachel’s romp last weekend, but Mike Smith is perhaps riding her with a little too much confidence at this stage of her career and he was very lucky she got him out of trouble.
Clearly, she’s not the most straight-forward ride – always gives the impression she’s not doing a great deal. Just look at her ears once she hits third spot down the stretch. They shoot up as if she’s thinking ‘I’ve got ’em, nothing to worry about’, even though she still has the best part of four lengths to make up.
Her tail carriage and post-race antics also tell me she is probably a bit of a diva.
Keep playing the link below to the 3:20 mark and notice the way she struts around and plays with the bit – doesn’t even look like she has had a race. Once again, those ‘intelligent’ ears shoot up, too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTcTiYuY9AQ
Hard to tell how much she has left because of her idiosyncrasies. She was given a poor ride today and that was probably the easiest short verdict you’re ever likely to see.
As for Rachel Alexander Vs Zenyatta. I think it all depends whether or not we’ve seen the best of Zenyatta and how much improvement RA still has left. Would love to see them meet, but it will more than likely never happen.
Hope ‘Big Z’ still goes for the Classic.
Anabaa’s Creation’s Jockey, Tyler Baze’s post race comment after being pipped by Zenyatta:
"She ran her fanny off," he said. "We got beat by a champion. I didn’t know where she was but I knew she was coming. She came and got us."
Her what off ?!!!
Can you imagine Johnny Murtagh or heaven forbid, Ryan Moore, getting away with saying that on the Beeb.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Stayed up really late the other night looking at all the utube stuff; it’s great being able to see her in the barn and being washed down etc. She looks really big; how tall is she?
She can certainly finish!!
Mick Smith’s post-race comments support my initial thoughts about her performance…
“She didn’t really take off until she crossed the wire,” Smith said. “Even before I passed them,
she wasn’t giving me her all. She wasn’t even blowing when she came back
.” NTRA[/color:2uko1j26]
"I thought I had it, but I’ve got to admit
I underestimated the company we were keeping
.
"They made her run," he added. "She really was running easy –
her ears were pricking back and forth and she was just loping
.
"I never hit her but I showed her the stick – I knew we had to get busy at the finish. When we hit the wire she hit another gear – then when we crossed and I stood up she hit another gear!
"This mile and sixteenth is a funny distance – I tell you, she wants to run further. When we pulled up,
she was hardly blowing at all
– she wouldn’t have blown out a match." RACING POST[/color:2uko1j26]
Stayed up really late the other night looking at all the utube stuff; it’s great being able to see her in the barn and being washed down etc.
She looks really big; how tall is she
?
Pasted from the ESPN website (30/05/2008)
At 1,200 pounds and nearly 17 hands high, the imposing 4-year-old filly Zenyatta has grown into a beauty of a beast, with more going for her than just size and looks.
Over 1m2f ? Don’t think so. One minute Murtagh says he thinks they may have been running RVW over the wrong trip the next minure he’s talking 1m2f again.
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