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Thank you "J" sterling stuff to treasure
Thank-You for the link, J.
If that doesn’t warm the heart during these cold, winter days, nothing will. What a great video.
Wasn’t it great to see ‘Team Zenyatta’ keeping a watchful eye on her? When the time came for them to leave, it must have been like waving your child goodbye on their first day at school.
It must be hard for them – the last three years must have felt like three minutes and now…gone. The memories will never die, but how do you replace something so unique?
The 1000-plus strong crowd that turned out during her special appearance at Keeneland were proof that her fanbase has not dwindled since her retirement.
When a great colt is retired to stud, his offspring are highly anticipated, particularly the first to make the track, but when you consider that Sea The Stars covered 120 mares this year, many of them will turn out to be average and quickly forgotten.
Zenyatta will produce to a stallion only a handful of times and each offspring will be of huge interest from fans and the racing media.
Can you imagine the furore surrounding her first arrival?
It’s a long wait, but I look forward to the videos of Queen Z and her little Prince / Princess.
I’ve been following the Zenyatta diary and I loved this video of her bouncing across the snow. She’s got a turn out companion now apparently so maybe they won’t all have to hold their breath so hard!
Is it usual in the US to turn them out without rugs on?
I’ve been following the Zenyatta diary and I loved this video of her bouncing across the snow. She’s got a turn out companion now apparently so maybe they won’t all have to hold their breath so hard!
Is it usual in the US to turn them out without rugs on?
Yes, since most horses are allowed to keep their natural winter coats. Even horses in heavy work usually only get a low trace clip. Coming from California this is probably Zenyatta’s first snow, so it’s no wonder she’s excited.
Zenyatta – 2010 Horse of the Year
Horse Of The Year?
Should have been Horse Of The Decade, in my opinion.
Well done, Queen Of Racing. You deserved it!!
Jeery Moss read this out during the HOTY awards:
"If you love Thoroughbred horses, you go through life hoping that you can just see one more in whose presence, the clouds fall away to reveal the mountain top. It can take a generation, or infinitely longer, for such a horse to arrive.
A horse that is capable of carrying the human heart
. For the last 100 years, we know them all by name. But Zenyatta brought to us a beauty that was a tonic for the soul. She allowed us to believe in the impossible. And it was the light in her being, as much as the thrill of her races, that got us dancing. Zenyatta was transformative."
~Priscilla Clark, Tranquility Farm
http://tranquilityfarm.blogspot.com/
Here’s a link to the award for HOTY (check out the connections of Blame when Zenyatta is announced the winner)
Horse Of The Year?
Should have been Horse Of The Decade, in my opinion.
Well done, Queen Of Racing. You deserved it!!
Here here Bos! If
Zenyatta
was human she would be Serena Williams! I"ll leave it at that!
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I’ll go out on a limb here are accept the howls of indignation invariably coming my way.
I see this result as a sad PR exercise, nothing more, nothing less. Such announcements do nought whatsoever for the credibility of racing IMO. The result was as fixed as any race ever could have been. There’s no way a mare that’s won in mares grade only for the entire season should ever be declared horse of the year. I’d have been dumbfounded too when Zenyatta’s name was called out.
Has such a thing ever happened before in the history of racing worldwide? I surely cannot recall it. What makes matters even worse is Zenyatta was up against another mare who had won 5 Gr1 races for the season including a third consecutive Breeders Mile. Goldikova only once defeated a F&M restricted field.
This is not a personal attack on the lovers of Zenyatta. It is a big thumbs down to the awards people. An obvious victory for hype over substance.
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Let’s face it, she’s only been bestowed with the honour this year because she was overlooked in 2008 and 2009; would beating trees and losing your final race ordinarily entitle a horse to be crowned HOTY?
Sentimental, rather than deserved.
Sentimental, rather than deserved.
Unfair.
Fully deserved, in my opinion.
Losing out to Rachel Alexandra last year was a travesty ( the East Coast voting bloc power-voting their own "local heroine").Quote:
"Losing your final race"
. That Breeders Cup second was arguably her finest hour — almost catching Blame despite a very poor ride from the usually dependable Mike Smith.
As a previous post above alludes — perhaps Horse Of The Decade rather than HOTY.
Sooooo Deserved! She is an Amazon. If we cannot forget our inhibitions and celebrate and hold close these horses who have given so much joy to the public then in my humble opinion we ought to leave the building.
I’ll go out on a limb here are accept the howls of indignation invariably coming my way.
I see this result as a sad PR exercise, nothing more, nothing less. Such announcements do nought whatsoever for the credibility of racing IMO. The result was as fixed as any race ever could have been. There’s no way a mare that’s won in mares grade only for the entire season should ever be declared horse of the year. I’d have been dumbfounded too when Zenyatta’s name was called out.
Has such a thing ever happened before in the history of racing worldwide? I surely cannot recall it. What makes matters even worse is Zenyatta was up against another mare who had won 5 Gr1 races for the season including a third consecutive Breeders Mile. Goldikova only once defeated a F&M restricted field.
This is not a personal attack on the lovers of Zenyatta. It is a big thumbs down to the awards people. An obvious victory for hype over substance.
Goldikova already won the Cartier award. The Eclipse is an American award, and even though horses that raced only once in the US have won the turf categories, they have not won HOTY. Goldi raced just once in America, therefore she was not under serious consideration.
As for Blame, he won 3 G1s and was beaten by
Haynesfield
. Had he won the Jockey Club Gold Cup he would’ve easily gotten HOTY. But he was beaten by Haynesfield, a NY-bred who’s been running in NY-bred races, and was very well-beaten too. Zenyatta’s one loss came by a nostril to Blame. Also, you are underestimating how beloved Zenyatta is by American racing fans. She actually brought the sport into the public eye for a positive reason. Blame was a great racehorse, sure, but Zenyatta’s a first-ballot Hall of Famer and a legend.
As for "has this ever happened before", the obvious answer was Azeri in 2002. She didn’t even race against males at all that year, and still lost a race.
Chiswikian,
Can I ask a question? If it was sooooo predictable how could you possibly be dumbfounded when the result was announced?- Total Posts 17716
Andy your semantics have been noted. I shall never again respond to a poster that plays the man instead of the topic. I leave you to ponder whatever response you desire.
Miss W. Thank you for the info. It says all I need to hear about racing in the good old USA. The sport there is in such bad shape that females have twice won horse of the year within a decade without once winning against the males. I lament your local industry.
BTW if you’re going to pull Blame’s form apart the only fair thing to do is examine the depth of Zenyatta’s victories with as much zeal. Switch ( 3yo ), Reinterval ( 0-80 filly at best ) and St.Trinians ( 0-75 winner ) all got within a length of Zenyatta in 2010. Two of them were in billy goat class back here in Europe. The other is a very moderate Gr1 winning 3yo. No depth there!
I respect Zenyatta’s value to racing fans in America. She’s a public relations dream for a sport in gross decline. I’m a hard cold facts analyst though. Zenyatta’s overall race record guarantees her a place in the Hall Of Fame simply due to consecutive wins. Her overall form should never see her declared the horse of any decade without causing severe embarassment.
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