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now i won’t argue with anyone who wants to call her a big ol’ goofball but i take exception to you calling her ugly.
As Nick Smith said, it’s a longshot, but I hope for all the Zenyatta fans here that Royal Ascot pulls it off.
http://www.racingpost.com/news/horse-ra … rnational/
Enough with the STS vs. Zarkava, start another thread – lol. As for the bozo who called Zenyatta ugly, I thought up several snappy comebacks, but decided that anyone who said that was too stupid to be worth talking to.
Bosranic, opinions is what this sport is all about, and dont get me wrong, I think Zenyatta is a fantastic mare, I just prefer RA!! But to say that Zenyatta is a ‘beautiful horse’ is really stretching it!!! Great horse that she is, she is one of THE most unattractive race-horses Ive ever seen!! A slightly better version of Nortons Coin!!!
I always considered Bosra Sham to be the best looking filly / mare I’ve seen, but Zenyatta pushes her close.
Astonishing to believe that anyone would consider her unattractive. I think she has the most beautiful, feminine head. Anyway, you know what they say…beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
C’mon, you decide. Look at the links below.
http://www.delmarscene.com/data/photos/zenyatta.jpg
http://www.finalturngallery.com/g2/main … c_web_.jpg
I must say, I remember watching Bo Derek in ’10’ as a teenager (she was a bit before my time, sadly) and…bloody hell, but I agree with this sign:
http://www.paulickreport.com/wp-content … 3%2072.jpg
Hard to put Rachel in the same league as Zenyatta on looks, in my opinion! Would love to see them meet and as much as I love Big Z, Rachel deserved Horse Of The Year.
Love these videos from You Tube. If she were mine, I could easily just look at her for hours. A real character and a right ham!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPvwJpxV56U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7_0gAS3_rQ&feature=fvw
I think Zenyatta is a horse you could market to non-racing fans – I’m not sure the same can be said about Rachel. Contrary to what many believed, Sea The Stars was not a marketable commodity to non-racing fans, in my opinion. He had all the talent in the world, but just didn’t have that ‘X’ factor to attract new supporters to the sport.
Let the running begin. Too soon for Oaklawn they say? How convenient!
Rachel nearing first workout
By Marcus HershAlexander Barkoff
NEW ORLEANS – Under lights early on a humid New Orleans morning, the Steve Asmussen stock whizzed around the Fair Grounds racetrack seemingly by the hundreds. But it was not hard to find the queen of the hive. Rachel Alexandra paraded out at 6:30, accompanied by assistant trainer Scott Blasi and Pancho, the most recognized stable pony in America. A few feet behind, astride another pony, came Asmussen himself.It was jog one mile, gallop one mile for Rachel Alexandra in her first trip to the racetrack since being named 2009 Horse of the Year on Monday night. Principal owner Jess Jackson suggested at the Eclipse Awards that Rachel might be too far behind in her training this winter to make the Apple Blossom Stakes in April at Oaklawn Park, a race targeted by the connections of Zenyatta. But in her spirited Wednesday gallop, Rachel looked like she could drag exercise rider Dominic Terry the 530 miles to Oaklawn in a matter of a couple hours.
"It’s too early to say yet," Asmussen said, asked his opinion of whether Rachel could be ready for a start at the Fair Grounds meet, a potential stepping-stone to the Apple Blossom. "If you’re actually going to do what’s best for the horse, you just don’t know yet."
Asmussen said Rachel Alexandra had missed six to eight days of training this winter due either to heavy rain or freezing conditions. But while Rachel might be slightly behind in her training because of the conditions in New Orleans, she also is liable to come around quickly once she begins breezing around Feb. 1.
"She’s definitely not a normal horse in that sense," said Asmussen. "Usually when you get started back with a horse after being off that long, they’re a little sloppy and slow at first. She was not like that at all."
Asmussen said he hopes Jackson and Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta’s owners, will get together and map out a series of two or three races through 2010 where the two champions could meet.
"I don’t think you can just hand-pick one race to compare them," said Asmussen.
Asked how many times he would like to see Rachel Alexandra race during 2010, should her campaign develop under ideal conditions, Asmussen said that six or seven starts would seem suitable. That would be a relatively busy season for a filly already coming off a Horse of the Year campaign, but from the way Rachel looked on Wednesday, she will be more than ready when her times comes.
Although I rarely bet on the flat I do keep an eye on what’s going on but it’s decades since a flat horse really caught my imagination…… Ardross if I recall correctly…but I must admit to being seduced by the life story and having a small wager on Zenyatta in The Breeders Cup….WOW!!!!!! What a mare, and what a shame See The Stars and Rachel Alexandra weren’t in the line up but even allowing for her hissy fit at being put in and out of the stalls and noit wanting to know for several furlongs I can’t imagine either horse beating her that evening!
There you go halfway. Rachel gets horse of the year, and they’re still making excuses not to meet Zenyatta. I believe that’s 2-0 to me, as far as this thread goes.
There you go halfway. Rachel gets horse of the year, and they’re still making excuses not to meet Zenyatta. I believe that’s 2-0 to me, as far as this thread goes.
I didnt realise we were on a points scoring thread, Goldi?
I thought the main point of this was to see Rachel against Zenyatta in a proper race?
Or is that not racing?
RE:HalfwaytoHeaven’s earlier point about Zenyatta being far from all-out in winning the BCC, I came across this short fan video on YouTube.
Not exactly plodding along on the lead hanging her head. Zenyatta is actually quite a handful for her groom. Granted, the crowd is whooping it up but Zenyatta is bouncing along much more like a horse going to the paddock Before a race than one coming back after one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0-pjnJ7bm14
This is a much longer fan video, featuring some of the more unusual denizens of Santa Anita and their strange diet but starting at about 4:25-4:30 you can see Goldikova walking back from the track after running only a mile.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUTA1gFAEDU
This shows Rachel Alexandra after the Woodward. Starting about the 7:00 minute mark you can see that there isn’t a lot of bounce in her step either, despite an enthusiastic crowd cheering for her.
- Total Posts 17716
Bosranic, opinions is what this sport is all about, and dont get me wrong, I think Zenyatta is a fantastic mare, I just prefer RA!! But to say that Zenyatta is a ‘beautiful horse’ is really stretching it!!! Great horse that she is, she is one of THE most unattractive race-horses Ive ever seen!! A slightly better version of Nortons Coin!!!
I always considered Bosra Sham to be the best looking filly / mare I’ve seen, but Zenyatta pushes her close.
Astonishing to believe that anyone would consider her unattractive. I think she has the most beautiful, feminine head. Anyway, you know what they say…beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
C’mon, you decide. Look at the links below.
http://www.delmarscene.com/data/photos/zenyatta.jpg
http://www.finalturngallery.com/g2/main … c_web_.jpg
I must say, I remember watching Bo Derek in ’10’ as a teenager (she was a bit before my time, sadly) and…bloody hell, but I agree with this sign:
http://www.paulickreport.com/wp-content … 3%2072.jpg
Hard to put Rachel in the same league as Zenyatta on looks, in my opinion! Would love to see them meet and as much as I love Big Z, Rachel deserved Horse Of The Year.
Love these videos from You Tube. If she were mine, I could easily just look at her for hours. A real character and a right ham!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPvwJpxV56U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y7_0gAS3_rQ&feature=fvw
I think Zenyatta is a horse you could market to non-racing fans – I’m not sure the same can be said about Rachel. Contrary to what many believed, Sea The Stars was not a marketable commodity to non-racing fans, in my opinion. He had all the talent in the world, but just didn’t have that ‘X’ factor to attract new supporters to the sport.
I like that….THE "X" FACTOR. I knew there was something missing with STS he got no "X" factor
I come form a marketing background and to be fair to Sea the Stars it’s not he lacks charisma he simply comes from the wrong country (UK). How many flat horses were ever household names in the UK?
The Grand National in a sense made Red Rum a household name. Only Arkle made Arkle a household name. Apart from them no other horse not even Desert Orchid was that well known.
Sea Biscuit stopped the world in the US when he ran, Man O’War Secretariat did the same and Phar Lap did the same in Oz. Ask any middle aged American who Zenyatta or Sea Buscuit is they’ll know. Ask people in the Uk who Sea the Stars or Mill Reef were/are they haven’t a clue.
You try asking Mr. Brown up the road if the name Desert Orchid means anything to her and d she say it’s a flower.
When I hear someone like Terry Norman saying after the Arc he thinks Sea the Stars could be the best of all time and is the greatest race horse he has ever seen I take it with a pinch of salt. Maybe he’s genuine but he’s doing a good job and marketing racing the way it should be done.
If you work in the media and say the same thing 5 times people will start to believe it say it 100 times and the world will believe it. Willie Carson "He could be one of the best we have ever seen" "He’s the complete Superstar" all comments made after the Arc and in come Timeform and spoil the party…….truthful? perhaps, but the Americans would have taken a hit out on Timeform shut them up and sold the world a legend even if he wasn’t the real deal.
All of a sudden Zenyatta is back. Why? Wouldn’t surprise me if secretly they have already agreed a venue in the States for Zee V RA with big money on offer behind the scenes. Those two meet it will be the biggest thing in racing since Sea Buscuit and War Admiral met and there’s a oodles of bucks to be earned from advertising tv companies etc.,hell might even make a movie and write a few books on them…..The will they? won’t they? is a very strong marketing tool and they’ll drag it out, but my bet is the biggest certainty on this earth is those two will meet.
Be interesting to see if the Zenyatta fever spreads to Kauto Star v Denman and Cheltenham becomes a sea of banners on Gold Cup day. Geez might even make the 9 o’clock news if Mr’s Browns cat has been found and Tesco don’t put the price of cofee up
Fist, are you sure Desert Orchid isn’t more well known in Britain than you think ?
Along with Red Rum, Shergar and Lester, Dessie is the the one racing "celebrity" most non-racing folk would name.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Far more people in the US have heard of Rachel Alexandra than have heard of Zenyatta, because most people only watch racing during the Triple Crown, where Rachel won the Preakness. Most Americans know the last 5 or 6 winners of the Kentucky Derby (at least Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Barbaro, and Mine That Bird), but nobody outside of racing knows the last 5 Breeders’s Cup winners. People know who Seabiscuit and War Admiral were due to the movie, and Man O’War because he’s Man O’War, and they can probably name Citation and Secretariat. Ruffian, Barbaro, and Eight Belles are remembered because of the media attention on their deaths. Other than a few regional favorites (the pacer Dan Patch in Indiana, Pepper’s Pride in New Mexico, Omaha in Nebraska), that’s it.
Himself
WROTEDesert Orchid Along with Red Rum, Shergar and Lester, Dessie is the the one racing "celebrity" most non-racing folk would name.
Tut Tut!!! You’ve forgotten your namesakes, I’d say he’d still be the most popular name if a poll was taken…"we asked 100 people to name a racehorse"….
Not ‘the man in the street’ CS. I’ll ask the question at work and see what answers I get; ‘name 3 racehorses’. I bet Red Rum, Dessie and Shergar are the three that come out on top. I doubt if any of them mention Arkle. [and I KNOW that none of them will mention my beloved Mill House].
Funny enough I tried the question on my wife, not a huge racing fan but wiuth some knowledge HUGE Denman fan though but a bit too young to have seen Arkle,
Yet she answered ARKLE!!
I know that one of my work colleagues will say Silver Birch, because she was going to back him the year he won the National until I told her to put her money on Point Barrow.
Himself
WROTETut Tut!!! You’ve forgotten your namesakes, I’d say he’d still be the most popular name if a poll was taken…"we asked 100 people to name a racehorse"….
I hadn’t forgotten the greatest. Hey, as if I would.
No, the reason I mention those three is, as moehat rightly says; i.e. any time I have asked non racing fans to name a famous racehorse, invariably Red Rum, Shergar and Desert Orchid are by far the most popular responses – followed occasionally by Nijinsky and Arkle.
Gambling Only Pays When You're Winning
Two replies today. Red Rum/Arkle and Red Rum. Both older men with no interest in racing. [Was obviously wrong about Arkle]. Interesting to see if Best Mate gets a mention, given that he was so high profile for quite a while. Wonder what answers I’ll get from younger people. Of course, everyone who actually knows me will say Dessie, because I talked of little else for years, even after he retired.
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