Lust at First Sight

Wednesday November 14 2012

I fell hard the first time I laid eyes on him. 

Breeders Cup 2003. Equine royalty strutting the backstretch and pounding the turf and dirt of Santa Anita.

Big names were there: Funnycide, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner. Volponi, defending BC Classic winner. From Europe, High Chaparral, the defending BC Turf winner and Champion Turf Male of 2002 and 2003. 

And then there was Falbrav: 2002 Italian Horse of the Year. Chiseled muscle. Sculpted athleticism. Head-pounding beauty. Brute strength. Sheer tenacity. He was magnetic. Electric. Just looking at him stole my breath away. I followed him around on jelly-legs and I exhausted the shutter on my camera. I lusted after him. I ignored the other stars.

In a thrilling head-to-head stretch duel in the 1 1/4 mile Breeders Cup Turf with Johar and High Chapparal, Falbrav lost by a head to the other 2, who dead-heated for the win.

He went on to be named 2003 European Champion Older Horse, 2003 BHB Horse of the Year, 2003 Timeform Horse of the Year, 2003 BHB Middle Distance Champion. He's now a sire in Japan and Australia.

I have yet to photograph another Thoroughbred racehorse stallion as magnificent as Falbrav.

The Embodiment of Equine Perfection

photo from Wikipedia by Froggerlaura

Saturday October 20 2012

When all the superlatives are finally used up: Horse of the Year, Wonder Horse, Brilliant, Invincible, Champion, Equine Perfection, Horse of the Year, Horse of the World, Greatest Racehorse in the World, and when you get wicked goosebumps watching the Champion win, even when you've already watched the race a dozen times, you know you're watching a truly great horse.

With all the hysteria over Zenyatta (i.e. okay, *my* hysteria), you'd think, after I announced I was done with racing, I wouldn't get excited over any racehorses anymore.

But it's hard to ignore other greats like Australia's Black Caviar, and Europe's Frankel. As of today, at Royal Ascot, Frankel retired undefeated in 14 races over 3 seasons (at 2, 3, and 4)

Even more exciting concerning these extraordinary racehorses than the "undefeated" (and in Queen Z's 'undefeated except in one race by a head'), is the "retired sound" (or in Black Caviar's case, 'still sound', as she has not retired yet).

First of all, just to have a top class racehorse who can run for more than two seasons is nothing short of a miracle these days, and then to get a horse through 3 seasons (Frankel) or 4 seasons (Zenyatta and Black Caviar), running at the top of their game and taking on all challenges, is just phenomenal.

Kudos to the owners and trainers and riders and grooms who accomplish this successfully in a racing world desperate for heroes (I get so tired of hearing that phrase) and a racing world where most good horses win a couple of races over one season and either get injured or retire to the breeding shed for a bazillion dollars.

This was Frankel's final race today in the Royal Ascot Champion Stakes. (and search YouTube for more of his spine-tingling, goose-bumping performances!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6Sid0fqd_4

(and look for Black Caviar to return in early 2013 for a 'farewell tour' in possibly Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane)

WAXING!

Photo by Sarah Campion, on Zenyatta.com

Saturday March 3 2012

All Thoroughbred racing eyes are turning towards Lane's End Farm in Lexington, Kentucy, where 2011 Horse of the Year and racing legend Zenyatta is awaiting her first foal, due next week! March 9th is the day, although Mother Nature has the final say.

Zenyatta is starting to wax!


(This photo is from community.tvg.com)

Owners the Mosses plan to be there for the birth, and trainer John Shirreffs and his wife Dottie will go after the foal is born.

Stay tuned!

You can follow Zenyatta's daily diary here.

Meet the New Mom: Rachel Alexandra

Photo by Anne Eberhardt/The Blood-Horse - Order here

February 25 2012

Remember The Freak?

Rachel Alexandra, 2009 Horse of the Year, beat the boys as a 3-year-old in the Preakness, the Haskell, and (against older males) the Woodward Stakes (the only filly ever to win it), and set stakes records, winning 9 in a row that year, and winning the Horse of the Year title in a hotly contested vote against Zenyatta. Rachel didn't come back quite as sharp as a 4-year-old, then she abruptly retired and faded from sight and mind as Zenyatta fever took over (and Queen Z was voted Horse of the Year in 2010).

But we shouldn't forget Rachel. You can throw her up there as one of the great 3-year-old fillies of all time.

She had her first foal on January 22 of this year, a colt by Curlin (2007 and 2008 Horse of the Year). Both were taken to the equine hospital a few days later for "pain management related to the birth," (said the Blood-Horse) but apparently they returned home and all has been well, as you can see from the photos of the two in the slideshow by Anne Eberhardt - top photo is by Anne and you can buy the photos here as well:

http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/slideshows/slideshow/RachelA/rachel-alexandra-and-foal

Here's a video of the growing foal at his home, Stonestreet Farm in Kentucky.

Black Caviar Update

Herald Sun Photo

February 24 2012

After Australia's rad racehorse Black Caviar's win last Friday in her 19th consecutive race, which came only one week after her previous win, she was possibly going to run again tomorrow, on only 6 days' rest again, in the $1 million Blue Diamond Stakes.

However, it appears owners and trainer Peter Moody have decided her next major goal will be at Royal Ascot in England in June. She will possibly go for her 20th win in a row in Adelaide or Brisbane before she flies to England. Those of us who know racing (and probably most of us who don't) are probably breathing a wee sigh of relief she is not running her third Group I race in 3 weeks tomorrow, although the trainer was confident she would have won again.

Moody said, "There's nothing wrong with her. To the contrary, she's at the top of her game. But it's all geared around having her at her peak when she flies across to England for the 6-furlong Diamond Jubilee Stakes. That's the Royal Ascot race the owners have had their sights on for some time and everything is being tailored like a Savile Row suit to have her cherry-ripe for that race on June 23."

There in England it is possible that Black Caviar, the world's current number 2 racehorse will meet the world's current number 1 racehorse in Frankel, though Moody's not committing to anything other than the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. (Frankel was 9 for 9 at the end of last year as a 3-year-old; his 6 length win in the 1-mile 2000 Guineas is called 'one of the greatest displays on a British racecourse". He has yet to start this year.)

(All this, and really, I'm not that interested in racing anymore after Zenyatta - really!)

Top photo is by the HeraldSun.com.au

Here's a video from last October comparing the two

**CORRECTION: Black Caviar was to run in the Futurity Stakes at Caulfield racetrack on Saturday. Not the Blue Diamond Stakes.
Thanks to Lorrie for pointing that out!

Australia's Flying Freak: Black Caviar

Saturday February 18 2012

It's confirmed: Black Caviar is a Freak. Just six days after her 18th straight win in a 1500-meter stakes race, yesterday at Flemington racecourse in Australia, the 5-year-old mare won her 19th straight race in the 1000-meter (about 5-furlongs) Group I Lightning Stakes. (And it was her second straight victory in the Lightning Stakes.) She almost set a new track record in doing so.

She also tied Australia's record of consecutive victories, set between 1915 and 1921 by Desert Gold and Gloaming.

I don't have a TV, so my friend Amanda recorded the race on her cell phone and emailed it to me! That's the video up top.

Below is a link to the race on youtube, though they don't show the break from the gate and the first furlong or so.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wID6-p68gtc

And, in fact, let's hear it for the Thoroughbred ladies who are taking over horse racing around the world!

The last three Horse of the Year titles in the US have gone to three ladies:

2009: Rachel Alexandra (Zenyatta was second in a hotly contested and contentious vote)

2010: Zenyatta

2011: Havre de Grace

In Australia, the last two Australian Champion Racehorse of the Year titles have gone to mares:

2010-11 - Black Caviar

2009-10 - Typhoon Tracy

Really, after my years on the racetrack, and especially after Zenyatta retired, I'm about done with racing… but when a Freak like this comes along, you have to pay attention and you can't help but love her and root for her.

Next on Black Caviar's schedule, if she comes out of this race good, is Dubai in March, and Royal Ascot in June.

The world will be watching - good luck Black Caviar!

Shades of Zenyatta: Black Caviar

Friday February 17 2012

Lest we forget the magnificence of Zenyatta (which would NEVER happen), and as we await her first foal (due in March), another mare in Australia is following in her illustrious footsteps.

The 6-year-old black mare Black Caviar is sitting on an 18 for 18 record, and goes for her 19th straight win, just like Zenyatta did. Black Caviar has taken her world by storm, just like Zenyatta did here; and just like people did for Zenyatta, they are flying halfway around the world to see Black Caviar. Some of the fever has spread to Europe, where in England her races are shown live.

Like Zenyatta, Black Caviar was bought for $60,000 before the start of her career, and like Zenyatta, who was featured on the mainstream US news like Sports Illustrated, Time Magazine, People and 60 Minutes, Black Caviar has been on Australian Story. Unlike Zenyatta, Black Caviar is strictly a sprinter (races under a mile), but like Zenyatta, she has (so far) won 17 stakes races.

One article in the Australian Herald Sun written after her 18th win stated: "Every generation or so, it seems the racing gods deliver a 'Flying Pegasus' - a horse that literally lifts the industry from its humdrum, taking even those who can make no sense of it on a magic carpet ride." Another article called her "freakishly talented." World Thoroughbred Rankings rated her "the world's best racehorse."

Like Zenyatta, Black Caviar gets under the skin the race callers: as she's sweeping to another win, they've called her "the great mare," "the Pride of Australia," "awesome racehorse," "the greatest show on earth," "Australia's pin-up girl," "the invincible one," "this is why she's rated the best in the world," "the indisputed champion of the world," etc. (I think you get the picture!)

Black Caviar runs tomorrow at Flemington in the Group I Lightning Stakes, expected to be a tough race because she's shortening in distance from her last win.

It's said that the whole country of Australia shuts down for the annual 2-mile Melbourne Cup; another win from Black Caviar and she herself might become known as "the mare that stops the nation" when she runs.

Zenyatta - They Got It Right This Time!

Tuesday January 18 2011

Horse racing got it right this time!

Zenyatta at the Farm!

Wednesday December 22 2010

The Bloodhorse and Lane's End Farm - Zenyatta's new home - were kind enough to create and publish this video of Zenyatta in the snow in her paddock. (Thanks Karen W for passing this on!)

Zenyatta still makes me weep!

Farewell Zenyatta

Monday December 6 2010

I'm on the road, (not, unfortunately, at Hollywood Park!), but this Farewell to the great mare Zenyatta - her final appeareance at Hollywood Park before heading off the track to retirement - deserves mention.

See the Bloodhorse coverage here:
http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/60217/zenyatta-takes-final-stroll-at-hollywood-park

Inches

Wednesday November 10 2010

(Warning: Totally biased post!)

Zenyatta lost the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday by a sliver.

I was crushed.

I keep watching the replay of the race again and again, thinking she's going to get there this time.

You've heard the adage: The best horse in the race doesn't always win. Zenyatta was the best horse in this race, overcoming a huge deficit of at least 20 lengths behind the field, and having to check once in her stretch drive. As Tom Lamarra stated in the Bloodhorse.com, "all she lost was a photo finish."

Zenyatta's critics said she couldn't run on the dirt, only synthetic tracks. And yet three of her best races came on three dirt tracks, including this loss by inches in her final race. They say she wouldn't have won 19 in a row in her come-from-behind style if she'd run on dirt tracks. I think she would have.

This "Blame is Horse of the Year" refrain that the TV reporters (who have no vote, by the way) started singing the second after the horses crossed the finish line was really annoying. So I'm starting my own campaign here.

What is Horse of the Year based on? The only requirement is that the horse should have made one North American start during the year. (See my other qualifications on what makes a horse Great.)

So seeing as both Blame and Zenyatta have satisfied that single requirement, let's compare the two.

Blame:
4-year-old stallion, retired after this race with 9 wins, 2 seconds and 2 thirds out of 13 career starts. This year he won 4 of 5 starts, 3 of them Grade I wins. His one loss was by four lengths.

Zenyatta:
6-year-old mare. Out of 20 career starts: 19 wins in a row, a final loss in a narrow photo finish. Won 5 of 6 starts this year, 5 of them Grade I wins.

If Horse of the Year were determined by statistics alone, based on these statistics, Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year. Zenyatta could have retired before the Breeders Cup and probably been named Horse of the Year. Zenyatta could have run in the Ladies Classic in the Breeders Cup, but instead the fact that her owners put her up against the world's best males, once again, to attempt to repeat her Classic victory of last year, is only testament to their confidence in her greatness.

Here's another major aspect of the debate:

Who all came to Churchill Downs, and tuned into ESPN, to watch Blame run, and who all came to the track, and who tuned in to watch Zenyatta? How many fans carried Blame signs and how many carried Zenyatta signs? Which horse had a huge banner with her name on the roof of the Hollywood Park racetrack grandstand in California rooting her on? Which horse has a Breyer model made after her? Who got the public - old fans and new ones - excited about watching a horse race the last three years? Who was the celebrity, the darling of racing?

Zenyatta's owners and trainers allowed nearly free access to their champion. They offered her up for constant attention, letting people crowd around her, take photos, pose with her, even pet her and feed her treats (!). That's simply unheard of these days. Zenyatta was the Peoples' Horse, and people were allowed access to her. Zenyatta wasn't wrapped up in bubble wrap and kept away from her fans and the general public.

Who's going to remember Blame a year from now other than the horse that narrowly handed Zenyatta her only defeat? He was rushed off to retirement and the breeding shed after the Classic, at 4 years of age (early retirement is typical of the racing industry). If Blame was really that good a racehorse, racing fans will never know. Zenyatta ran till the end of her 6-year-old season (almost unheard of these days), when she could have run off to the breeding shed after the end of her 4-year-old undefeated year.

The horse racing industry has been lamenting for years (decades, even) that Thoroughbred racing is dying, racing needs a hero to come along.

She's been here. She is Zenyatta. People around the world will remember the great racehorse Zenyatta and what she gave to racing.

Few people, even critics, disagree that she's one of the best racemares ever. It's simply not a fluke to win 19 races in a row. To be denied a Horse of the Year title again (she lost in the voting to Rachel Alexandra last year - who had a great 3-year-old year but never reached her same form this year, and quietly faded off the track) would be a slap in the face to a horse who took horse racing by storm the last 3 years, who was the Hero racing was crying for, and who proved her greatness every time, even in her final defeat by inches. It would be a slap in the face to her legions of fans, who traveled across the country to see her run, who cheered for a horse for more than the mere statistics she provided, who worshipped a horse for her tenacity, her consistency, her brilliance, her accomplishments, her personality. Simply put: who's done more for horse racing in the last year - or in the last 30 years?

If you're basing Horse of the Year on one race, the Breeders Cup Classic, you can't - because then Zenyatta should have been Horse of the Year last year. If you're basing Horse of the Year on a continuation of perfection - especially at an age when most horses have long since retired, a horse who overcame the 'dirt track bias', a horse with her own website and merchandise to buy, wear, and hang on your walls, a horse who brought throngs to horse racing, a horse who became the Hero racing was looking for, it's Zenyatta.

Yes, there's emotion involved in the debate. But you can't take the emotion out of it. The emotion of horse racing, the emotion of Zenyatta running and winning again and again, and of losing her final race by inches, the emotion this horse has given to horse racing is what this sport is all about.

Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year.

ZENYATTA.


(Top photo is not by me - I wish! - it's on Zenyatta2010.com .)

She Makes Me Weep

Thursday November 4 2010

I'm not sure when that started - the weeping - probably sometime after her 14th or 15th straight victory. And it's not just that the amazing female Thoroughbred racehorse Zenyatta always wins, and it's not even who she runs against, but it's how she wins. Coming from behind. Usually from last. Often off a slow pace in front, which means there is no way she should be able to win. But she does. Every time. Although sometimes you don't know it or believe it until right at the wire. You can watch the replays again and again, and you still don't believe she's going to get there.

But she believes. She seems to know exactly how to time it to cause the most heart palpitations before she gets her nose first across the wire. Her jockey Mike Smith is awed by her. He thinks she's never hit her highest gear yet.

Ask anybody who follows horse racing - and just about anybody who doesn't - to name one Great racehorse, and they might come up with Man O' War or Secretariat. I'd add a few more: Ruffian, Citation, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Forego, Kelso, John Henry, Seabiscuit. And Zenyatta.

What it is that makes a horse Great?

Is it winning a lot of races by daylight? Is it setting stakes records or world records in many races? Is it a filly beating the boys? Is it the how they win their races? Is it a hard-knocking horse running over many years and winning - which is very rare now? Is it one of the older handicap horses that consistently carried heavy weights (which is almost non-existent now) and consistently won with bad knees and ankles? Is it a horse with an undefeated record? Is it a horse with personality that captures the excitement of the public?

Is it a mare who knows she's good - because she is - and who dances and prances in the paddock and in the post parade, playing up for the crowd? Is it a mare that puts tears in her jockey's eyes and a catch in his throat when he talks about her?

Zenyatta has that power over me. Zenyatta is Great. She's one of the best I've seen in my lifetime. She's Great because she puts that catch in my throat when she stops to pose for her admirers. She makes me hold my breath, and makes the tears run down my face when she does her Zenyatta dance in the paddock and in the post parade, because she knows she's that good. She makes my heart slam painfully when she leaves the starting gate, and she makes it stop beating for just under 24 seconds when she flies through the stretch.

And when she crosses the finish line first, again, and comes back to survey the frenzy she caused in the grandstands - she makes me weep. Zenyatta makes me weep.

Zenyatta is 19 for 19. She runs her final race before retirement this Saturday in the Breeders' Cup Classic, a race she won last year over the boys.

Win or lose, one more time, my heart will be racing and stopping, my tears will be flowing. Zenyatta is, simply, the Greatest.

Here is a look at Zenyatta's win in the Breeders Cup Classic last year:
http://content.usatoday.com/communities/gameon/post/2010/11/zenyatta-breeders-cup-classic-horse-of-the-year-mike-smith/1

Here is a story on Zenyatta on 60 Minutes:
http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=7009219n&tag=contentMain;contentBody

(Top photo is not by me - I wish! - it's on Zenyatta2010.com)

Farewell Rachel

Sunday October 10 2010

She's done. Already gone home.

4-year-old Rachel Alexandra, Thoroughbred racing's Champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year last year, was suddenly retired from racing on September 28th.

She was brilliant at 3, undefeated in 9 races, including 3 against males (the Preakness, Haskell Invitational, and Woodward Stakes); she had the largest winning margin in the Kentucky Oaks (20 1/4 lengths) and in the Mother Goose Stakes (19 1/4 lengths), she set 3 stakes records, and she became the only female ever (a 3 year old filly nonetheless!) to win the Woodward Stakes.

Many say that stunning effort in the Woodward Stakes - winning by a head and fighting for it every step of the way - took a lot out of her. It was one of the greatest performances ever seen by a filly against the boys.

Her next start - her first one at 4 - was a rather shocking defeat (second place against what looked to be soft competition) that would have set her up for a showdown with the Great racemare Zenyatta. That never happened. Rachel was again defeated in her next start (second place). In the next one she showed some of her brilliance of last year, winning by 10 1/2 lengths. Next race she won by 3. Next race - another defeat (second place).

She was preparing for the Beldame Stakes, and working sharply up to it - and suddenly her retirement was announced. Owner Jess Jackson said that Rachel "did not return to her 2009 form."

And that was it. There was no big Farewell party, no Rachel Alexandra Day to honor one of the Greatest fillies in Thoroughbred racing, ever.

I was a skeptic when that easily bandied about G-word ("Great") was thrust upon Rachel early in her 3-year-old year. I was a skeptic when, about the same time, Zenyatta started being showered with that banner too. Man O' War (in 1919) was a Great horse. Secretariat (in 1973) was a Great horse. I'll get back to you on the others. (Like I said, I'm a Skeptic).

Nowadays when a horse wins the Kentucky Derby, announcers and analysts already have him winning the Triple Crown. If he happens to win the Derby and Preakness, he's already being compared to Secretariat (Secretariat won the Triple Crown in 1973; Affirmed was the last horse to win it in 1978). Nobody who has won the Derby and Preakness could have come close to filling out Secretariat's shoes, so you'll have to pardon me when I scoff at the 20th horse in 10 years who's been called 'Great', who most of us can't remember the names of anymore.

But Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta wore me down. Rachel made me gasp at her wins, and still Zenyatta brings me to weeping with her every race. They are both the two Greatest mares I'll ever see in my lifetime. It has been a privilege to watch Rachel Alexandra run, and it's still a drop-to-my-knees humbling privilege to watch Zenyatta run.

Long live the two Great racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. Farewell Rachel, may you have a long productive life as a broodmare. Thanks for the thrills.

(And Zenyatta goes for her record 20th straight win in the Breeders' Cup, November 6th).

Return of the Amazons

Friday March 12 2010

To quote Paul Sidio, "Quit yapping about Tiger Woods and the girls and start talking about Rachel and Zenyatta!"

Because they're back: 2009 Champion 3-year-old filly and Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and 2009 Champion Older mare (and Horse of the Year runner up) Zenyatta.

Both have been training magnificently for a return to the 2010 racing season, which will begin for both of them tomorrow, March 13th.

4-year-old Rachel Alexandra, 8 for 8 last year, will face 4 other mares in the 1 1/16 mile New Orleans Ladies Stakes at the Fair Grounds. She'll carry top weight of 123 pounds, but she'll be spotting the others just 2 to 5 pounds. Her trainer says she "will not be 100% cranked for her debut," but that Rachel may not have to show up to win.

6-year-old Zenyatta, unbeaten in 14 career starts, will make her bow in the Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita. It's a tall order even for the likes of her: the race is at 1 1/8 miles against 8 other mares, and she's carrying top weight of 127 pounds. If all that wasn't remarkable enough, she'll be giving her opponents from 12 to 19 pounds.

If both mares come out of their races well, both are expected to meet for the first time in the Apple Blossom Handicap (now worth $5 million) at Oaklawn Park on April 9th.

Both of tomorrow's races can be seen live, streaming on www.ntra.com beginning at 6 PM ET, and on television on HRTV. Post time for Rachel Alexandra's race is 6:15 PM ET; post time for Zenyatta's race is 6:40 PM ET.

You might want to tune in, and you JUST might want to skip any endurance ride you've got scheduled if the two meet in April...

The Bloodhorse.com has any and all information you'd like to know on the two mares.

The Way He Were

Tuesday January 19 2010

Stormy (ex-racehorse) wishes to pay tribute to those two great newly-crowned Champion Thoroughbred mares, Rachel Alexandra (2009 Champion 3-year-old Filly, Horse of the Year) and Zenyatta (2009 Champion Older Mare).

He acknowledges they would have galloped double circles around him, but they did the same job, and they have the same ancestors running in their pedigrees.

Stormy recalls:

Cooling out on the walkers after a workout, steaming on a cold morning




Schooling in the starting gate


Ready to head to the track


Going onto the track


Posing on the backstretch - look at that slick coat!


Having the wet racetrack to himself


Stall living - and sharing watermelons with his favorite exercise rider


Winning! (photo by Longacres racetrack photographer)


You know how parents keep stacks of photo albums of their kid, and they want you to sit down and look at every single picture, as if every single one would mean something to you, as it does to the proud mother? Fortunately for all of you, Stormy's many, many photo albums are in an attic in Seattle, so you don't have to do this. Stormy picked out his best photos here.

Cheers to the Queens of the Turf!

It's Rachel Alexandra!

Monday January 18 2010

Champion 3-year-old Filly: Rachel Alexandra
Champion Older Mare: Zenyatta

2009 Horse of the Year - Rachel Alexandra. 130 votes to 99 votes.

They are both set to run again this year. Cheers to the girls!

Gladiatresses

Monday January 18 2010

Tonight's the night. The ultimate Thoroughbred racing showdown. It won't be on the racetrack, but in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.

It's the Oscars of Thoroughbred racing.

Year-end Eclipse awards will be announced, including Horse of the Year.

Both mares will undoubtedly be champions of their divisions, but which will be Horse of the Year? Will it be the freak 3-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra, winner of all 8 of her races in 2009, including the Preakness, Haskell Invitational, and Woodward Stakes (first filly to win it) against males?

Or will it be the freak 5-year-old mare Zenyatta, winner of all her 5 races in 2009 (to remain undefeated in 14 starts), including the Breeders Cup (first mare to win it) against males?

In addition, Zenyatta's owners, Ann and Jerry Moss, who had announced her retirement after her historic win in the Breeder's Cup Classic in November, have returned Zenyatta to training. A huge gamble for the now-6-year-old mare, with a 14 for 14 record. It's doesn't get any easier for the older horse on the racetrack, facing those fresh youngsters.

Now, whichever mare is named Horse of the Year for 2009... there is still a chance they will meet on the racetrack.

By 10:30 PM (eastern) tonight, it will be all over but the weeping and cheering - for the people. The horses won't know or care one way or the other - they both know they are great.

Steve Haskin of The BloodHorse.com has a usual excellent article summing up Rachel's and Zenyatta's accomplishments for 2009 here.

She IS a Freak!

Sunday November 8 2009

Thoroughbred racing skeptic-of-Superhorses that I am, I was impressed by Rachel Alexandra (Is She A Freak?), after she beat all the 3-year-old fillies she could find, the 3-year-old boys in the Preakness and the Haskell Stakes, and older males in the Woodward Stakes this year (the first 3-year-old filly to ever win the Woodward.)

After Zenyatta's stunning performance in yesterday's Breeders' Cup Classic (the first female to ever win it), I'm convinced they are both freaks. Secretariats? Ruffians? No. Freaks? Yes. Zenyatta had the announcers stuttering and sputtering after her implausible win. I couldn't believe her run. I couldn't believe it the second time I saw it, nor the third, nor the tenth (I can't stop watching it - I think it was the third time I got over being stunned, and had tears in my eyes.)

It's kind of sad Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta won't meet, (Zenyatta was to be retired after this race) but then I'm glad they won't. With two champions like this, one should not have to end up being a loser.

As for Horse of the Year honors for 2009, it's sad one will be a loser there. In fact it's silly for humans to have to vote who they think is the better Horse of the Year. It's a moot point. Both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are champions, both did everything they were asked this year, both accomplished far more than any other horse this year (or many other years), both turned in outstanding performances that would make them Horse of the Year any other year. It's not like the Affirmed and Alydar rivalry, where Alydar would have been Horse of the Year any other year that he hadn't run against Affirmed. They did compete, several times, and Affirmed came out on top more. What does it mean when humans vote that they think one filly/mare is better than the other this year, when they are so closely matched, but haven't run together? Nothing: it's just opinions. By choosing one, our opinions might just be wrong and still go down in the history books. One of them is not better than the other. They are both magnificent champions this year.

Both of them should share Horse of the Year honors.

Period.

(Guess that's why they don't let me vote. : )

Watch the race on Youtube