Zenyatta

You are currently browsing articles tagged Zenyatta.

Zenyatta Beats Blame for 2010 Horse of the Year Award

January 18, 2011 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

Zenyatta Blame Horse of the Year 2010

Zenyatta bests Blame in 2010 Horse of the Year voting!

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. — Moments after the Eclipse Awards ended Monday night, Zenyatta owner Ann Moss came off the stage eager to call her mare in Kentucky. They keep in touch by video phone.

“I just can’t wait to tell her,” a beaming Moss said. “We won!”

Zenyatta beat Blame to win Horse of the Year, besting the only opponent ever to defeat her on the track.

The award caps a remarkable career for the popular Zenyatta, one of the sport’s greatest mares. She was 19-0 before losing her final race to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic last November.

“This makes it all OK after getting beat last time,” said Mike Smith, Zenyatta’s jockey.

Zenyatta received 128 votes and Blame 102. Goldikova, the other nominee, received five votes for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Moss’ husband, Jerry, feared they might vote for Blame because of the head-to-head defeat last fall. Was he surprised to win?

“A little bit, because we lost the big race,” Moss said. “I guess it’s our turn in a way.”

Zenyatta was runner-up for Horse of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

“We always hoped,” Ann Moss said. “We hoped last year, and the year before that. We’re just so happy. She’s such a gift.”

Zenyatta’s three-year body of work and charismatic personality swayed voters her way. She has been racing’s leading lady and boosted its popularity, while Blame wasn’t widely known outside of the sport.

When video highlights of the three finalists were shown before the award was announced, the ballroom crowd reserved its applause for Zenyatta. And after the Mosses accepted the trophy, the crowd gave Team Zenyatta a standing ovation.

“We’re such a niche sport,” said Jerry Moss, a music executive. “The fact she transcended all that and people were interested in seeing her — she was a crossover hit.”

Zenyatta cost the Mosses only $60,000 when they purchased her as a yearling in 2005, and she went on to win 13 Grade 1 stakes, including five last year.

Blame ran against stronger competition than Zenyatta in 2010, and his wins included the Stephen Foster Handicap and the Whitney at Saratoga. But the 4-year-old colt finished second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, which may have lost him some votes.

Al Stall Jr., Blame’s trainer, said his camp wasn’t disappointed Zenyatta won.

“It just fell that way,” he said. “Nobody is surprised. She was the overwhelming favorite. She had transcendent powers we didn’t have.”

Zenyatta’s now at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky awaiting her first breeding date, with the stallion to be chosen in the next couple of weeks before she’s bred in late February, Jerry Moss said.

“She’s doing extremely well at Lane’s End,” Moss told the crowd. “Hey, you can look it up every day on Zenyatta.com.”

Ann Moss wore a tag for Zenyatta’s foal on her finger.

“As a broodmare she’s going to be fantastic, too,” Moss said. “I think she’ll pass on the greatness.”

Other Eclipse Award winners included Todd Pletcher as outstanding trainer, Ramon Dominguez as outstanding jockey, WinStar Farm as outstanding owner and Adena Springs as outstanding breeder.

Pletcher earned the trainer honor for the fifth time by finishing far ahead of the runner-up, Zenyatta trainer John Shirreffs, 168 votes to 28. Dominguez finished ahead of runner-up Garrett Gomez, 124-60. WinStar Farm edged Jerry and Ann Moss 100-81.

Blame was chosen top older male. Zenyatta was chosen top older female for the third year in a row.

“It has been just an unbelievably remarkable ride,” Jerry Moss said. “All the letters and postcards and photos and trophies and little emblems and poems we get every day from people all over the world — we’ve got to thank these fans. I hope as an industry we can keep these fans. She touched these people in a very special way. They all just loved her.”
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

Tags: , , , , , , ,

Good-Bye To The Champ…Zenyatta.

December 4, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | 3 comments

Zenyatta Farewell Hollywood Park Retirement

Zenyatta Says Good-bye.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – It’s time to bid farewell to a legend.

Zenyatta, who has captured the hearts of racing fans worldwide through her remarkable career of 19 wins in 20 starts in the last three years, will be paraded between races at Hollywood Park on Sunday as part of Zenyatta Appreciation Day, a day before she is flown to Kentucky.

Sunday’s ceremony “will be all about the horse,” said Hollywood Park president Jack Liebau. “She’s the attraction.”

Zenyatta’s loyal fans are expected to show in force at Hollywood Park on Sunday, and most will come armed with cameras of all sorts. They will line the paddock and racetrack for a last chance to see Zenyatta in Southern California. Many will be sporting pink and green signs and clothes, in honor of the racing silks of owners Jerry and Ann Moss.

Zenyatta was retired last month by the Mosses, and will be bred in 2011. She will reside at Lane’s End Farm, near Versailles, Ky., beginning Monday evening.

For Sunday’s ceremony, Zenyatta will be paraded in the paddock after the sixth race. She will then be walked onto the racetrack and paraded in front of the grandstand and clubhouse.

The Mosses, racing manager Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, trainer John Shirreffs, jockey Mike Smith, exercise rider Steve Willard, groom Mario Espinoza, and hotwalker Carmen Zamona will be recognized.

Zenyatta will not be ridden by Smith or Willard, Shirreffs said, but will only be walked. For her supporters, just seeing Zenyatta another time will be satisfactory.

Sunday’s ceremony will be much different than the retirement ceremony held on Thanksgiving weekend at Hollywood Park last year, or the one held at Santa Anita last December. Fresh from a win against males in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita earlier that month, Zenyatta was ridden onto the Hollywood Park track by Willard, jogged before the crowd and then ridden by Smith into the winner’s circle for a ceremony that included California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger.

In early January of this year, the Mosses reversed their retirement decision, announcing that Zenyatta would stay in training this year.

Through the day on Sunday, videos of Zenyatta’s races will be shown on the closed-circuit television system. At 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Smith will be available to sign autographs in the paddock.

In October, Hollywood Park attracted a crowd of 25,837 to see Zenyatta’s 19th win in the Lady’s Secret Stakes. Last year’s retirement ceremony drew a crowd of 9,800. Predicting how many people will appear on Sunday to watch her being paraded is more difficult, Liebau said. “I don’t know how many people to expect as far as numbers,” he said.

For Shirreffs and his team, the week leading to Zenyatta’s departure has been filled with final opportunities to collect memories of the 6-year-old mare’s day-to-day life at the barn – watching her jog during daily exercise on the training track, grazing in the afternoons, and just having her as a presence around the barn where she has been the stable’s focus since winning her first stakes in early 2008.

Along the way, Team Shirreffs has been inundated with guests, and crowds of well-wishers visiting the stable to see the mare each morning. That will come to an end when Zenyatta leaves Monday.

“It will be a little different,” Shirreffs said of Sunday’s ceremony. “It’s going to be obvious that she’s leaving. It’s not that I’m in denial, but it’s imminent. You think tomorrow will never get here, but it’s here.”

Sunday’s ceremony is not the last of its kind. After arriving in Lexington, Ky., on Monday afternoon, Zenyatta will make a public appearance in the paddock and walking ring at Keeneland Racecourse at approximately 4:10 p.m., Eastern, before being shipped to Lane’s End.

Tags: , , , , ,

Zenyatta Retired

November 18, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | 2 comments

Zenyatta 19 for 20 Retired Lane's End Farm

Zenyatta Retired.

From DRF.

INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Zenyatta has been officially retired and her new home beginning next month will be Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky., the farm announced on Wednesday.

Zenyatta, whose 19-race unbeaten streak ended with asecond-place finish by a head to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Nov. 6, is expected to be flown to Kentucky in early December, trainer John Shirreffs said on Wednesday.

The wildly popular 6-year-old Zenyatta has been based at Shirreffs’s barn at Hollywood Park since Nov. 7 and will remain with him through November.

Wednesday’s announcement by Lane’s End ends speculation that Zenyatta would stay in training for a 2011 campaign, although Shirreffs had said since the Breeders’ Cup that there were no plans to race her. No breeding plans have been finalized, he said.

The top stallion at Lane’s End is A.P. Indy, who commands a $150,000 fee.

Last November, after Zenyatta won the BC Classic at Santa Anita, she was announced as retired, a decision that was reversed in January of this year by owners Jerry and Ann Moss.

Before Zenyatta leaves California next month, she is scheduled to be paraded before the public at Hollywood Park on Dec. 5.

Details of the Dec. 5 event are still being finalized, according to track president Jack Liebau. Jerry Moss and Liebau discussed the event on Tuesday, Liebau said.

“We haven’t worked out the details,” Liebau said. “We’re getting a bunch of calls from people who want to see the horse.”

For the last six months, Zenyatta has been a popular attraction on the backstretches of Del Mar, Hollywood Park, and especially at Churchill Downs on the week of the Breeders’ Cup. Shirreffs said Lane’s End would attempt to accommodate Zenyatta’s fans in some capacity in the future.

“They said they’d work with it,” Shirreffs said.

In the last week, Zenyatta’s routine has varied from walking at Shirreffs’s barn to undergoing light exercise on the main track or backstretch training track. Wednesday, she was jogged on the main track, but that was primarily for a set of action photographs commissioned by Ann Moss, Shirreffs said.

“We don’t want to let her get too high,” he said.

In the last week, Shirreffs said fans have continued to reach out to Zenyatta since her loss at Churchill Downs.

“We’ve gotten a lot of fan mail and support,” he said. “People want to come out and see her.”

Tags: , , , ,

Zenyatta Comes Up Short – Loses By A Head To Blame

November 6, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

So close, Zenyatta, so close.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZY3QijwHPY

Zenyatta Blame Loses By Nose Breeders' Cup Classic 2010

Zenyatta comes up short by a nose after trailing by 30 lengths.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Breeders’ Cup Saturday – Free Past Performances – $817k Carryover – Zenyatta!

November 6, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

We’re all in for a treat of great racing today at Churchill Downs as the 27th Breeders’ Cup Championships enter Day 2!  Included are showings from the top horses in the world, Goldikova’s quest for a 3rd straight Breeders’ Cup Mile win, and the 19-for-19 undefeated Zenyatta taking on the boys again as the defending Breeders’ Cup Classic champion.

On top of that, there’s an $817,000 Pick-6 Carryover from Friday’s racing.  Create a free account to watch the races and to bet your winners:

http://www.horseracinginside.com/twinspires

Zenyatta Breeders' Cup Classic Next Race Free Past Performances

Click to download the entire free Breeders' Cup Saturday past performances!

If you’re into horse racing, create a free stable, design your own silks, and race your own virtual thoroughbreds tow in real money!

Create Your Digiturf Stable

Create Your RaceClubs Stable

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Zenyatta’s Publicity!

November 5, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

Zenyatta Next Race Breeders' Cup Classic

Zenyatta

Zenyatta’s getting all sorts of publicity prior to her record attempting race tomorrow. ESPN has their front page dedicated to Zenyatta, and even People Magazine is showing some love.

Remember to catch her live tomorrow as she tries to stay perfect with her 20th career victory and back-to-back Breeders’ Cup Classic championship!

You can watch and bet the race by visiting http://www.horseracinginside.com/twinspires.

From People Magazine:

Her statistics are mind-blowing, but here are a few facts that separate her from past legends.

• Jerry Moss and his wife, Ann, purchased Zenyatta for only $60,000 at the 2005 Keeneland September Yearling Sale because she suffered a form of ringworm. Quite a bargain when you consider she’s won purses totaling more than $6 million.

• She was born on April 1, 2004, but didn’t begin racing until the age of 3, after being schooled at the Mayberry Farm in Ocala, Fla.

• She was named for Zenyatta Mondatta, the 1980 rock album by The Police, who were signed to A&M records by Jerry Moss. She loves listening to their hit song “Roxanne” and also enjoys jazz music by (Moss’s partner in A&M), Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass.

• Zenyatta is into social networking. Her Facebook group has more than 30,000 members, while she has close to 700 Twitter (2010Zenyatta) followers. She has countless videos on YouTube, including some of her best victories, goose-stepping dance struts and beer-drinking clips (Her trainer told60 Minutes Sunday how much she loves Guinness).

• The 6-year-old mare loves seeing herself in magazines, despite the fact she can’t give any interviews. She’s been featured in W magazine, ESPN, Sports Illustrated and even made the 2010 Oprah Winfrey female power list.

Tags: , , , ,

European Breeders’ Cup Classic Betting Odds

November 4, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

As of right now, here are what the European bookies have the odds at due to the influx of betting.  Zenyatta has dropped to 2/1 from their launch at 4/1.

For all the Americans that are interested in betting the Breeders’ Cup, you can watch and select winner here by visiting http://www.horseracinginside.com/twinspires

Breeders' Cup Betting Odds Zenyatta Blame Quality Road

Tags: , , , , , ,

Zenyatta Morning Line Favorite – Zenyatta Goes To The Track

November 3, 2010 in Horse Racing Inside by HorseRacingInside | Permalink

Zenyatta Blame Lookin At Lucky Quality Road Breeders Cup Classic Churchill Downs

Zenyatta will once again face the boys in the Breeders' Cup Classic!

As almost all of you know, Zenyatta has drawn post position #8 and was established as the 8-5 morning line favorite.  All across the globe the future bettings have driven her price down from 5-1 to almost even odds!

With Quality Road drawing the inside post #1 and 3-year old star Lookin’ At Lucky breaking from the outside, many Zenyatta fans are feeling good about their chances.

Remember, you can watch and bet all the live horse races by creating a FREE account at http://www.horseracinginside.com/twinspires.

Posted from Daily Racing Form…

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Nothing, it seems, can stop Zenyatta. Not even a semi.

When she left Barn 41 at Churchill Downs on Wednesday morning, Zenyatta began down a path toward the racetrack when she suddenly came face to face with the cab of a truck, whose driver apparently didn’t realize that it was training hours and millions of dollars worth of horses, not to mention the riders perched on their backs, were moving about. Zenyatta was moving forward, a large entourage following right behind. There was only one solution to this stare down. The semi moved back.

“Get back, get back,” Zenyatta’s exercise rider, Steve Willard, shouted while waving his right arm.

The calmest human or animal on the path was, per usual, Zenyatta, who proceeded to march to the track with purpose for her first visit to the track since her arrival Tuesday.

The adoration with which Zenyatta is viewed by fans certainly has followed her from California. On Wednesday morning, media, horsemen, and some fans who got onto the backside began gathering outside Barn 41 by 7 a.m., hoping to sneak a peak at Zenyatta, whose stall is partially blocked by a transparent green screen. Sawhorses, ringed by yellow police tape, have been set up outside the brick wall adjacent to the shed row, offering a bit of a buffer.

In addition to the crowd that followed Zenyatta to the track, there were hundreds of people at the gap where she alighted to the track, and the outer rail, from the seven-furlong pole to past the six-furlong pole, was jammed with admirers.

John Shirreffs, the trainer of Zenyatta, savored the moment by taking pictures with his camera.

As Zenyatta left the track following her training routine, she gave her trademark strut, stretching her right and then her left legs.

And later, after getting a bath, Zenyatta went out to graze on a patch of grass behind the barns adjacent to Longfield Ave. The blanket on her back was a beacon for cars that drove by. Many stopped. People got out. Some poked their fingers through the chain link fence, trying to touch greatness.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

« Older entries