This is what it's all about: Zenyatta epitomizes greatness in BC Classic (Part I)

November 10, 2:58 PMHorse Racing ExaminerRobin Bush

Previous Next

Comment Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Horse Racing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Undefeated Zenyatta takes her palce in history as one ot the all-
time greats.  AP Photo/Jae C. Hong 

(For Part II of this piece, click here.)   

The moment no one could wait for was finally approaching. All the excitement of racing’s greatest day came down to the Classic. This year’s edition of the Breeders’ Cup was a rousing renewal, as always packed with scintillating finishes, championship performances, and stunning upsets. And it culminated with the $5 million Classic (WATCH VIDEO), showcasing the deepest and perhaps most competitive field in North America this year. The thirteen entrants sauntered into the saddling area. It was then, graced with the presence of so many championship horses, that one could grasp the enormity of what was about to unfold. No one could doubt that millions worldwide were about to witness, at the very least, a most memorable race.

Zenyatta struts before the crowd as she awaits the Classic. 
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong 

Starring in the event were Gio Ponti, the foregone 2009 turf champion and one of the all-time best American-bred and based grass horses; Summer Bird, who had also all but sown up top three-year-old male honors; multiple Group I winner Rip Van Winkle, whom trainer Aidan O’Brien had said was entering the race better than any horse he’d brought to the Classic; and fellow European Group I winner Twice Over; not to mention Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and four other Grade I victors. It would have been a terrific field in any year. But, at least here in the U.S., nary an eye seemed to wander to any of them. Some of these horses had never in their lives been greeted with so little notice.

Piece of cake: Zenyatta cruises past all her foes with ears pricked. 
AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill 

But on this day, in this race, a dozen top-class horses were simply extras in the background. The crowd of nearly 59,000, plus millions watching on television, were glued to a towering mare named Zenyatta. Undefeated in thirteen starts and the 2008 champion older female, she had garnered nearly all the Breeders’ Cup headlines. The eagle-eyed mare strutted into the Classic arena alerting all that she was primed for the race of her spectacular career. From the time she entered the track to head for the saddling area, the champion delighted fans with her entrancing pre-race routine—part march, part ballet. She bowed her massive neck, stylishly thrust out her forelegs as she stepped, and repeatedly pawed the ground. At times she pranced and tugged mercilessly on her handler, so eager was she to make her run at history. Perhaps never before has a horse consistently put on such a show, and been as endearing to watch before the race as during her dominating performances. Most people had never seen anything quite like Zenyatta’s “exercises,” as jockey Mike Smith called them. The chocolate-colored mare was hypnotic in every moment leading up to the race. Larger and more burly than most of her male foes, the champion definitively signaled she had come to play. This was not a mare to be intimidated by the monumental task before her.

The crowd were already euphoric as Zenyatta and Mike Smith left the walking ring and stepped onto the Santa Anita course. She continued to dance for them, barely able to contain her joy at the thought of sizzling the track once again. Occasionally she stopped, head high and those famous ears pricked, and surveyed the stands. If anyone hadn’t been awed by her previous antics, their breaths were taken now. She stood there the epitome of perfection, athleticism, and grace.

Zenyatta, like many great horses, had her share of detractors. Some felt she wasn’t quite as good this year as last; some didn’t think her trademark late kick would be enough to catch some of these horses, who overall were thought to be much tougher than the hopelessly outclassed mares she’d been pulverizing this year; some thought if she lost as much ground around the far turn as usual, she didn’t have a prayer of catching up; and some felt she may not be as effective at 1 ¼ miles. Some simply believed she was overrated.

But as post time crept closer, it became ever more apparent that the fans could be about to witness one of the great performances of all time. Certainly the crowd thought so, and the pre-race atmosphere was one of elation rarely seen these days in American turfdom. Each time Zenyatta shimmied or posed like a statue, the fans whistled and clapped. It was as if Secretariat himself were gracing the Santa Anita track. The confident mare and reverent fans fed off each other in an extraordinary symbiosis. The scene was surreal, and the sensation that all the buildup would lead to a victory for the ages swelled.

The pre-race drama managed to magnify at the starting gate. Zenyatta uncharacteristically hesitated to load, but entered it willingly enough when gate crew members locked arms behind her and pushed her forward. Then Quality Road delayed the start with terrifying antics that resulted in minor lacerations and in his being scratched at the gate. The twelve-minute chaos could have unnerved any of the other runners, but they all handled the delay beautifully. After being removed from the gate and reloaded, Zenyatta was still just as hesitant, but went in with some urging. And in a moment, the stage was set.

The gate clanged open, and the start was not quite what Zenyatta fans wanted to see. She broke last, flat-footed and on the wrong lead. Though she habitually broke unhurriedly, she was throwing her head a bit in the first two hundred yards and didn’t look as comfortable as usual. Any deviation from the norm could be worrisome. But the giant mare soon settled into stride near the rail and looked like her usual, happy self. She was last, about ten lengths from the leaders in the most challenging race of her life. Still, at this point she was in a typical Zenyatta situation, which had never failed to garner her a victory. Mine That Bird soon dropped behind her, putting her in 11th place—now about twelve lengths back. Mike Smith crouched motionless over her towering withers, never panicking at the thought of how much his mare had to do to catch some of the best horses in the world.

Rip Van Winkle, Gio Ponti, Twice Over, and everyone else but Mine That Bird had the jump on the 5-2 favorite. If she was going to win today, it seemed she would have to give everything she had—something she’d really never had to do before.

(To read Part II of this piece, click here.)

For more info:

Zenyatta simply perfect in Classic

Equibase Classic chart

Z One and Only: Steve Haskin Classic wrapup

Zenyatta caps perfect career with perfect win (Dick Jerardi)