Way to go ZENYATTA!

[tzipi]

I didn't have ya but you ran great! Way to go! Beautiful.

Wait,I did have double once ha.

[Tom]

Kudos to Mike Smith - smart ride, plus having to get her on track early.
Smart ride.

[slew101]

I only had her in an exacta box (not a winner) but just goes to show when it comes to great horses, speed figures don't decide races. Heart does.

[jognlope]

Feel bad for MTB, but hates the surface, hope to see him on dirt again. Did Quality Road ever do that before?? He had the lactic acid running that's for sure.

Zenyatta !!!!!!!!

[Robert Goren]

Does any know what Z's Beyers were for the dirt race at Oaklawn? I know it was last year and it was a grade 1. I maybe wrong , but RA has never won anything important on poly. Z is unbeaten, RA is not. All in all I thought todays race was more impressive than anything RA has done.

[ghostyapper]

Does any know what Z's Beyers were for the dirt race at Oaklawn? I know it was last year and it was a grade 1. I maybe wrong , but RA has never won anything important on poly. Z is unbeaten, RA is not. All in all I thought todays race was more impressive than anything RA has done.

It was 104 for the apple blossom.

[CincyHorseplayer]

I ended up passing the race.But wow!I sure enjoyed the hell out of watching Zenyatta today.That was awesome.

2009=the year of the gals.13-0.Love em both!

[PaceAdvantage]

Does any know what Z's Beyers were for the dirt race at Oaklawn? I know it was last year and it was a grade 1. I maybe wrong , but RA has never won anything important on poly. Z is unbeaten, RA is not. All in all I thought todays race was more impressive than anything RA has done.What made it so impressive?

I mean, we could really spin this can't we? Who did she beat?

Rip Van Winkle running on three bad feet? Wow...tough task there...

A Kentucky Derby winner (whom Rachel beat in the Preakness) who either hates the track or was just a fluke to begin with.

A Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (whom Rachel beat in the Haskell) who most likely is not best on fake dirt.

The likely Turf Champ of 2009 who took to the fake dirt like a duck to water (as I predicted on this board). Once again, we come back to the surface with this...

Einstein (big deal).

Colonel John (big deal).

Richard's Kid (big deal).

Girolamo (lamo).

Regal Ransom (got his butt kicked by Mine That Bird).

Awesome Gem (yawn).

Now, you can go back and do the same with some of the horses Rachel beat...but you can't deny Rachel ventured out of her comfort zone by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than Zenyatta. Hell, just Rachel's "miles logged" makes her HOY campaign much more legit. Forget about the fact that fake dirt is only installed in a handful of venues here in the United States.

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

It was a nice run by Zenyatta, no doubt, and she beat a solid group of horses, but to say it was more impressive than the what the three-year-old filly has done this year is way out there in my opinion.

[ezrabrooks]

What made it so impressive?

I mean, we could really spin this can't we? Who did she beat?

Rip Van Winkle running on three bad feet? Wow...tough task there...

A Kentucky Derby winner (whom Rachel beat in the Preakness) who either hates the track or was just a fluke to begin with.

A Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (whom Rachel beat in the Haskell) who most likely is not best on fake dirt.

The likely Turf Champ of 2009 who took to the fake dirt like a duck to water (as I predicted on this board). Once again, we come back to the surface with this...

Einstein (big deal).

Colonel John (big deal).

Richard's Kid (big deal).

Girolamo (lamo).

Regal Ransom (got his butt kicked by Mine That Bird).

Awesome Gem (yawn).

Now, you can go back and do the same with some of the horses Rachel beat...but you can't deny Rachel ventured out of her comfort zone by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than Zenyatta. Hell, just Rachel's "miles logged" makes her HOY campaign much more legit. Forget about the fact that fake dirt is only installed in a handful of venues here in the United States.

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

It was a nice run by Zenyatta, no doubt, and she beat a solid group of horses, but to say it was more impressive than the what the three-year-old filly has done this year is way out there in my opinion.

Then why in the heck didn't the 3yo show up? Spin as you want..but you are starting to look like a fool..

[ghostyapper]

What made it so impressive?

I mean, we could really spin this can't we? Who did she beat?

Rip Van Winkle running on three bad feet? Wow...tough task there...

A Kentucky Derby winner (whom Rachel beat in the Preakness) who either hates the track or was just a fluke to begin with.

A Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (whom Rachel beat in the Haskell) who most likely is not best on fake dirt.

The likely Turf Champ of 2009 who took to the fake dirt like a duck to water (as I predicted on this board). Once again, we come back to the surface with this...

Einstein (big deal).

Colonel John (big deal).

Richard's Kid (big deal).

Girolamo (lamo).

Regal Ransom (got his butt kicked by Mine That Bird).

Awesome Gem (yawn).

Now, you can go back and do the same with some of the horses Rachel beat...but you can't deny Rachel ventured out of her comfort zone by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than Zenyatta. Hell, just Rachel's "miles logged" makes her HOY campaign much more legit. Forget about the fact that fake dirt is only installed in a handful of venues here in the United States.

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

It was a nice run by Zenyatta, no doubt, and she beat a solid group of horses, but to say it was more impressive than the what the three-year-old filly has done this year is way out there in my opinion.

All I can say to this post is :D:D:D

A guy that has been campaigning for and overrating rachel's accomplishments all year now wants to piss on a filly that wins the BC CLASSIC over a FAR better field than the immortal rachel ever sniffed.

[CincyHorseplayer]

Then why in the heck didn't the 3yo show up? Spin as you want..but you are starting to look like a fool..

I think he covered it in this statement;


"Once again, we come back to the surface with this..."

[tzipi]

Imagine the posts if Rachael beat this field. HAHA

Good for the two of you girls. Godo races. Now onto HOY

[strapper]

Zenyatta supremely impressive in victory today! She's my HOTY now and I didn't think I'd switch off RA but Zenyatta put it all the line on racing's biggest day. So it's ZENYATTA, one for the ages. Mike Smith said the horse of the decade but she's probably more than that. To take nothing away from Rachel, she'll be back as a 4yo to prove even more I'm sure. :)

[PaceAdvantage]

A guy that has been campaigning for and overrating rachel's accomplishments all year now wants to piss on a filly that wins the BC CLASSIC over a FAR better field than the immortal rachel ever sniffed.First off...not true...I pissed all over her Kentucky Oaks win....I guess you forgot about that....

Second, I just showed you all the flaws with the field Zenyatta just beat...how she never travels...how the one time she ventured out of California this year she scratched because it rained...

All the supposed GOOD horses Zenyatta beat, save for Gio Ponti, clearly had issues with either injuries, the surface, or plain lack of talent.

Now, you can argue the same for the fields that Rachel beat, but that only leads us back to square one...

[PaceAdvantage]

Then why in the heck didn't the 3yo show up? Spin as you want..but you are starting to look like a fool..The same reason why Zenyatta's people scratched her when it rained at Churchill this year.

And also, because Rachel already ran the mother of all campaigns for a filly...

Zenyatta did nothing but beat up on tomato cans all year long..and we're going to give her HOY over one race where she finally beat something of merit?

We're going to give her HOY despite the fact she never ventures out of California all year because she needs to run over fake dirt, a surface that here in America is still a curiosity at best?

Really?

This is getting too funny.

[ghostyapper]

First off...not true...I pissed all over her Kentucky Oaks win....I guess you forgot about that....

Second, I just showed you all the flaws with the field Zenyatta just beat...how she never travels...how the one time she ventured out of California this year she scratched because it rained...

All the supposed GOOD horses Zenyatta beat, save for Gio Ponti, clearly had issues with either injuries, the surface, or plain lack of talent.

Now, you can argue the same for the fields that Rachel beat, but that only leads us back to square one...

Again you are just trying to lump her performance in the bc classic with rachel's 3 races against males this year as a wash. But it simply isn't. It was a better performance against better competition and it came at 10 furlongs. You've been waxing poetic all year about rachels historic run but now zenyatta becomes the first female to win the bc classic and she does it against a FAR better field then rachel ever faced in a more important race and you want to dismiss it.

[GMB@BP]

What made it so impressive?

I mean, we could really spin this can't we? Who did she beat?

Rip Van Winkle running on three bad feet? Wow...tough task there...

A Kentucky Derby winner (whom Rachel beat in the Preakness) who either hates the track or was just a fluke to begin with.

A Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (whom Rachel beat in the Haskell) who most likely is not best on fake dirt.

The likely Turf Champ of 2009 who took to the fake dirt like a duck to water (as I predicted on this board). Once again, we come back to the surface with this...

Einstein (big deal).

Colonel John (big deal).

Richard's Kid (big deal).

Girolamo (lamo).

Regal Ransom (got his butt kicked by Mine That Bird).

Awesome Gem (yawn).

Now, you can go back and do the same with some of the horses Rachel beat...but you can't deny Rachel ventured out of her comfort zone by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than Zenyatta. Hell, just Rachel's "miles logged" makes her HOY campaign much more legit. Forget about the fact that fake dirt is only installed in a handful of venues here in the United States.

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

It was a nice run by Zenyatta, no doubt, and she beat a solid group of horses, but to say it was more impressive than the what the three-year-old filly has done this year is way out there in my opinion.

I love how you discount the Santa Anita Handicap winner, Donn winner, two Travers winners, JCGC winner, a horse a length off sea of stars, Kentucky Derby winner. She beat no one.

Also she is really slooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww....have you seen her Beyer figures?

Let me guess, somehow Beyer will give her like a 112 and she gets 15 points faster.

[bisket]

zen has some holes in her resume. so does rachel. its a tough call, and could really go either way. they both showed superiority in their races, and the surface they raced on played a role. just because one showed superiority on one surface and another didn't shoudn't exclude either one. my one problem is zenyatta never raced outside of california. thats my one real mark against her. its a shame her connections never allowed her to do this.

[Pell Mell]

Some can run on that shit and some can't. Every horse that won today had run well on it in the past, like that $44. winner. Did a dirt horse even get in the money today?

I raced cars for many years and there's a world of difference between dirt and asphalt. I'm not saying horses are cars, but there are drivers that are great on one or the other, but few are good on both. And, the cars need a totally different set up just as the horses need to be able to handle one or the other;)

[swami13]

Just got off work in time to see the Classic, GOOSE BUMPS watching the stretch without a bone bet on it, great job by the filly

[PaceAdvantage]

I love how you discount the Santa Anita Handicap winner, Donn winner, two Travers winners, JCGC winner, a horse a length off sea of stars, Kentucky Derby winner. She beat no one.

Also she is really slooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww....have you seen her Beyer figures?

Let me guess, somehow Beyer will give her like a 112 and she gets 15 points faster.Why are you bringing Beyer into this? I have never mentioned any such thing in my defense of Rachel or my criticism of Zenyatta.

Let's go over this one by one, because I sense you like to dance:

Santa Anita Handicap winner...Einstein...the same Einstein who was beaten in the Stephen Foster by not only Macho Again, but also Asiatic Boy, two horses that were beaten by Rachel in the Woodward.

Donn Winner....Albertus Maximus...not even in the BC Classic today...not sure where you got that one...

Two Travers winners....Summer Bird...beaten by Rachel in the Haskell....Colonel John...never ran over a dirt track in 2009...tough to compare...you might have me there....

JCGC winner...again...Summer Bird...see above...

A horse a length off sea the stars...Rip Van Winkle...running while held together with duct tape...even Mine That Bird beat Rip Van Winkle today...and that's saying something...

Kentucky Derby winner...Mine That Bird...beaten by Rachel in the Preakness....

How did I do?

[Cratos]

I love how you discount the Santa Anita Handicap winner, Donn winner, two Travers winners, JCGC winner, a horse a length off sea of stars, Kentucky Derby winner. She beat no one.

Also she is really slooooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwww....have you seen her Beyer figures?

Let me guess, somehow Beyer will give her like a 112 and she gets 15 points faster.

She wasn't slow by any stretch of the imagination, she covered the 1/4 mile in 23.40 seconds. That is "Secretariatan time"

[Tom]

The NYRA bias is really starting to show.
Rachael beat a third rate field of older horse in a third rate stake at Belmont.
Speed favoring track for a speed favoring horse. Not impressive. On dirt, there is not much class, just speed. Impressive for a 3yo filly, but still,

There, I said it. :lol:

My take is , Zenny is the one they will be talking about for years to come.
Most don't even know Rachael's real last name....Alexander? :rolleyes:

[ghostyapper]

Why are you bringing Beyer into this? I have never mentioned any such thing in my defense of Rachel or my criticism of Zenyatta.

Let's go over this one by one, because I sense you like to dance:

Santa Anita Handicap winner...Einstein...the same Einstein who was beaten in the Stephen Foster by not only Macho Again, but also Asiatic Boy, two horses that were beaten by Rachel in the Woodward.

Donn Winner....Albertus Maximus...not even in the BC Classic today...not sure where you got that one...

Two Travers winners....Summer Bird...beaten by Rachel in the Haskell....Colonel John...never ran over a dirt track in 2009...tough to compare...you might have me there....

JCGC winner...again...Summer Bird...see above...

A horse a length off sea the stars...Rip Van Winkle...running while held together with duct tape...even Mine That Bird beat Rip Van Winkle today...and that's saying something...

Kentucky Derby winner...Mine That Bird...beaten by Rachel in the Preakness....

How did I do?

What a shame you didn't do this indepth analysis for that pathetic woodward field or any of rachel's other races. Instead you chose to just say how historic what she was doing was.

But now Zenyatta faces a field tougher than all of rachel's fields combined and does something more historic than rachel and we get your weak indepth analysis.

Biased as they come.

[Izzy2742]

I'm glad I'm not voting for HOY. I didn't think it was possible for RA to lose it, but I think Zenyatta may have changed some minds. Once the dust settles, though, I think RA will probably still win it.

The "what if?" questions about their (never) meeting can start now and be added to the many others of this sport.

Can anyone think of another year when TWO ladies were so clearly the class of North American racing?

[lamboguy]

this is getting to be real crazy stuff. if you took ZENYATTA out of california and put her in churchill downs and have her race against rachel alexandra i couldn't tell you who was going to win. on santa anita sythetic surface zenyatta would destroy her today, maybe not next year though.

the older horses that rachel beat are high quality horses. until today zenyatta never beat anything close to that kind.

it is impossible to compare zenyatta and rachel. its not like lure and cozzene, sunday silence and easy goer, or affirmed and allydar. there is a big difference in surface and age.

if this breeders cup were in some other place like monmouth or belmont, sherrifs might not have even sent zenyatta over to face girls. she has perfect synthetic style running ability. this is something that i could never have dreamt up 10 years ago, but its here and the people associated with zenyatta knew exactly what they were doing with her at every point of her career.

they did a super job and created a super horse and all credit to them.

[ghostyapper]

The NYRA bias is rally starting to show.
Rachael beat a third rate field of older horse in a third rate stake at Belmont.
Sped favoring track for a speed favoring horse. Not impressive. On dirt, there is not much class, just speed.


It's not a nyra bias it's a rachel bias. He also said how the woodward was the more tougher and challenging spot than the travers. Of course that opinion got obliterated when the 2 travers runner did just that to the woodward runners in the jcgc.

[bigmack]

The NYRA bias is really starting to show.
It certainly is.

[Cratos]

What made it so impressive?

I mean, we could really spin this can't we? Who did she beat?

Rip Van Winkle running on three bad feet? Wow...tough task there...

A Kentucky Derby winner (whom Rachel beat in the Preakness) who either hates the track or was just a fluke to begin with.

A Belmont, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup winner (whom Rachel beat in the Haskell) who most likely is not best on fake dirt.

The likely Turf Champ of 2009 who took to the fake dirt like a duck to water (as I predicted on this board). Once again, we come back to the surface with this...

Einstein (big deal).

Colonel John (big deal).

Richard's Kid (big deal).

Girolamo (lamo).

Regal Ransom (got his butt kicked by Mine That Bird).

Awesome Gem (yawn).

Now, you can go back and do the same with some of the horses Rachel beat...but you can't deny Rachel ventured out of her comfort zone by ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE more than Zenyatta. Hell, just Rachel's "miles logged" makes her HOY campaign much more legit. Forget about the fact that fake dirt is only installed in a handful of venues here in the United States.

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

It was a nice run by Zenyatta, no doubt, and she beat a solid group of horses, but to say it was more impressive than the what the three-year-old filly has done this year is way out there in my opinion.


PA, these isn’t any reason to downplay Zenyatta’s BC Classic win because by any measurement it was great and in that race on that track Rachel would have in my opinion fell as a loser to Zenyatta

[PaceAdvantage]

What a shame you didn't do this indepth analysis for that pathetic woodward field or any of rachel's other races. Instead you chose to just say how historic what she was doing was.

But now Zenyatta faces a field tougher than all of rachel's fields combined and does something more historic than rachel and we get your weak indepth analysis.

Biased as they come.All I did was simply tear apart every horse GMB@BP listed as some sort of accomplishment for Zenyatta. Maybe you had a different set of horses running in the BC Classic this year and can do a better job than GMB did...

Zenyatta ran a helluva race and beat a very deep field...there is no question there...

But that one race by no means entitles her to horse of the year....not in this year....maybe in some other year....any truly unbiased observer can see that....

[CincyHorseplayer]

What a shame you didn't do this indepth analysis for that pathetic woodward field or any of rachel's other races. Instead you chose to just say how historic what she was doing was.

But now Zenyatta faces a field tougher than all of rachel's fields combined and does something more historic than rachel and we get your weak indepth analysis.

Biased as they come.

What's historic about a surface that hasn't even been around for 5 years??

Talk about biased:D

[CincyHorseplayer]

Maybe we should run next years BC as a steeplechase.

A champion isn't a champion unless they prove they are a jumper;)

[GMB@BP]

All I did was simply tear apart every horse GMB@BP listed as some sort of accomplishment for Zenyatta. Maybe you had a different set of horses running in the BC Classic this year and can do a better job than GMB did...

Zenyatta ran a helluva race and beat a very deep field...there is no question there...

But that one race by no means entitles her to horse of the year....not in this year....maybe in some other year....any truly unbiased observer can see that....

your right I am wrong...the horses that RA beat this year, Summer Bird, Mine that Bird, Macho Again, Munnings....are much better horses than Zenyatta has ever beaten.....wow, glad you wager money on this game. :faint:

[CincyHorseplayer]

And for what it's worth Ghostyapper gets HOY.

He has been consistent all year.On the surface and below the surface,in every situation.Been hating on horses and posters all year(or at least since June).

What a paragon of consistency!!!!

He gets my vote for Hater of the Year:ThmbUp:

:lol:

[Cat Thief]

I second that reply

[Sundown]

"Then why in the heck didn't the 3yo show up?"

The same could be asked of Z staying in CA.

The only way to clear this up is to have them race against each other on both surfaces. Ain't gonna gonna happen.


Would love to see this take place.

"Fair Grounds also announced the addition of two new dirt races for fillies and mares, including a 1 1/8-mile stakes positioned on Dec. 19 to potentially entice a year-end showdown between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, who are considered by many North America’s top two horses in training." Bloodhorse August 12, 2009

[GMB@BP]

"Then why in the heck didn't the 3yo show up?"

The same could be asked of Z staying in CA.

The only way to clear this up is to have them race against each other on both surfaces. Ain't gonna gonna happen.


Would love to see this take place.

"Fair Grounds also announced the addition of two new dirt races for fillies and mares, including a 1 1/8-mile stakes positioned on Dec. 19 to potentially entice a year-end showdown between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, who are considered by many North America’s top two horses in training." Bloodhorse August 12, 2009

Zenyatta tried to enter the Haskell but for some reason they said no.

[PaceAdvantage]

your right I am wrong...the horses that RA beat this year, Summer Bird, Mine that Bird, Macho Again, Munnings....are much better horses than Zenyatta has ever beaten.....wow, glad you wager money on this game. :faint:Going all personal on me at the end there...way to keep it classy.

Defend your list of horses against what I said...

[FastAndFurious]

Have you read up on RA beat?PA can you at least agree on Co horse of the year?

[Cadillakin]

Have you read up on RA beat?PA can you at least agree on Co horse of the year?
Maybe not the right place to post this.. but I wanted to say that IMO, Gio Ponti is a major horse... and he fired big today..

You know, going in, I really hoped that Zenyatta would win, but in my mind's eye, I kept seeing Gio Ponti firing before her.. and I was doubting that Zenyatta could run him down...

But oh my goodness, in that last sixteenth, he looked way overmatched by her.

[WinterTriangle]

Zenyatta barely had to roll outta bed this morning...she had a huge home field advantage....the fake dirt and the fact she doesn't travel.

So, knowing what a cake-walk this would be, and at 5/2, how much dinero did ya put on her to win?

By reading on this board, most thought she had no chance. they were demanding 8-1 and upwards to even place a wager on her.

You seem to express the opposite, i.e., she barely had to get out of her "jammies" to win against these.

Just curious. :)

PS, and I don't mean this personally, I am just asking you because like I said, I can't figure out why so many thought she was "in too deep" and others felt she was just out for a stroll in this.

[PaceAdvantage]

I'm operating with 20/20 hindsight, just like those who were clamoring for Rachel to be HOY when the Woodward was barely official, but are now clamoring for Zenyatta to be HOY now that the BC Classic is barely official. They are operating with 20/20 hindsight as well...that's ok...it's fun!

For the record, I bet Gio Ponti and posted so publicly before the race.

[badcompany]

Maybe not the right place to post this.. but I wanted to say that IMO, Gio Ponti is a major horse... and he fired big today..

You know, going in, I really hoped that Zenyatta would win, but in my mind's eye, I kept seeing Gio Ponti firing before her.. and I was doubting that Zenyatta could run him down...

But oh my goodness, in that last sixteenth, he looked way overmatched by her.

What was really impressive was that Gio Ponti had the more direct route to the line, whereas, Zenyatta had to swing way wide.

That said, the race did set up beautifully for a closer. So, I'd have to say Rachel's race in the Woodward was more impressive.