Zenyatta running in Breeders Cup tonight...

Aces_High

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Distraught - wanted her to win this terribly. Nothing worse than watching a champion being beaten. Bit like So You Think on Tuesday - off to the UK for him. Black Cavier was AMAZING yesterday - would love her to come to the UK.
 

druid

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Completely disagree with you!The mare was completely unsettled and didnt want to run,he sat patiently and asked and asked...he got what he wanted,sadly he needed her to respond 5 metres before she did,personally i think he rode her just fine,and she showed her quality,sadly the line came 2metres to early!The head lad kept asking the crowd to be quiet...she was clearly upset,got her head round the fact she had to race half way through...hardly the Joc's fault...but hey ho,somebody has to be to blame eh?

Nope, I think you're wrong - she always keys up like that, has been before her last 10 or so races. MS said in the press conference afterwards he left her too much to do....so he agrees with me! ;)
 

Merlotmonster

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I thought he rode it really badly. Whilst I agree, she took a while to get into the race, the jockey actually took a pull just before coming into the home straight! Then he proceeded to whip the living daylights out of her. She tried her hardest and the line came too soon...
 

kerilli

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I thought he rode it really badly. Whilst I agree, she took a while to get into the race, the jockey actually took a pull just before coming into the home straight! Then he proceeded to whip the living daylights out of her. She tried her hardest and the line came too soon...

I think he didn't convince her to get going early enough, she was loafing 20 lengths off the leaders at one point, that's a long way to catch up. He did whip her a LOT in the last furlong or two, I don't think that would have been acceptable on this side of the pond. Bet she and the owners weren't too impressed with that. I thought the pull was to change direction to actually get a run.
Tbh Blame had a perfect run, right up the inside with no interference as far as I could see. If she'd had a similar run I think she'd have beaten him by 5 lengths, she went much farther and had a lot more to deal with. Real shame. The owners looked totally gobsmacked that she was beatable - must've been a nice habit to be in, winning every time!
 

GTs

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Mike won the owners the Kentucky Derby, a couple Breeders Cup - I think they trust him!

Zenyatta always comes off the pace and has been successful - when you race this style you run the risk of traffic, going wide, etc. Previously she was so talented that any adverse set up was overcome with shear talent - unfortunately at the top it gets more difficult. There is a saying in racing 'To win you need everything to go your way, to loose you need just one things to go wrong' - that is all that happened here, nothing else.

It is so nice to see a horse do so much, create the largest fan base since Smarty Jones and retire healthy! Any for the record you can not say that Goldikova is even comparable - there is $1M in winnings, 1 seconds, 3 thirds and 1 race out of the money!! That is a pretty big difference!! But good attempt to bolester your eurobreds.
 

Mithras

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It is so nice to see a horse do so much, create the largest fan base since Smarty Jones and retire healthy! Any for the record you can not say that Goldikova is even comparable - there is $1M in winnings, 1 seconds, 3 thirds and 1 race out of the money!! That is a pretty big difference!! But good attempt to bolester your eurobreds.

Not to denigrate the great Zenyatta in any way, but its only fair to point out that she has been raced much more conservatively than Goldikova, who started taking on all ages and both sexes successfully in the Prix Du Moulin at 3 and has continued to do so with international appearances including not only the Breeders Cup 3 times but also the Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot. Zenyatta has mainly raced against her own sex and not internationally.

Whatever the French are doing with their racemares, its something right - Allez France, Dahlia, Miesque, Goldikova...
 

The Virgin Dubble

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Mike won the owners the Kentucky Derby, a couple Breeders Cup - I think they trust him!

Zenyatta always comes off the pace and has been successful - when you race this style you run the risk of traffic, going wide, etc. Previously she was so talented that any adverse set up was overcome with shear talent - unfortunately at the top it gets more difficult. There is a saying in racing 'To win you need everything to go your way, to loose you need just one things to go wrong' - that is all that happened here, nothing else.

It is so nice to see a horse do so much, create the largest fan base since Smarty Jones and retire healthy! Any for the record you can not say that Goldikova is even comparable - there is $1M in winnings, 1 seconds, 3 thirds and 1 race out of the money!! That is a pretty big difference!! But good attempt to bolester your eurobreds.
Agree with pretty much most of that.

Also agree you can't compare Zenyatta with Goldikova...... yet.

However, Zenyatta is at the end of her racing days, whereas Goldikova has a lot more races left to run.
I think you can only compare great horses when you look back on their careers. No point speculating what the final score is going to be at half time... ;)
 

druid

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It is so nice to see a horse do so much, create the largest fan base since Smarty Jones and retire healthy! Any for the record you can not say that Goldikova is even comparable - there is $1M in winnings, 1 seconds, 3 thirds and 1 race out of the money!! That is a pretty big difference!! But good attempt to bolester your eurobreds.

You think? Zenyatta ran many of races in poor fields, in state and avoided her biggest rivals. Goldi ran against the colts and top fillies. Goldi's rated higher too......
 

GTs

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Not to denigrate the great Zenyatta in any way, but its only fair to point out that she has been raced much more conservatively than Goldikova, who started taking on all ages and both sexes successfully in the Prix Du Moulin at 3 and has continued to do so with international appearances including not only the Breeders Cup 3 times but also the Prince Of Wales Stakes at Royal Ascot. Zenyatta has mainly raced against her own sex and not internationally.

Whatever the French are doing with their racemares, its something right - Allez France, Dahlia, Miesque, Goldikova...

Those are fair points but you can't take it away from the mare. Rarely do the mares race against the boys out here - apart from Rachel, Rags I can not think of another mare that has taken them on. It is much the same as far as going overseas - we rarely do it. Racing is very different elsewhere and apart from the DWC the purses are not really worth it.
 
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