Quality Road holds off Musket Man in the 2010 Met Mile (Jason Moran)

In an unusual and welcome turn of events, we’re having a year that’s not dominated by the 3-year-olds. Shy of Blind Luck, Evening Jewel and Lookin’ at Lucky you’d be hard pressed to find a consensus of fans jazzed about the youngins (sidebar: I’m still interested in Tapitsfly, Bickersons and Maximus Ruler). Too bad all the purse money is still showered on the 3-year-olds.

This is the first time since I’ve started paying attention (mid-2006) where the real interest, both with fans and the media, is with older horses. Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Blame, Rail Trip, General Quarters, Life at Ten, St. Trinians, Goldikova, Gio Ponti, Musket Man, Warrior’s Reward and Bribon are currently running and in good form (and health!). I Want Revenge, Mine That Bird and Careless Jewel look likely to get back to business in the near future. And Arson Squad, Bullsbay, Macho Again and Munnings could all get back to form at any moment.

That’s a helluva lot of nice horses and I feel like I’m missing a few! While I’m not entirely sure how it happened, I hope this trend of nice older horses staying in training is not a fluke.

Posted by dana on Jun 14 2010    
Filed Under: I Want Revenge, General Quarters, Mine That Bird, 2010, Rachel Alexandra, Quality Road, Let Horses Race, :), Zenyatta, Jason Moran, Racing

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(Manitoba Museum of Finds Art)

Just a quick poll to let you all know I haven’t ended up a kill pen or shipped to Japan. Looking at recent headlines, I wonder which is more likely, Santa Anita going back to dirt or Rachel vs. Zenyatta?

Discuss…

Thanks for all who participated in the Most Fan Friendly Change of 2009 poll. BC saddle cloth went wire to wire but almost got nipped by Free Historical Charts while Track Signals in HD turned in a respectable performance. Let’s hope 2010 follows suite in the fan friendly changes dept!

Posted by dana on Jan 20 2010    
Filed Under: Rachel Alexandra, 2010, Zenyatta, Poll, Santa Anita, Racing

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(Charles Pravata)

Let’s put aside any discussion about Horse of the Year or Rachel Alexandra vs. Zenyatta for a moment and just enjoy this incredible moment. 13-13 is nothing to sneeze at… thank you Zenyatta, we’re lucky to have you!

Posted by dana on Oct 10 2009    
Filed Under: :), Zenyatta, Impressive, 2009, Charles Pravata, Santa Anita, Race Replay, Inspirational, YouTube, Racing

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Last night I got a comment on my Zenyatta vs. Rachel Alexandra poll post (that’s the first search result for “Zenyatta vs Rachel Alexandra“) that said:

The fact that Rachel is ducking the Breeders meant Rachel’s handlers are not confident Rachel can beat Zenyatta. All other speculations are fluff

I forwarded this comment on to pal Jessica with a note:

Just got this. Will they ever give up?

She wrote back:

Ha! We need a name for this phenomenon, along the lines of Birthers and Truthers. The Deniers? Zenyattaistas?

Indeed. Duckers and BCers also come to mind, but since it seems rooted in that pesky and previously discussed sports fan behavior, Zenyattaistas seem most appropriate.

Posted by dana on Sep 07 2009    
Filed Under: 2009, Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta, Rivalry, Fans, Racing

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(Sarah K. Andrew)

I’m officially over the Zenyatta vs. Rachel mess debate, specifically the ridiculous statements from the owners/connections. As Val points out in her devil’s advocate post, the craziest statement from either camp so far came from Moss after Zenyatta’s win in the Clement Hirsch:

I’ve always said it would be great to have them run (against each other), but so far Rachel Alexandra has only raced against 3-year-olds, and we can’t do that anymore.

Well no duh. Meanwhile, count me in the camp that thinks Zenyatta’s win yesterday was impressive, just as I thought Stardom Bound’s similarly run win in the Santa Anita Oaks was impressive. Jessica of Railbird emailed me the following info from Trakus about Zenyatta’s run:

Check out the Trakus info — at the half, in 7th, ran the quarter in :24.47 (37.3 mph). She then kicks in for the final quarter and sixteenth in :22.91 and :5.65 (40 mph). Wow.

Wow is right. I’m not ready to concede that Rachel is better than Zenyatta or vice-versa, just that Rachel’s camp has gone out of their way to challenge their most talented barn member while Zenyatta’s camp has done quite the opposite.

Like most, I hope to see them race (NOT in a stupid match race) and I hope it’s on dirt… but until then, la la la la la la la.

Posted by dana on Aug 10 2009    
Filed Under: Rachel Alexandra, Trakus, 2009, Zenyatta, Rivalry, Racing

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