Mighty Eclipse Winner

Mighty Mayberger at Hollywood Park

Let me tell you a secret about horse racing photographers: Not all of them even like horse racing. Pretty sad, isn’t it, as they are given some of the most intimate, up-close access to our great sport? These are the people who don’t know the names of the horses, don’t follow the race results, and don’t know the difference between an outrider’s pony and Zenyatta.

Then there is the other side of the coin. There are racing photographers out there who love the sport so much, they will travel across the globe to take thousands of breathtaking photos that most people will never see. They follow individual horses for the sheer love of the sport. (And the fact they are positively, one hundred percent, certifiably addicted to shooting the races.) They’re called crazy by some people—by those who just don’t understand.  

I will have been professionally photographing Thoroughbred racing for only three years this June, but I have met nearly all of the best racing photographers in that amount of time, because there are so few of us. It only takes about a single minute to figure out the motivation behind each of them. When I came upon the horse paparazzi at Belmont Park for my first time as a credentialed photographer, I had no clue I was about to meet people just as whacked out of their minds about racing as I was. I met every mindset of photographers—but in those so-called “crazies,” I found my people.

Stop the presses!

Stop the presses, hold the phone! What's this I hear, what's this?

Just this morning, my husband woke me up to tell me that Zenyatta's owner, Jerry Moss, wanted his unbeaten race mare to face the dominating Rachel Alexandra sometime this year. I squinted at him and said, "Are you just trying to get me out of bed faster?"

But as the details rolled in, and the news held up to truth, I suddenly felt like William H. Macy's radio personality in the Seabiscuit film.

There are three articles that break down the drama of the rippling effects of Moss saying he wanted to pit Zenyatta against Rachel. Here's the first:

Moss wants Zenyatta to face Rachel

I found this paragraph of particular interest:

Moss added that he shares Jackson's negative view of synthetic racetracks.
"It's just that I'm a Californian, I moved out here from New York a long, long
time ago," he said. "I like the people. This is where I live. This is where I
race mostly."

By making this gesture of putting forth an effort to face the other best horse racing in the country, Moss is looking to give Zenyatta a bigger chance at winning the Eclipse for Horse of the Year, which now seems to be his ultimate goal. But me thinks he's still going to have to do better than that should he want to make a better impression on voters. Remember: Zenyatta has only raced twice this year, while Rachel has raced six times already.

Almost immediately after that article was published, Thoroughbred Times came out with the following article, "Rachel settles in at Saratoga," where this bit of news is stirred up:

Zenyatta’s trainer, John Shirreffs, did his best to diffuse the debate [of
Zenyatta facing Rachel after Moss's statement] on HRTV Sunday morning,
explaining that the five-year-old Street Cry (Ire) mare will probably race next
in the Clement L. Hirsch Handicap (G2) at Del Mar on August 9 since Rachel
Alexandra is expected to contest a three-year-old race at Saratoga.

So it is Shirreffs who is coming off as the killjoy here. I understand he wants to "do right" by Zenyatta, but is sheltering her really "doing right" by her?

This final article from NTRA.com just published within the last few hours, Clement Hirsch next for Zenyatta, and now it seems the pressure for the Horse of the Year race is being put on Shirreffs:

One blueprint has emerged that would keep the 5-year-old mare in California, and
feature repeat appearances in two stakes she won last year - the Clement Hirsch
Stakes at Del Mar and the Lady's Secret Stakes at Santa Anita - before a
potential start in the BC Classic. Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta has
never faced males."Those would be the races unless Mr. Moss felt like we needed
to go to New York," Shirreffs said. "We haven't really discussed the last couple
of races."The Clement Hirsch is appealing to Shirreffs since the race is run as
a stakes this year, and not as a handicap, as in past years.

So he's relenting to the possibility Zenyatta may have to face the boys to prove herself. FINALLY. Yet the note about the Clement Hirsch not being a handicap anymore made me crack up. Of course he'll go for anything that looks easier. Agh.

But the owners of the horse, in the long run, get the final say:

After the Vanity, Moss said he wants Zenyatta to have a different campaign in
the second half of 2009 than she did in 2008."We can't do what we did last
year," he said. "We have to find a bit of a variety. She ships very well and we
wouldn't mind shipping."

Thank you, Mr. Moss. I hope this means that Zenyatta will finally get the competition she needs, and the chance to prove her legacy that she so deserves.

So now the puzzle looks much different than it did last week. What if not only would Zenyatta trek across the country to face the regal Rachel, but she also took on the boys in the Breeders' Cup Classic? I think that would satisfy me as a fan of the sport, and someone who scrutinizes the Eclipse nominees. Does that mean I think she would deserve the Horse of the Year title if she should win both of those races? Not neccessarily. One race against Rachel isn't a gage on anything except for how the conditions of that race turned out, but it will give us a better picture on how these fillies stack up against each other.

All I know is, suddenly the clouds are parting, pigs are flying, and I'm counting the days to this possible match-up. I can already hear the jet engines of Zenyatta's plane flying to New York on a journey to destiny. But will Rachel meet her? Stay tuned...

Shirreffs busts the big balloon

Barring if it should be announced Zenyatta was to be retired this minute for no reason other than "there's nothing else she needs to prove," or "it's too hot to race her in California, after all," I don't think any newsbit could've made me more angry than the story released by NTRA.com today, where Zenyatta's trainer, the audacious John Shirreffs, said the following things:

"I would think [the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic] would be [her final career start]," Shirreffs said. "You're anxious to get a foal out of her because they do breed."

"With the Breeders' Cup out here, what's the need [to travel]?" he said. "When it gets closer to [Breeders' Cup] time, you don't want to ship around too much. Saratoga is a long way."

"The [$700,000 Hollywood] Gold Cup is a mile and a quarter," he said. "She's never run that far. It would be an ambitious spot and against the boys? Let's make it even harder."

Good job, Mr. Shirreffs. Way to make yourself a hypocrite.

So basically, he has no faith in this unbeaten mare of 10-for-10 lifetime races who has done absolutely nothing wrong and given every indication she could be the best horse (not mare, HORSE) in racing right now. Nice confidence, Shirreffs -- I hope you're not expecting people to root for Zenyatta to win the Eclipse for HOTY, because I can already tell you, she's already beaten. And she's going to be beaten by a 3-year-old filly who's already done more than Zenyatta in a half year's time, one Rachel Alexandra.

Talk about a shame, wasting the talent of a race horse like Zenyatta in a campaign that takes her down the exact same path as her schedule last year, with the exception of the Apple Blossom. If her schedule sticks to what it seems to be pointing towards, she will see the same California faces over and over again, will never face males, and will retire without ever showing what she can really accomplish. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Zenyatta deserves better than this.

And another thing: one look at her doing her little Spanish walk tells me she isn't ready to retire. This is a horse that has the desire to run, and to pull her out of racing prematurely would be a mistake. She didn't begin racing until the end of November 2007, when she was 3 years old. Technically, she hasn't even raced for two full years. She's never had an injury, never lost a race, and the Mosses would continue to make more money with her racing than by risking her life as a broodmare.

Why not try to break Peppers Pride's win streak? If Zenyatta's to be entered in races with no better competition than what she's faced so far, she's a shoe-in to set a new American record.



She starts doing her famous walk in the post parade of this video. The presence of this mare just takes my breath away...

Zenyatta returns... but it's hardly a campaign.

When Zenyatta was scratched the morning of the Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs, I felt as if someone had pulled a rug out from under me. I was looking forward to seeing this amazing mare run almost more than seeing the Kentucky Derby.

I've followed her since I first saw her run in the Apple Blossom, her first and only start on dirt, when she walloped the champion Ginger Punch at Oaklawn last spring. Since then, she's become nothing short of a "living legend," to quote Trevor Denman, with untouchable class and a legacy that will live on for generations.

Yet, I wasn't rooting for Zenyatta to win the 2008 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. She was facing my other true love, Curlin.

There's no question to me that Curlin deserved to win his second Horse of the Year title. In 2008, he won the Dubai World Cup by a then-record margin of 7 3/4 lengths, came back to America to win the Stephen Foster, went on to win his second Jockey Club Gold Cup, and when he tried turf for the first time, he suffered the first loss of his 2008 season to a Breeders' Cup Turf winner, Red Rocks. Curlin raced against all who would face him, on two continents, three surfaces, at five different tracks, on fast tracks, and in the slop.

In contrast, Zenyatta dominated in a perfect season, going on to win the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic and the Eclipse Award for Champion Older Female. She won on four different tracks, on two surfaces, and beat many talented fillies and mares. Unfortunately, many of these competitors were the same ones, were only on perfect tracks, and she never once faced males.

John Shirreffs, Zenyatta's trainer, has been bitter about her loss to Curlin for Horse of the Year ever since, but he certainly has done nothing this year to back up why she deserves another shot at winning the title.

A champion is measured not only by brilliance, but by diversity, overcoming what obstacles are thrown at him or her. When the track came up a bit sloppy on the morning of the Louisville Stakes, Zenyatta had the opportunity to prove her stature by trying a new surface condition for the first time. If she were to continue her complete domination on dirt by cruising in the slop, Zenyatta would confirm her bid for this year's HOTY honors. Shirreffs at one time said he thought she'd be even more of a threat on dirt. But when the time came for Zenyatta to shine against new opposition, against a field she'd never seen before, he pulled her out. He denied her the chance to show us what other talents she may possess. In doing so, I've not only lost respect for him as a trainer, I feel cheated as a fan of this great horse.

Curlin may not have won when he was placed on turf and on synthetics for the first time, but he ran his guts out to try. It's not easy for a horse to transfer from one surface to another, yet it has been said it's probably easier for synthetic horses to adapt to dirt after starting on the fake stuff. If Zenyatta really is better on the dirt than she is on synthetics, she should be given the opportunity to prove so. Running only in perfect conditions is no way for a champion to be made. And I dare say she must be tested to prove her champion status.

A lot is already being said about Zenyatta potentially having a showdown with the amazing 3-year-old Rachel Alexandra this fall. I hope this happens. However, I don't wish it to be on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride, where Zenyatta will have all the advantage. Zenyatta has had enough of an advantage, getting everything pretty much her way. It's time she duke it out, it's time she get roughed around a little. It's time she shows us what she's truly got inside of her.

I think the synthetics will do to Rachel what it did to Curlin, and that's not a level playing field. Obviously, English turf horses will mow over our dirt horses if you place them on synthetics. Synthetics are NOT DIRT. So, if Zenyatta is best on dirt, and Rachel is best on dirt, put two and two together. Race this champion mare and this champion filly where they run best, and do it fair and square; no scratches because of imperfect track conditions, this isn't a game for the faint at heart. This is a game for the iron-willed.

Zenyatta is racing in her second straight Grade II Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park this Saturday. Whoop-de-freaking-do.