It was trademark Zenyatta on Saturday at Del Mar in the Clement L. Hirsch Handicap. The 4-year-old daughter of Street Cry rallied from 12 back to explode through the stretch with her head held high. The victory ran her career mark to 7 wins in 7 lifetime starts. In a word - perfection.
Coming off a previous effort that saw rivals such as Romance as Diane and Tough Tiz’s Sis get extremely close to her, there were some who thought Zenyatta might be vulnerable today. Instead, the sensational filly powered away to win for fun, dusting all of her rivals except for a particularly pesky 30-1 longshot in Model ridden by Michael Baze (who wound up burning my trifecta play).
Silver Z set the early pace with opening splits of 23.34 and 46.53. Romance is Diane and Tough Tiz’s Sis settled in stalking positions sitting 2nd and 3rd, respectively. Zenyatta was content to trail the field and was only asked to begin moving forward as the field neared the final turn. Once into the stretch it was clear that Zenyatta would not be denied today. She thundered home after receiving perhaps 2 taps of the whip from jockey Michael E. Smith. Model came on late for place while Tough Tiz’s Sis fought on like a Tiznow offspring should to earn show honors.
Zenyatta returned $3.20 for the win, clearing the 1 1/16 miles of the Hirsch in 1:41.48. The trifecta returned $107.70, once again proving that even with an overwhelming favorite you can still find a decent amount of value if you focus on the exotics.
Zenyatta is obviously headed towards the Breeder’s Cup Ladies Classic (formerly known as the Breeder’s Cup Distaff), where perhaps a rematch with Ginger Punch awaits. If history is any indication, horses that have won in the Clement L. Hirsch have faired well on Breeder’s Cup weekend- with Bayakoa and Azeri among those who have gone on to capture the Distaff. If she keeps going this way, she may well be one of the strongest singles of all the Breeder’s Cup races. I just don’t think she’s going to be beatable on the synthetic surface at Santa Anita this October.
Chart: http://www.equibase.com/static/chart/pdf/DMR080208USA9.pdf
UNBEATABLE…i don’t think so folk’s…long long way to Oct. when it comes to this game…Long Live The King & The Dirt!!!
I don’t know - we may need to get you to make the definitive painting of this gal. Have you seen how huge she is? They were calling her a “woman amongst girls” in the post parade. She’s like 17 hands or something ridiculous like that.
But you’re right - long ways to go and nothing in this game is a foregone conclusion. I just don’t think anyone’s going to get her on the synthetics, and since she’s already defeated Ginger Punch, someone else would have to step up big time.
The only thing that might catch up with her some day is if she gets some traffic trouble - but she’s overcome that before in the past.
Looks like I”m taking her to the prom with me.
[...] I wonder, Dickey, if we could shove your comments down your bloated mouth if we ever see Zenyatta go against your horse. I think anyone watching the Haskell would agree she has a great shot of [...]
Zenyatta winning is just about as close to a foregone conclusion as you can get in this game. (Aside from Curlin winning) (-: She’s absolutley brilliant and I can’t wait to see her finish out the year hopefully undefeated. If she does, she will definely be getting some serious swing for Horse Of The Year.
Brilliant indeed. God I love this horse. She’s definitely become my favorite of the opposite sex. And she’s HUGE! Just the way she cam bursting through with her head held high - I can’t get that image out of my mind. I’m a huge Curlin guy but it would be awesome if Zenyatta got HOY.