She'll be running her 20th and final race in the Breeders' Cup Classic (her connections won't commit to retirement, though, so she might return next season as a 7 year old)
For those that don't know who she is, she's a Thoroughbred racehorse who's run 19 times and won 19 times, beating the modern record of 16 straight wins (which was held by two horses, Citation in the 40s and Cigar in the 90s). She didn't start racing until late in her third year (2007), when she ran twice in a couple of allowance races. She hit the racing scene at the start of her 4 year old season (2008), winning stakes after stakes, and capped her year off with a win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (oh, sorry, it's not called that anymore. Now it's the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic. I refuse to call it anything other than the Distaff). Next year (2009), she continued winning and created history twice when she won the Breeders' Cup Classic. First, she was the first, and so far only, female to win the Classic, and second, she was the first, and so far only, horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races (the Distaff and the Classic). Many horses have won two Breeders' Cup races, but in one division. Miesque won the BC Mile twice, Da Hoss won the Mile twice (in 1996 and 1998, the only horse to not win in two straight years), Ouija Board won the Filly & Mare Turf twice, and Tiznow was the only horse to win the Classic twice (2000 and 2001; I suggest you watch those races; that was a horse with heart). Zenyatta was supposed to retire after the 2009 Classic but apparently she loved the racing scene so much that they decided to keep her going for the 2010 season. She's won 5 races this year and is set to win her 6th on Saturday, in the Breeders' Cup Classic (if she wins, she'll be the first female to win the Classic twice, and the only horse to win a Breeders' Cup race three times, unless Goldikova wins her race on Saturday as well; Goldikova has won the Mile twice and she's returning this year to try for a three-peat).
Anyway. Watch the stretch runs of her 19 races here: . She's a come-from-behind horse, doesn't unleash her speed until the stretch run, and that's patented Zenyatta. Gives everyone heart attacks, but as many people have said, once she crosses the wire, the look in her eye shows that the rest of us were the only ones worried. The 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic is in that link, but I highly suggest you watch it at a specific other location, simply because it's just plain awesome there. The audience noise was left in, so you can really hear the reaction when she started her run and chaos erupted, and when she hit the wire first, pandemonium went off and didn't settle down for 5 minutes.
Anyway, go to www.calracing.com/replays.php and then enter [email protected] as the username and November as the password. Hit enter, and then click on "Horse" (next to "Date" and "Track"). Then write Zenyatta and click "Submit" (don't hit "enter" on your keyboard, 'cause it won't do anything). When "Zenyatta (T)" shows up, doubleclick on that. Then scroll down to "11/07/2009 Oak Tree at Santa Anita\t9". Click that, and the full race will start playing. If it doesn't work, you can pick between Flashplayer or WMP. If you don't have patience to watch the whole race, skip ahead to about the 1:45 mark, and that's the perfect moment to watch Zenyatta begin making her move.
She was profiled on 60 Minutes on Sunday, and you can watch that here: to catch up on her story.
For those that don't know who she is, she's a Thoroughbred racehorse who's run 19 times and won 19 times, beating the modern record of 16 straight wins (which was held by two horses, Citation in the 40s and Cigar in the 90s). She didn't start racing until late in her third year (2007), when she ran twice in a couple of allowance races. She hit the racing scene at the start of her 4 year old season (2008), winning stakes after stakes, and capped her year off with a win in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (oh, sorry, it's not called that anymore. Now it's the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic. I refuse to call it anything other than the Distaff). Next year (2009), she continued winning and created history twice when she won the Breeders' Cup Classic. First, she was the first, and so far only, female to win the Classic, and second, she was the first, and so far only, horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races (the Distaff and the Classic). Many horses have won two Breeders' Cup races, but in one division. Miesque won the BC Mile twice, Da Hoss won the Mile twice (in 1996 and 1998, the only horse to not win in two straight years), Ouija Board won the Filly & Mare Turf twice, and Tiznow was the only horse to win the Classic twice (2000 and 2001; I suggest you watch those races; that was a horse with heart). Zenyatta was supposed to retire after the 2009 Classic but apparently she loved the racing scene so much that they decided to keep her going for the 2010 season. She's won 5 races this year and is set to win her 6th on Saturday, in the Breeders' Cup Classic (if she wins, she'll be the first female to win the Classic twice, and the only horse to win a Breeders' Cup race three times, unless Goldikova wins her race on Saturday as well; Goldikova has won the Mile twice and she's returning this year to try for a three-peat).
Anyway. Watch the stretch runs of her 19 races here: . She's a come-from-behind horse, doesn't unleash her speed until the stretch run, and that's patented Zenyatta. Gives everyone heart attacks, but as many people have said, once she crosses the wire, the look in her eye shows that the rest of us were the only ones worried. The 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic is in that link, but I highly suggest you watch it at a specific other location, simply because it's just plain awesome there. The audience noise was left in, so you can really hear the reaction when she started her run and chaos erupted, and when she hit the wire first, pandemonium went off and didn't settle down for 5 minutes.
Anyway, go to www.calracing.com/replays.php and then enter [email protected] as the username and November as the password. Hit enter, and then click on "Horse" (next to "Date" and "Track"). Then write Zenyatta and click "Submit" (don't hit "enter" on your keyboard, 'cause it won't do anything). When "Zenyatta (T)" shows up, doubleclick on that. Then scroll down to "11/07/2009 Oak Tree at Santa Anita\t9". Click that, and the full race will start playing. If it doesn't work, you can pick between Flashplayer or WMP. If you don't have patience to watch the whole race, skip ahead to about the 1:45 mark, and that's the perfect moment to watch Zenyatta begin making her move.
She was profiled on 60 Minutes on Sunday, and you can watch that here: to catch up on her story.