Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Rachel & Zenyatta: “Right, Royal and Regal”
OCEANPORT, NJ, June 14, 2010--Distracted by the final Derby preps, the Triple Crown, and the fact that neither had raced since before the first Saturday in May, I had forgotten just how great the Princess and the Queen are. See how they run, indeed.
Whether they win by margins, or whether they keep you in suspense until the very last jump, defending Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra and undefeated champion race mare Zenyatta are still the best equine show on Earth.
Neither female was expected to lose last weekend and neither did. One provided a jaw slacking display of wanton speed and high class. The other left you breathless, demanding that you rise from your seat and yell your brains out to win just one more in a row.
Bye-Bye Cigar. Bye-Bye Citation.
“And I don’t care how many state-bred sprinters you beat 19 straight times ‘Queen of New Mexico Racing‘. I’m the ‘Queen of the World’ and I’m coming after your record with a vengeance right soon. My name is Zenyatta, hear me roar.”
If you love racing, it was quite the weekend.
As one of Rachel’s biggest boosters--since she dismantled eight fillies in the ungraded Martha Washington last February at Oaklawn Park, never dreaming she would become what she would become--I, too, thought her best days might be behind her.
Sometimes gut-wrenching is more than just a descriptive phrase; sometimes it describes an action that turns out to be the fait accompli.
In what was the greatest performance given by a three-year-old filly vs. older males in the modern era, the Woodward just might have reached the bottom of her, a place where the tank is depleted, the will to compete gone. It happens.
And when she twice went down to defeat, showing none of her characteristic grit, it was beginning to look as if start number three in her Horse of the Year defense could be her last if future results were not more Rachel-like. The manner of her Fleur de Lis victory was Rachel-like. She's back.
There were signs that this time it could be different. Referencing her schedule from last year, note that her preparation for Saturday’s nine furlongs was a carbon copy of her three-year-old training regimen at Saratoga’s Oklahoma training track.
Following her defeat to Unrivaled Belle’s in the La Troienne, Rachel returned to work for the Fleur de Lis 10 days after that Grade 2 Oaks Day loss. Thereafter, it was the Steve Asmussen signature schedule for her; every seven days with clock-like regularity.
First up was a soft half-mile, followed a soft five-eighths. Then, a solid five furlongs, 1:00.40, termed breezing, with a solid gallop-out. Next was a serious six furlongs in 1:11.20, breezing, with a strong gallop-out. Then finally a five-furlong lung opener five days before the race.
As I watched the serious running unfold three furlongs from the wire on Saturday, I found myself becoming annoyed with the rider--and I stated here after he won his second Derby that Calvin Borel belongs in the Hall of Fame.
First, Calvin took Rachel to the outside on the first turn, a little abruptly over heels, although it had the benefit of floating Distinctive Dixie a little wider than Robby Albarado probably wanted. Next, he asked Rachel to engage Jessica Is Back for the lead--no cheap speed mare she.
On the far turn and with reins dangling, Calvin peered over his right shoulder to see Distinctive Dixie make her challenge three wide. Rachel held her safe for about five strides on her own but, after straightening away, Borel began throwing crosses with three-sixteenths to go.
The response was immediate and generous: Rachel opened three, then five, and had 10-1/2 when she cruised past the wire, reigns dangling once more, in a worthy 1:48.78. Of greater significance, she raced the distance 59/100ths faster than it took Blame to run down Battle Plan in the G1 Stephen Foster.
At first, I wasn’t impressed that Zenyatta had been assigned 129 pounds for Sunday’s Grade 1, the same impost she carried winning the Vanity last year. Then I realized the second highweight, St Trinians, was getting nine pounds: Not insignificant, considering she won four straight so impressively this winter she was favored over 13 males in the Santa Anita Handicap.
For tenacity and drama, Zenyatta’s 17th straight without defeat was as profound as last year’s Clement L. Hirsch. Within a quarter of a mile, she went from cinch, to gonna-get-beat, to OMG she’s going to win!
The head-shaking aspect is that for all the drama, courage, and derring-do, she flicked her ears milliseconds before reaching the wire. Such a tease, that Zenyatta.
So racing’s two biggest stars returned to doing what they do best. One wins by margins whenever possible; the other is bent on challenging herself and Mike Smith both, as if to ask “what more can I do to prevent this from becoming a complete bore while I continue to endear myself even more to my adoring fans?”
And so here we go again. When and where will they meet? And what about that possible series of races bandied about this winter? Working backwards from the Breeders’ Cup, there is time for two meetings, certainly one, before the ultimate match in Kentucky.
The place that makes the most sense is Saratoga. The date, August 29. The race, the G1 Personal Ensign at 10 furlongs, a distance to which neither camp should object, even if superficially it would appear to favor Zenyatta.
Given the potential for the ‘Father of All Travers’ on August 28 to settle three-year-old supremacy, the ‘Mother of All Ensigns’ could complete the biggest weekend in Saratoga history. And that's saying a lot. After the pummeling New York racing has gotten this year from external forces, even the NYRA deserves a break.
The great match need not take place until post time for the Breeders' Cup Classic, but the sport deserves a break, too. What’s needed now is a serious pitch to the connections to make the match happen, followed by a serious pitch to get it on network TV.
Written by John Pricci