Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Eclipse Voters, Bloggers Want Same Matchup: Rachel vs Zenyatta
SARATOGA SPRINGS, NY, May 26, 2009--It’s been my experience that unless the names of a particular distaff deity is invoked, fillies just don’t excite racing fans the same way colts do.
It’s no one’s fault that there aren’t enough Ruffians or Bushers or Twilight Tears to go around. It’s just the way it is:
There are not enough tomboys like Shuvee, or bullets like Moccasin, a Horse of the Year at 2, or Derby winners like Winning Colors and Genuine Risk or perfectionists like Personal Ensign. These exceptional females proved great is great, gender be damned.
Today it's the Preakness heroine Rachel Alexandra and perfectionist Zenyatta that has elevated the female race horse in stature. Everybody might love the itty-bitty gritty Derby winner that could, especially after he stamped himself genuine in Baltimore.
But it’s the ladies that are the buzz and they’re on a collision course. Not, however, on the racetrack any time in the near future, but in the Eclipse voting booth.
To prove the point, it will take a little hypothesizing. Because nobody knows what any of the camps are going to do, perhaps not even the handlers themselves.
But after reading the quotes, then the tea leaves, here is one voting scenario to ponder.
Let’s say that, by Sunday, Rachel Alexandra is kicking down the barn door and if she doesn’t run soon, she’s going to hurt herself by acting out in her stall. Jess and Steve huddle. “We’re running in the Belmont,” Jess says.
Somehow, enough water is found on Long Island--ground water, not rain, please--to spray Big Sandy, making the track nice and tight. And Rachel is able to skip over it like it’s Churchill Downs. She wins the Belmont.
In this corner, Rachel Alexandra, the only filly in the history of the universe to win two legs of racing’s Triple Crown.
On the other coast, and only on that coast, Zenyatta does exactly what she did last year, winning the Vanity, Clement Hirsch, Lady’s Secret and Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic. This final just in: Zenyatta 14, Personal Ensign 13.
And in this corner, the record holding winner of 14 straight races without defeat in top class competition, and still, distaff champion of the world, Zenyatta.
May I have the envelope, please. And the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year 2009 goes to ???
In the blogosphere, fans already are choosing up sides. Said one blogger about Zenyatta’s proposed schedule: “It would be the equivalent of driving your Ferrari around a cul-de-sac.”
Said another: “I’d hardly call Zenyatta’s plans defending her title, more like maintaining her perfect record.”
I’ve got one, too, with apologies to John Shirreffs and Peppers Pride: “It’s like pummeling New Mexico-breds 19 straight times.”
In defense, one said that “anyone who feels they have a horse that can beat Big Z can put their horse on a plane and go take their shot. The champion never comes to you, you go to them.”
And another: “I LOVE Zenyatta… LOVE. But I seriously hope they take her out of the cul-de-sac at least once. There’s always hope that maybe they’re just playing coy… fingers crossed on that one!”
And finally, this: “The ultimate goal…is October. To get there you map out a plan. Appeasing people is not part of it. You decide the best way to give your horse the best chance… It might not make everyone happy, but it’s the right one according to the people who know the horse best.”
The camps have been talking, too. Shirreffs on the mile and a quarter Hollywood Gold Cup. “She’s never run that far… And against the boys? Let’s make it even harder.”
And “when it gets closer to [Breeders’ Cup] time, you don’t want to ship around too much. Saratoga is a long way.”
Then this from Jess Jackson: "If [Rachel] runs at all on the plastic [Santa Anita‘s Pro-Ride], it will be because she's so damn good that she can beat the boys in the Classic, not the Ladies' Classic," adding he would love to take on Zenyatta at some point.
If Zenyatta ends her career by eclipsing Personal Ensign and if Rachel Alexandra were to win the Belmont, my Horse of the Year vote will go to Rachel Alexandra.
Why? Because, in my opinion, her achievement would have greater historical significance. If she skips the Belmont, targets and wins the Travers, that might accomplish the same thing. For me, beating males twice means more.
Otherwise, like that blogger said, Zenyatta’s the champ, you come to her. And that puts the onus on Jackson to chase Zenyatta..
I have a compromise where both camps give something up. Jackson already has a real estate agent hunting for places to rent for the Saratoga meet, so Rachel will spend the summer here.
Saratoga is a long way, but there are such things as airplanes. Board one of those and meet the younger Rachel in the Personal Ensign on the last weekend in August. Running in that spot has a little extra symmetry, too.
Beyond that, most observers believe that the three-year-old cannot beat the older mare, no matter how fast or slow the pace. To this point, I agree.
August is still early in the season for three-year-olds vs. elders--advantage Zenyatta. And it allows more than enough recovery time before Zenyatta's penultimate start, the Lady’s Secret, at Santa Anita in October.
As for her legacy, she will have beaten the filly who beat the boys in the Preakness--instead of the outmanned group she beat last weekend. For Horse of the Year, it would be: Race, Set and Match.
Even Zenyatta’s biggest fans want to see this, thereby eliminating all those nagging questions. Wrote another Zenyatta blogger:
“I won’t ‘love her any less’ if she never gets a chance to prove that’s she’s one of the all-time greats by defeating any and all potential competition. But I’ll definitely think it was a damn shame and waste of talent.
Written by John Pricci
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