by Ed DeRosa
Zenyatta punctuated both an undefeated season and the first-ever Ladies' Day championship program with an emphatic 1 1/2-length victory in the $1,832,000 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) on Friday at the Oak Tree meet at Santa Anita Park.
Jerry and Ann Moss’s four-year-old Street Cry (Ire) filly swept wide around the far turn and had no problem disposing of seven opponents in the $2-million race. Cocoa Beach (Chi) rallied from the inside to be second with her Godolphin Stable stablemate Music Note another 1 1/2 lengths back in third.
The win was Zenyatta’s ninth in as many starts. Despite her 1-to-2 odds, trainer John Shirreffs said he only expressed confidence in her victory when the race went official.
“When she hits that next gear, she’s just something else,” Shirreffs said of Zenyatta’s move around the far turn. “That was Zenyatta’s race. I didn’t count on victory until she crossed the wire, though.”
Longshot Bear Now set the pace in the 1 1/8-mile race through fractions of :23.71, :48.08, and 1:11.08 before yielding to the Godolphin horses. Zenyatta, with Racing Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith aboard, quickly pounced on them turning for home and surged past under a hand ride to prevail in 1:46.85 on the synthetic Pro-Ride surface.
“I was second best today, it’s as simple as that,” jockey Ramon Dominguez said after Cocoa Beach failed to keep pace with Zenyatta in the lane. “Zenyatta’s a special filly.”
Music Note's jockey Javier Castellano agreed and said that his filly ran well but was no match for Zenyatta in the stretch.
Depending on what reigning Horse of the Year Curlin does in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) on Saturday, Zenyatta could receive some consideration for the Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year with champion older female honors all but wrapped up.
“I think it's not in our hands, to tell you the truth. Obviously, we've been reading about the possibility,” Jerry Moss said of Horse of the Year speculation. “Look, we're just thrilled that she's won this race, and she seems to be at the top of her division rather firmly. I mean, to have, if I may say it, a champion, is a pretty ultimate thrill for us.”
Bred in Kentucky by Maverick Production Ltd., Zenyatta improved to nine wins in as many starts and boosted her earnings to $2,144,580. A half sister tio multiple Grade 1 winner Balance, she is out of the winning Kris S. mare Vertigineux.
For a video replay of the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, click here.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
Ed DeRosa is news editor of Thoroughbred Times