To view the Milady Handicap, click here.
by Mike Curry
Unbeaten champion Zenyatta showed her class and brilliant turn of foot as she put away five challengers, including Grade 1-winning stablemate Life Is Sweet, to win the $150,000 Milady Handicap (G2) on Saturday at Hollywood Park.
The five-year-old Street Cry (Ire) mare swept into contention on the turn and powered clear with minimal urging from jockey Mike Smith to complete a last-to-first rally and prevail by 1¾ lengths in her first start in nearly seven months. Sent off as the 1-to-5 favorite, Zenyatta completed 1 1/16 miles in 1:42.30 on the synthetic Cushion Track surface to improve to ten wins in as many starts.
Zenyatta closed her four year-old campaign with a last-to-first win in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic (G1) on October 24 during the Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita Park to cement the Eclipse Award as champion older female. She showed no rust in her return from the extended layoff.
“I'm numb. I'm looking for some emotion now but I'm just numb. She's just amazing,” Smith said. “Physically, I think she's better than she was last year."
Trainer John Shirreffs plotted out a game plan that would keep Zenyatta and Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap (G1) winner Life Is Sweet from facing off until late in the year. He shipped Zenyatta to Churchill Downs for a planned start in the Louisville Distaff Stakes (G2) on May 1, but Shirreffs scratched her on the morning of the race to avoid a possible off track.
With Life Is Sweet unbeaten in three previous starts this season entering the Milady and Zenyatta ready to compete, Shirreffs made the difficult choice to enter his two talented females in the same race.
"[Zenyatta] is just special. Nine for nine, that streak is always in the back of your mind. We knew she had to start somewhere and that first race back you want to make it as easy as possible, but that wasn't possible,” Shirreffs said. “We had to deal with Life Is Sweet and believe me, she is a great running filly. It rained over there in Kentucky, so we did not do a lot with her. The last three days in Kentucky she was just walking. When she got home she was fresh.”
Gambler’s Justice set the pace in the Milady. Champagne Eyes, Allicansayis Wow, and Taste’s Sis tracked just behind the leader while Life Is Sweet and Zenyatta dropped well off the pace through an opening quarter in :23.79 and a half-mile in :47.14.
Smith moved Zenyatta up on the inside of Life Is Sweet on the backstretch, but he was forced to check in tight quarters. Smith angled Zenyatta to the outside of her stablemate and both horses closed willingly on the turn. Life Is Sweet split foes in early stretch and was angled to the inside by Garrett Gomez. Zenyatta accelerated willingly from the outside and put away Life Is Sweet and third-place finisher Allicansayis Wow to win easily.
"Garrett and I were playing some serious jockey games out there. It was all clean and fair,” Smith said. “She's so handy that when I eased up on the pedal she backed up for me, came around and it was over.”
Zenyatta, a finalist for the 2008 Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year, boosted her earnings to $2,234,580. She is out of the winning Kris S. mare Vertigineux, the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner Balance.
Runner-up Life Is Sweet edged Allicansayis Wow by three-quarters of a length.
For an Equibase chart, click here.
To view the Milady Handicap, click here.
Mike Curry is a Thoroughbred Times TODAY editor