RACHEL WHO?

Click above to watch Personal Ensign in the 1988 Breeders’ Cup Distaff
(Footage : Breeders Cup)

ZENYATTA vs RACHEL ALEXANDRA

Bill Oppenheim Thoroughbred Daily NewsShe did raise the roof. I was at Churchill Downs in 1988 when Personal Ensign came from an impossible position to nail G1 Kentucky Derby winner Winning Colors in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff (now Ladies’ Classic) in the slop, completing an undefeated sevenrace four-year-old campaign and an undefeated 13-race career. Since last weekend, I’ve spoken to a lot of people who saw that race, and we are all in agreement : this topped it. Zenyatta broke Personal Ensign’s record by coming from last to finish undefeated in 14 races, and she beat (good) colts in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic to do it. I don’t know what caused our publisher, Barry Weisbord, to have this sudden fit of diplomacy, but I have to say I completely disagree. Yes, Rachel Alexandra beat colts three times, and that makes her champion three-year-old filly, by a country mile. But, for whatever reasons, her connections declined the invitation to send her to California. Meanwhile, Zenyatta broke Personal Ensign’s record and won the Classic. Whether we have an archaic system of voting for championships is another question, but this is one current Eclipse voter speaking : no contest. No debate.

Zenyatta is Horse of the Year. Rachel Alexandra can come back next year and beat colts on her owner’s preferred dirt at Churchill Downs, and then she can be Horse of the Year. But in 2009 there can only be one winner, and her owners get the vote for the Eclipse Award in their category, too.

Zenyatta’s epic win capped another highly successful two-day Breeders’ Cup festival at Santa Anita - so successful, in fact, that one Breeders’ Cup faction is already lobbying for a permanent move to Santa Anita after Churchill in 2010. That will be a far more interesting debate for the industry than who is Horse of the Year, and the reason it’s even up for debate is that Southern California and the Breeders’ Cup are pretty much made for each other. I don’t know that it could have gone better. Attendance was up over 10,000 from last year for the two days, the atmosphere was crackling, and the planning and execution by Breeders’ Cup and Santa Anita officials came off beautifully. Oh, and no horses died on the racetrack - another great result. You know yourselves, there are an awful lot of things wrong with this industry, (in America) but all those concerns disappeared for last weekend. Zenyatta’s win really did show that it really can still happen, that there really is something going on here.

Whatever the politics, whatever the issues, whatever the concerns, short and long-term, the Breeders’ Cup should be congratulated for really and truly showcasing our sport the way we hope it will be.

THE DEBATE RAGES : US HORSE OF THE YEAR

The Rachel Alexandra vs Zenyatta Debate
(Photo : Beat/Sporting Life/Dopacetic)

RACHEL ALEXANDRA vs ZENYATTA

It must be decades since the judges were faced with such a dilemma. The remarkable sweep-it-all-before-you 3-year-old filly, Rachel Alexandra, or the unbeaten (14 from 14) giant-killing Zenyatta. Who said the fillies are at a disadvantage? Here are a few views :

Barry Weisbord on Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra :
The sport of Thoroughbred racing takes a lot of criticism, much of it justified. While other sports crown their champions in a year-ending, on-the-field contest that is above debate, or announces their weekly rankings through an easy-to-follow and inarguable points system, racing relies upon a controversial and antiquated system of opinion polling among certain segments of the industry and routinely draws fire from both inside and outside the sport for doing so. I am talking, of course, about the annual vote for divisional champions and Horse of the Year. The controversy started before Zenyatta had even returned to the winner’s enclosure, with ESPN commentators giving their own opinions on who the winner should be, and polling the winning connections as to what they thought.

We do so many things wrong in racing. Wouldn’t it be great if we finally got this one right? Racing should give both of this year’s female stars “Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra” the lasting honor they each deserve by naming them each Horse of the Year.

Who was better? It is unfair to make people inside and outside of the industry make that choice. An ontrack meeting could have settled the issue. But without that meeting, it’s impossible to say.

Didn’t they both do everything they were asked to do every time they stepped onto the track? Are we really doing this filly, this mare - and their connections - justice by entering into a debate as to who was more successful, and choosing just one of them? The issue, really, is: where would our sport have been this year without either one of them?

Let’s stage a meaningful Eclipse Award night that honors them both.

This time, racing needs to get it right. They have called this the Year of the Girl in horse racing. Let’s do the right thing and make it the Year of the Girls.

Bob Baffert on Zenyatta :
“Amazing. Amazing. She’s as good as it gets. And the way the grandstand erupted, I couldn’t believe it. Everyone was cheering. Nobody wanted to leave. She made us feel good. She made us all feel good. It’s got to be the greatest moment in Breeders’ Cup history.”

Chip Woolley on Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra :
“They are both great, great, great individuals. Both of them have done things that are pretty much unprecedented in racing. It’s tough to separate them in a way, but Zenyatta’s race? The fans were truly blessed to be here to see the effort she put out and to see a race like that. At the same time, the fans have been blessed all year watching Rachel Alexandra perform, with running with the boys, traveling all over the country and running huge. She’s 8 for 8… she beat the boys three times. She’s done it all - run in the slop and on good racetracks. She did whatever was asked of her. She showed up, she beat the fillies by unprecedented margins; she beat the boys handily most of the time. It’s been a great year to watch the both of them.”

Richard Mandella on Zenyatta :
“How about Zenyatta? Isn’t she something? What a wonderful, wonderful thing she is for racing. We had a very good day of racing here before her, but her big finish took it from very good to great. She is so special. And I want to salute John Shirreffs for the training he did. We might have seen one of the great training jobs of all time there. I take off my cap to him. John and I have our differences over the politics of synthetic tracks [Mandella in favor, Shirreffs against], but when it comes to horsemanship, I’m with him all the way. He is very, very good at what he does, and he did an exceptional job with that mare. She’s a good thing for racing, and he is to be saluted for what he did.”

Paco Gonzalez on Zenyatta’s Classic win :
“I hope this will be a big shot in the arm for racing, what we need for the sport. That mare is a real racehorse. It was a wonderful thing the owners did. The people were so happy. It was a very big crowd, like the old days. People will always come to see good horses.”

Extracts from Thoroughbred Daily News