Not that it means much, but has there ever been a higher discrepancy in Brisnet Prime Power rankings before?

please......

as the simpsons kid says......heh, ha

Lets hear those excuses...

Horse of the Year??? Pffff....

Oh geez, what happened? Maybe it's a good thing the NTRA site crashed.

I thought the stated campaign for Rachel was ambitious, and today's race showed it. That wasn't the same horse we saw last summer. Not even close.

I wanted her to win.

I wanted Zenyatta to win, more.



It's still the ingredients of a helluva race to come.



Zenyatta was her regular posing and prancing self today. I fortunately remembered at the last minute I DO HAVE a little used TVG account.

I had been to a wine tasting and was not clearly legal to drive to the OTB.....

:-)


California.

Rules.

she earned that last year. what today's race has to do with her remarkable season i don't know. remains to be seen who earns it this year.

Even Secretariat lost.

No horse is perfect.

I predict at some point this year, Zenyatta will lose (unless her trainer keeps her running against world beaters like Floating Heart)

Yes.

It.

Does. :cool:

Some more paddock schooling might help RA
 

It looked like she spooked a bit from the crowd noise coming through the tunnel toward the paddock.

That


is truly funny. Iran rules..Cali smokes pole. But Z is a fun a horse

How 'bout them old Cali mares, Bob :tro: :cool:

That WAS the same horse we saw last year - just not running against the same competition.

Mine That Bird about ran Rachel Alexandra down in the Preakness, and then he was ridiculed in the West Virginia Derby.

I don't want to diss Rachel Alexandra.

But, she is no Zenyatta when it comes to personality.

ra was short

zenyatta did not miss a beat in training since the classic

In defense of Mine That Bird, I still think he's the Rodney Dangerfield of last year's group despite winning the Derby. Also, Derby winners as of late have done pretty well in the Preakness, note the number of dual winners over the last decade or so especially. With the exception of Barbaro (for obvious reasons), Grindstone (who got hurt as well) and Monarchos, the Derby winners have finished 1st, 2nd, or 3rd in the Preakness since 1994, and in 1993 the 2nd place KD finisher won the Preakness. There's something to be said for form and momentum even when they aren't major players for the rest of the year. It's hardly surprising MTB was on his game against Rachel.

Secondly, Zenyatta is 17 hands, gorgeous, and likes to do dressage before a race. It's clear why folks would be enamored by her just from that. No need to imply anything about RA. It's not her fault she's not ginormous, doesn't pirouette in the post parade, or has a blaze that looks like it got smudged before the paint was dry. What happens between the start and finish line is what matters. It's not a beauty contest and the talent portion excludes the paddock. Z's on her game right now. Let's cut the smack talk and enjoy it.

I hear you. Not intending to talk smack at all. I don't like it either.

I do think that Zenyatta is the better "story" for thoroughbred racing now, and has been for several months.

Rachel Alexandra could have come west to face Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup and elected not to do so.

Zenyatta and her connections declared to go east to face Rachel Alexandra on the supposedly dreaded dirt.

And again Rachel Alexandra and her connections wussed out.

"Horse of The Year" is a big eastern 'elite' conspiracy.

(and "Christmas is run by a big eastern syndicate"......so sayeth Lucy)

To bad we won't see them together in the Apple Blossem. My guess is RA would improved off the New Orleans effort.