i'm a fan of hers as well; i like both of them.

the only issue i had last year, and would have this year if they do it again, is when the mosses and shirreffs lobbied for HOY. yeah, zenyatta was undefeated, and put on some amazing performances. but it wasn't enough, and a repeat campaign won't be enough this year.

jackson is no dummy; unless calvin was unseated at the start or the gate didn't open, rachel would win a match race. it would be far from a definitive win tho, much like most match races.

if it is two weeks after the BC as someone stated I dont see how thats possible, but yea that would be fun to see.

$10 million side bet for each owner? Winner take all loser wears a dunce cap!

It's actually 20 days after but that's still likely to be too close.

NT

RA is going to run next in the Personal Ensign.

That would be a perfect race for Zenyatta. It's G1, so it would add to Zenyatta's case for HOY. It serves as a prep for the BC. And it would allow her to settle the RA vs Zenyatta question in a field of horses, rather than a match race.

But I realize Zenyatta probably isn't even nominated

is that your opinion, or you've heard that's what they decided? i read yesterday they'd nominated her to five races, but hadn't chosen one yet.


as for zenyatta, shireffs said 'why ship...' when someone asked him. he said it would be silly at this point in the year with the bc coming up soon.

If you are going to go 10f's why not the Alabama the week before.Plus there is that all important extra 200k in purse money. Perhaps its the extra week, maybe they want to add older mares to the resume or maybe the race sets her for the Beldame better? What's the difference at this point. If Zenyatta was in the race she would still be 3/5.

Sherriffs took a supstar mare out of Ca. once. I really think that is a shame.

not my opinion

If Z shipped east, the only sensible race would be the Woodward...4 weeks after her last. The PE would only be three weeks....

As for Rachel in the Bama, it would be three weeks after the Haskell. Too soon in this age of pantywaists. The Woodward makes the most sense to me. I doubt Jack/Ass want to have both her and Kensei in the Travers.

Except that up until the day of the Mother Goose he was planning on shipping Zenyatta out to take on Rachel. Then suddenly the "Giacomo hates the detention barn" excuse came out after Rachel romped in 1:46 and change.

agree freddy, the alabama to me would be much more of a gaol as an owner.

How did Shirreff's last really good filly ship into Saratoga?

Manistique got KILLED all three times she left Southern California .. once at Saratoga, once at Oaklawn, and once at Gulfstream.

She was 12-11-1-0 with 9 Graded Stakes wins in Southern California. As well as an 11 length MSW with a 110 Beyer figure in her debut - and a 10 length allowance 2nd time out.


Just because Manistique was awesome in Southern Cal and a big huge monster looking dog biscuit outside of Southern Cal .. doesn't mean that Zenyatta has to be as well. In fact, Zenyatta already proved she can ship when she won the Apple Blossom .. albeit in slower fashion than Tiago on that card.

Socal horses cant win on the road, you know that.

You would think Shirriffs copt out is he doesn't like the detention barns they have in NY. He's a joke, he really is.

I wouldn't criticize that move at all. RA just won a very big race, The Alabama would allow her to stretch out to 1 1/4 without any threats, She grabs a very Prestigous Race in what would be a $450,000 public workout.

They would then know where she stands at a 1 1/4 and look forward to the Beldame or the Jockey Club Gold Cup.

Personally I want to see her in The Travers but if they went to the Alabama, that actually would be not a bad decision.

Any decent mares at Toga?

RA might be vulnerable at that 10f distance. Little Birdie was coming at her at the end of the 9.5f Preakness ... and the old man (d’Oro) was better going nine panels.



Would love to see some old goat get to her in the Ensign...

For every Manistique, Lava Man, Rock Hard Ten ... there is one who actually moved up quite a bit coming East.

As far as sprinters go - for a long time it was the rule they'd move up rather than the exception. As far as turf horses go, it was more the exception than the rule.

Now that they have synthetic tracks out there ... you get the horses who come off of them and run one .. occasionally two ridiculious huge races on dirt .. and all of a sudden the "synthetic bounce" seems to ruin them. Or so Jerry Brown says.

Springside, Tough Tiz's Sis, Well Armed, Black Seventeen, I Want Revenge, etc.

And no, Pioneer Ofthe Nile doesn't qualify .. his 2nd in the Derby was hardly a big effort .. but he did call it a career after his next one.

Maybe Anabaa's Creation, Dawn After Dawn or Briecat could come by?

NT

That's a fearsome trio right there.

Hollywood Story went on a veritable world tour when compared to Zenyatta's career. Not particularly relevant other than that was another Sheriffs stakes-winning mare that traveled outside of SoCal at least a few times.

Don't know if I agree with that. Is Seabiscuit remembered more for the match race vs War Admiral, or for the string of stakes wins he ran off. How about the Swaps/Nashua race? Honestly I can't tell you off the top what either of them won other than the Triple Crown races. Ruffian v Foolish Pleasure is more remembered for it's tragic outcome, but still the point is that these types of events are so rare that they become part of the folklore of the game when compared to the winner of another race, Grade 1 or otherwise.

Hollywood Story made three atrocious appearances at the Breeders' Cup finishing 10th beaten 10 1/2 behind Ashado in 2004, 8th beaten 22 behind Pleasant Home in 2005, and 10th beaten 21 1/4 behind Round Pond in 2006.

In total, John Shirreffs has had 13 starters outside of the state of California in the past five years. Only one of those horses was victorious and a grand total of 4 of the 13 finished in the money.

NT

Well, that one victory was something to write home about though.

What possible reason is there to run there instead of the Woodward? The top two finishers in the Whitney have said they will skip the race if she runs. The third place finisher has already retired. The only other interesting horse is going to the Woodbine Mile. If Rachel went in the Woodward it could wind up a match race with Dry Martini. Winning the Personal Ensign would do nothing, would be a longer distance, and could even be a tougher race. It would make no sense.

That is where they (JJ) wants to run.

Does his house rental run out on August 31st?

I love this. If people want to put money up, let them.

If It's a Bird comes for the Woodward (as reported in DRF), and it's the good It's a Bird, he could make things a bit interesting on the front end.

Only 1?? Tiago, Giacomo, and Zenyatta. Isn't that 3 already?

Giacomo's Derby was the only one that counted. For some reason Arkansas didn't show up on Formulator. Make it 3.

NT

Lol ... looks like that Formulator thingy could use a little tune-up there, NTamm1215.



Makes perfect sense to me :D

lol @ the Personal Ensign showing how she can handle 10f. So she might win by only 15 instead of 20.

:$: :$:

With only a few starts left to go this year and who knows what next year may or may not hold, the Personal Ensign would be a waste of time for us fans. Not that anyone cares.

i don't agree that it would be a waste of time. different racing yields different thrills. i'd enjoy watching her in a walkover.