I blame the Jacksons for this whole thing imploding more than anybody. When the timing clearly wasn't right from their vantage point a month ago to point towards the Apple Blossom, they should have just said no then regardless of the purse.

Wouldnt this race be just as big (or bigger) two months from now at Belmont park after being properly promoted?

I think it would certainly be more widely attended at Belmont, or one would at least think it would. I know I'd consider going.

I don't disagree with that, but perhaps Team Zenyatta could have at least held off on ANNOUNCING HER RETIREMENT until they were done working her.

But they all just ran well and there's no reason they can't all be ready for Oaklawn. If Zardana isn't there, RA wins by open lengths with the highest Beyer over Zenyatta's. The RA camp would be chomping at the bit to get to the Apple Blossom.

I'm guessing that the Rachael Camp thought that this race was going to be nothing more than a public workout for the champ. Even if she was a bit short, she still would have won comfortably. Forget about the public work, now they have a horse that was all out trying to win. It was probably much more then they wanted/anticipated and they just feel like she's not going be ready/recover in 3 weeks. I'm personally disappointed, but I can't really say I'm suprised.

Stop it.

What I find really funny, is that Sherriffs wins the BC Distaff, and yesterdays race with 2nd stringers, and Zenyatta still gets no respect from winning the Classic. At what point is everyone going to realize how good she really is? What excuse could Racheal have? Was this race not written for her specifically? It only was the 1st Running of the New Orleans Ladies. What more did they want? They got beat by the same tomato cans that Zenyatta has been beating.

Personally I hope they don't meet until the B.C.. That includes Quality Road, Summer Bird (if he comes back), and any other top horse or mare this year. Let them all win their individual races this year and then slug it out in the Classic.

If Quality Road runs the way he did in the Donn, there's not an American dirt horse in training today who can beat him.

A gem* of an article by Joe Drape:

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/sp...acing.html?hpw

(*- "gem"= "headslap")

"When, barely 20 minutes later, Jackson and Asmussen watched Zenyatta run her record to 15-0 by weaving through a field of some of nation’s best fillies and mares at Santa Anita, they had no choice but to bail on the Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park'

:zz: :zz:

.....on synthetic surfaces. I move to strike from the record for excessive disingenuous comparisons.

Those were the nation's best fillies and mares? Eek.

I like at the end of the NY Times article how he quotes the Jimmy the Hat saying,that some horses just want to be broodmares.

ditto :zz:

I know upsets have killed racing throughout history. Just think how much better off we would have been had upset not beaten man o War? Or if Secretariat had retired undefeated?

The problem is that everyone was sold a bill of goods. These arent invincible, unstopable forces who just steamroll their competition. They are very good fillies who have faced for the most part subpar competition. That the whole applecart is upset because one finished second shows how shallow and unrealistic our expectations are.

The problem with the whole matchup concept is that planning races too far in advance ignores the reality of horseracing. There are a million things that can go wrong and an bruised ego (which seems to be the case here) is just one.

Well there is the obligatory Ruffian/Foolish Please remark.

I dont know which is worse, people acting as though racing will cease to exist if the Oaklawn race doesnt come off or ones like this who condone horses NOT racing.

The anonymous quote was so ridiculous that I cant believe that he used it.
A "supposed" insider whose personal opinion as based on watching races on TV is passed off as some kind of expert testimony?

as Charles Barkley would say, "Steve Crist is rollin over in his grave..."

....getting fcing blown off the race track.;)

They did initially, then Cella moved the race back a week.

she is short and would still be short for the next one

zenyatta was supposed to retire but continued to work regularly schedule breezes since the classic and had missed no time in training over the winter

suppose you have two human runners and one works out from oct till present and the other starts 37 days ago , don't you think think that the one who has not missed a beat since oct is in better shape than the once who just started training 37 days ago? horses are not machines , they are a lot like humans in many ways

i agree with bob here kev

I was saying stop it to the all caps. That's reserved for true internet horsey board legends like your boy The Fat Man and his protege Zenyatta1985.

got it kev

Based on?

TALL PEOPLE USE IT - THEY CAN SEE IT BETTER FROM WAY UP THERE

What do you make of Steve Asmussen stating that Rachel Alexandra wasn't handling his "accelerated" training program the way he had hoped? He also seemed satisfied yet unimpressed with the 6f work in company a couple of weeks ago.

Does the contention that a decent (if disappointing) comeback race will help a horse "move forward" somehow negate all the lackluster training leading up to it?

O lets not forget the beyer, she ran lights out over Zen. RIGHT! She is toast now. Retirement soon!!!!

i sort of agree, but i think the "plan" for a 6 and 1/2 month layoff is more to blame. the horse ran a hard schedule but you can't let her rest for 6 months without training. that was stupid! she may never get it back. then some idiot agrees with you and blames zenyatta for not retiring. why? because sheriffs is smart enough to keep his horse interested and in shape....thats the difference here. the horse needed a rest but the way they did it, for a horse like that, was pretty dumb. I'm not the only one that questioned how rachel would come back. i can see the next press conference announcing her retirement....rachels not zenyattas.

Send Zardana to beat Zenyatta now also. New Uber horse?

Or rename the Apple Blossom the Apple Core... just kidding.

All yall never thought that RA would lose and then hide from Zenyatta.

So far John Sheriff has been right and all yall still doubt him when he says that Zenyatta is a better race horse on dirt.

As pompous as Jackson is, does anybody else find the whole Moss/Shireffs act to be downright offensive at this point?

I don't find either camp offensive. The Zenyatta connections have every right to be thrilled with their horse. They've got a once-in-a-lifetime mare who won the Breeder's Cup Classic and provides thrill after thrill with her stretch runs. I'd have a tough time being humble if I owned that horse.

As for Asmussen/Jackson, they made a effort to make the showdown happen. I applaud them for (1) not retiring her, and (2) trying to make the Apple Blossom. I can't fault them for backing off at this point.

--Dunbar

Yeah the Z camp are true sportsmen now. They ran a tough campaign last year.

Why? I am simply amazed that people want to blame one set of connections for the decisions another set made for THEIR horse. What happened to the word "no"? JJ/SA said initially that RA wouldn't be ready for the AB. No one would argue that. But, it didn't stop there. At any time, JJ could say she won't be ready when the pressure started to build for her to run. He didn't.
This is JM/JS' fault? They made choices for their horse only and they are being hammered because RA's connections have been so indecisive? Good grief.

I really want to believe that even if she dug in and held on to win that race, the result of scratching her from the AB would be the same. I'm guessing that they weren't looking for anything besides a paid workout and obviously she got much much more.
You would think that the race would serve as a tightener, but are they afraid of her doing too much in such a short time frame? Are they afraid that she could maybe could regress after a tough race that maybe she wasn't 100% cranked up for. Chuck what do you think, is the timeframe right, or do you think she would have enough time to be ready for the AB?

one camp is no better or worse than the other as far as this all goes. each is making a decision based on where they think their horse is regarding readiness. each could have made decisions to face the other last year, and neither chose to make that happen. there was talk of retirement, that thankfully didn't happen. each horse has done things to make people say wow, but neither has proven they are better than the other.

but i do know one thing-this has kept the typical spring weekly 'so and so is sure to win the ky derby' talk to the lowest posts ever. so, something to be thankful for.

How is it anybody's "fault?"

They are horses, and you know things don't always go as planned..

Derby Trial week would be perfect for both of them.

Will Churchill have the business savvy to make an offer?