I would like to be the first to suggest....
 

..that we might see Zenyatta in the Breeders' Cup Classic.












(unless somene else has already suggested this)

Well I thought of all her races she did not like the Santa Anita track at all, in fact dirt seems to be her best surface based on visuals. She should boycott santa anita like Curlin.

I'd be kind of surprised. Shireffs is pretty conservative. I think they will run in the Distaff.

She is by far the best filly since Nashobas Key

Too soon.

rip to Nashobas Key, she was a very nice filly.
but i think zenyatta is already better

Zenyatta was always better.

The more I think about, it is pretty doubtful that they would run her in the Classic because they will be running Tiago in the Classic. I would doubt that they would want to run their horses against each other when they can run one in the Classic and the other in the Distaff.

Not that I think she can't handle it, but Zenyatta has never raced beyond 8.5f.

i have always been a big tiago fan, BUT....is it realistic that he will do anything in the classic ? when i say a big tiago fan, i mean big, i bet him in the santa anita derby as a maiden, i bet him in the derby and in the belmont, always liked him, but he is a dirt horse, not a synthetic horse

A big fan? He wasn't a maiden in the Santa Anita Derby.

Also, his synthetic record is not much different than his conventional dirt record (6-2-2-1 versus 8-3-0-2). One could argue that his losses on synthetics were due to poor race dynamics when you consider the ridiculous manner in which the San Fernando and Strub were run. Even today's race didn't set up well with a lack of pace. His loss in the Big Cap, much like the Derby, Belmont, and BC Classic seemed to be the product of a horse who's stretch punch is ineffective at classic distances (hence the Met Mile suggestion by several board members).

i think he was... and if not he was put up on dq, im going to check now . he was running against that ny bred time squared, i think

didn't we all?

But wasn't his win by DQ? I think that's what he meant.

It was meant to be a harmless dig at a self-professed "big, big" Tiago fan. The important part of the post was the stuff underneath.

whatever, i did, and i might be wrong but i think i gave it out on this site.

I agree with justindew...she's more than good enough to run against the boys. She was much better than the other Shireffs horse today.

i agree with that, especially with this group of boys....if the classic was run today or in a week or a month.... and curlin is not there, and big brown is not there... which is very very possible, ZENYATTA IS THE FAVORITE !!!!!

If Big Brown and Curlin aren't in the Classic, Heatseeker is the favorite... end of story.


Zenyatta is a SUPER nice filly, obviously the best out there right now. Almost Azeri-esque. Overcame a LOT today and still won for fun. But I'm not sure she's ready for the Classic... yet.

Azeri may have won the 2002 Classic.

At the end of the day, if Curlin and Big Brown don't run in the BCC, who is there to be afraid of?

I don't think Lukas/Paulson saw Azeri beating Ghostzapper.

There aren't many years where it looks like a good time for a girl to tackle the boys at the Grade I level. But this looks like it could be one of those years to me. That's all I'm sayin'.

Look at the fractions of the two races side by side. She could have gone a little faster. Yeah, she can run with Heatseeker.

I'm just hoping the Euros send over some good turf horses to run in the classic to make this thing even remotely interesting.

Yeah seriously. Tell me the major differences in the two races yesterday??

I need to see Zenyatta in a fast pace race, I mean like a 115-120 type pace to see how she would do, on pure talent though she is scary, she runs by horses like they are tied to the hitching post, even when those horses are Ginger Punch and got nice soft cushy perfect trip leads.

Tiago could not beat Zenyatta with a head start, IMHO.

Tell me the difference in how the races were run and the times?? I'd say there is virtually zero difference. At this point in his career I'd say beating Surf Cat is not a major accomplishment. Beating Tiago is nice but that one is hardly a slayer type t-bred. Basically, Heatseeker beat the 2nd best horse in Shirrefs stable.

Again, zero difference basically in the two races if you eliminate the names of the horses.

If BB and Curlin aren't there and Heatseeker is the favorite, even if he beats her, running second in the race wouldn't be bad at all. A second or third in the Classic would be better on her resume, IMO, than a win in the Distaff.

How about the dopes on TVG....saying its been a long long time since Hollywood has seen a filly like this....um Azeri raced there 4 years ago, man people just cant help but getting caught up in todays moment.

I posted earlier without thinking things through. Upon further thought, I'd take Zenyatta over Big Brown at this point. She's been every bit as impressive and has beaten better horses. Ginger Punch is light years better than anything Big Brown has beaten and she looked like a claimer against Zenyatta. And before anyone reminds me that Big Brown has much more room for improvement considering that he's only run five races, think about how many Zenyatta's run.

Just a slight one.

Ashley!!!!

How about reminding you that Big Brown has run at 9f or further 3 times while Zenyatta hasn't been further than 8.5f.

Also, Ginger Punch, a weak champion in a weak division last year has been subpar even for her in all 3 of her 2008 starts. I'd predict an impending retirement as soon as she lines up against another decent horse this year.

I'm not sure how that addresses the fact that both have only run five times and have further room for improvement. In fact, I'd even say that means that Zenyatta has more room since we already know what BB can do at 10f but haven't seen Zenyatta try it yet.

As weak as you may think Ginger Punch is, do you think any of the 3yo's that Big Brown have faced this year are better than her?