Shirreffs says Zenyatta deserves '10 Horse of the Year
 

Shirreffs says Zenyatta deserves '10 Horse of the Year

Wait so now she doesn't even have to win and she still would get it....The whole gang surrounding this horse couldn't be less likable if they tried.

"A slap in the face"

He needs a punch to the face. A slap in the face doesn't cut it. Maybe a good punch in the throat when he starts with the excuses.

This could be the beginning of them backing out of the BCC.

With the level of competition, maybe they could give her the Claiming Crown instead.

I sure hope not. Win or lose, I just want her to run so we can know. Maybe not definatively, but a lot of people still on the fence- and there are a lot- will move to one side of the aisle or the other.

If it rains, oh my.

If "all [he/she]'s done for racing" is the standard, we should go back and correct some past votes to make Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, and Barbaro HOY.

It's only a slap in the face if she wins the Classic and they still give it to someone else. If she loses to another legitimate HOY finalist fair and square, sorry, you can't give it to her with a straight face at that point. The award goes to the horse, Jerry, not you. If she doesn't get it, she'll go right on happily eating hay. She knows she's the queen. It's human beings that are getting all twisted in knots about whether she does or doesn't have her name on a trophy. She's got Champion Older Mare sewn up anyway.

I thought she should have won the award last year, but the notion that she can win the award this year without winning the BC Classic, given her 2010 campaign, is simply delusional.

About how I feel about this forum's participants...

Don't let the door hit you on the way out.

No one is holding a gun to your head to stay here

But wait! There's more!
Shirreffs Talks Zenyatta


On Zenyatta’s 2010 campaign, which was different than the one the Mosses talked about when they decided to keep her in training:
“I think (the Mosses’ comments) were a little bit misinterpreted because we race in California, which is on the other side of the Rockies. So it’s a little different shipping around California than it is on the East Coast. We wanted to have the opportunity to let other people see her; which was obviously one of the reasons we went to Oaklawn Park with her. But when you have to decide where to go again, it’s tough to turn down a grade I race and take her somewhere else when California supports her and stables her and takes care of her.”

On deciding not to take on males in California this year:
“I really didn’t consider it at all because I always thought we would do the same thing as we did last year; hoping to have her peaked at the Breeders’ Cup Classic and not do anything that would cause any interference with that.”

On whether there is a scenario where they wouldn’t race her in the BC Classic, including an off track:
“I don’t really want to talk about that because Churchill Downs has a real ability to handle water. So I think we have to wait and see.”

On his disappointment if she would not win Horse of the Year in 2010, even if she loses the BC Classic:
“I would think it would be almost too much. For what she does for the industry for the last three years, I would say that would be a real slap in the face. Not only on performance but what’s she’s done for racing.”

On being reminded that Quality Road, Lookin At Lucky, and Blame could all make very good cases for Horse of the Year with a win in the BC Classic:
“I think I said exactly what I wanted to say.”

I agree, she's a once in a lifetime horse...best since the Bid and Big Red!

teh best entertainment since Buffy teh Vampire Slayuh!

If she was in Hollywood she would be teh Sarah Michelle Gellah best eva omg omg! Bieber!

But you all would have one less guy to hate on... that would be un-American!!

:tro:

best race horse?

And to think, you're so popular here.

I think that's exactly what this is.

I'm not even popular in my own home...

seriously? He needs a punch in the face? What did he do to deserve that?

He earned you as a fan. That's enough for the guillotine.

Too bad your vote isnt counted when he goes to the HOF. What a shame!

Are there really people out there thinking that she somehow ISN'T going in the Classic? :zz: Anyone of the belief that she's not going needs to put their CLEAR disdain for the connections aside and remove their head from their a$$.

The Eagles have a better chance of winning the Super Bowl this year than her not going in that race.

Well that's just devastating. Thank goodness we still have trainers that are competitive and don't base every decision they make on silly awards.

I'd say it is the middle.

No they base every decision on sheet numbers...can't run em too often you know...there's a chance they might bounce.

Right now, Blind Luck deserves it more than Zenyatta.

Yes

who cares.

What bothers me the most about Team Zenyatta is they think everyone has the horse racing acumen of Smooth Operator.

This is the team that was responsible for the travelling over the rockies comment earlier. Then Rail Trip was the highest mountain. Now regardless of her finish, in the race they coddled her for all year, she deserves HOY? Amazing.

HOY isn't some kind of lifetime achievement award. That's what the Hall of Fame is for and she'll be in there in due time. HOY is for the horse who has accomplished the most over the course of the year on the track. IMO a case could be made that even with a win in the Classic she doesn't deserve the award this year.

Anyone who doesn't think Team Zenyatta doesn't care about HOY is fooling themselves. They desperately want it, to fuel their own ego.

So Sheriffs runs her through pretty much the same campaign for the 3rd year in a row (campaigns that didn't get her HOY the past two years) and he thinks it's a slap in the face if she DOESN'T win the award?
:zz:

Maybe you could see if you can beg RA out of retirement so Zenyatta could prove herself! I find it hilarious that a "true fan" of this sport finds "the whole gang surrounding ths horse couldn't be less likable if they tried." Really? We have a DYING sport starved for stars and Z is an undefeated star with a trainer and owner that do whatever is best for their mare. The same as any of us would do. Maybe she could be managed by someone MORE likable such as Assmussen, Pletcher, Sadler, Dutrow, Wolfson, etc, etc, etc...How can it not be refreshing when a super horse with a CLEAN trainer gets the accolades?

LOL, maybe you've missed Moss' comments at the Eclipse awards or the games Shireffs has played with TVG regarding her future plans. She is Peppers Pride on synthetic. Which is wonderful.

He has a big head thinking she should be horse of the year without winning the Classic. I don't see how anyone could like this trainer.

I agree that someone should punch him in the face.

I don't know if I agree that he isn't likeable. He seems like a pretty good guy. But he says some pretty dumb things when he is in front of reporters.

zenyatta doesn't deserve even being mentioned with HOY thus far this year. someone ask again after next month. even then...one tough race makes a year? someone tell volponi that. or tiznow. or super saver for that matter-he won't even get top 3 yo!

There is little evidence that she is the best horse racing this year.

I find it odd that people say this over and over and it couldnt be further from the truth. The sport is not starved for stars. In the last few years there have been quite a few "stars"; Smarty Jones, Big Brown, Curlin, RA, Zenyatta. Now they are only stars in the current climate because while very nice horses, their records dont stack up to the greats of yesteryear. However all got far more than the normal media coverage usually afforded to racehorses. Of course despite this and "all the good that Zenyatta" supposedly has done for rcing, the numbers continue to trend downwards.

And the idea that Zenyatta was campaigned on the cupcake tour for HER own good is laughable.

And I can't speak for anyone else there is zero chance that I would have not challenged her if I had the chance to choose her races.

From past experiance I would say Somerfrost is as good a judge of a race horse as anyone here, he knows the differance from a 5K racer and a multipal grade 1 winner.

Which is more than some can say.