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Originally Posted by letswastemoney
Very few Zenyatta fans distinguish between dirt and synthetic races and assume they would all play out the same.
Zenyatta has 1 dirt win, and admittedly it was an awesome win with a 110 beyer over a champion Ginger Punch. Yes, she beat a champion that day, establishing her quality on both surfaces.
But nearly all of her races and wins have come on tracks that favor her running style with the exception of her thumping Ginger Punch.
I would not bet that she could win with that running style every single time if 90% of her races were on a dirt track, rather than the other way around.
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At last count I knew there were 25+ world tracks racing on surfaces other than dirt.
Two in the racing history bastion of Kentucky, and two in California...a state with a decent racing history of racing legend of it's own.
Rachel Alexandra has won over a synthetic surface at Keeneland.
Zenyatta won a stakes over a dirt surface at Oaklawn.
And Zenyatta and her connections agreed to meet Rachel Alexandra and crew on their stated surface of "comfort" in the Apple Blossom on dirt. Rachel Alexandra's crew had 7 months between her early September Woodward Stakes win and the Apple Blossom. They could have certainly devised an effective training regimen for Rachel Alexandra to race at top ability by April of her four year old season.
If they really wanted to.
That "synthetic surface versus dirt surface" argument for Rachel Alexandra's connections does not hold water either.