Zenyatta's popularity most directly correlates to Smarty Jones I would think. Of course, the mitigating factors are that Zenyatta seems to have an entire state that is absolutely enthralled by her and the fact that she's a mare factors into the equation.
Smarty was wildly popular because of the Triple Crown of course. Something ridiculous like 9k people showed up to watch a workout of his before the Belmont. That's more than Philly was getting on a day to day basis for live racing save Pa Derby day. The attendance at Belmont shows how popular he was.
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