Zenyatta v. Rail Trip??

[cmorioles]

That is just sad. Rail Trip is the highest mountain possible? What a clown.

[NTamm1215]

John Shirreffs is a terrific trainer and seemingly a nice guy but he has now provided us with two incredibly stupid statements in the last month regarding where Zenyatta will run.

NT

[cmorioles]

Rail Trip and the Rockies, boxing equivalents to Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, and both apparently mountains too tough to climb.

[slotdirt]

Waiting for the Jay Hovdey defense of all things Zenyatta at drf.com in 3, 2, 1...

[cmorioles]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Waiting for the Jay Hovdey defense of all things Zenyatta at drf.com in 3, 2, 1...

How can it be possible the winner of the BC Classic is now afraid to tackle the mighty Rail Trip? This has to be a bad dream. I'm sure Mr. Krone will lend some support.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by cmorioles

How can it be possible the winner of the BC Classic is now afraid to tackle the mighty Rail Trip? This has to be a bad dream. I'm sure Mr. Krone will lend some support.

I'm very disappointed to hear this.

It appears as though he's thinking that when you're holding a pair of aces don't risk them against a possible 456 flop until you get to Churchill.

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by Port Conway Lane

I'm very disappointed to hear this.

It appears as though he's thinking that when you're holding a pair of aces don't risk them against a possible 456 flop until you get to Churchill.

I hope he has a pair of aces because he certainly doesnt have a pair of ballz

[smuthg]

I wouldn't say "embarrassed" but I'm disappointed... If you believe in the "goal" (the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill) then I think they get a bit of a pass, but the passes are running short...

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Cardus

The other gem in that article is Sheriff's quote regarding the Vanity: she will run in the Vanity "if the weights are good."

Aside from Zenyatta fan Parsixfarms, are there any other Zenyatta fans in Internet Land who are embarrassed by the stream of nonsense emanating from Sheriff's mouth recently?

Recently? This has been going on a lot longer than since her supposed retirement.

[Danzig]

What I find exceedingly tedious about this entire protracted discussion is that the bc is being used as the only measure of these two horses total worth in '09. Zenyatta gets a pass for an otherwise uninspiring year because she won. Rachel is vilified because altho she had an exceedingly rare campaign for a 3 year old filly, she skipped the bc. Its unbelievable and defies logic. And somehow, were rachel to manage to win the bc this year, I imagine the zenyatta booster club would be less enthused then thhey were last year.

As for hoy this year, neither mare has done anything thus far to warrant being included on the ballot.

[Merlinsky]

My blood sugar is a low so I've gone a little nuts and decided that those of us head over heels for both mares need a nickname. How about "RAZen"s? You know, like the shriveled up fruity snack? Much better than Brangelina. Yeah I'm a dork. You're welcome. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go eat something...I'll leave you with my pre-typed babble.

Originally Posted by Danzig

What I find exceedingly tedious about this entire protracted discussion is that the bc is being used as the only measure of these two horses total worth in '09. Zenyatta gets a pass for an otherwise uninspiring year because she won. Rachel is vilified because altho she had an exceedingly rare campaign for a 3 year old filly, she skipped the bc. Its unbelievable and defies logic. And somehow, were rachel to manage to win the bc this year, I imagine the zenyatta booster club would be less enthused then thhey were last year.

As for hoy this year, neither mare has done anything thus far to warrant being included on the ballot.

Yeah at the rate they're going, neither one has achieved your typical HOY accomplishments. I know they think Zenyatta is God's gift to horse racing (she kind of is--not my point), but could they just play a tape of her winning races on synethetic in CA against the females, emerging victorious right at the end, and let the horse herself hang out in the pasture? She doesn't even need to be there, we could just hit replay. I got my hopes high from the trip to Oaklawn, I guess. Rachel's lack of pizazz despite putting up decent numbers/races for any other horse doesn't perk things up either. I'm in a funk--c'mon Super Saver. I love Preakness time because you sneeze post-Derby and you're right there at another TC race. Nice and exciting.

Right now, I think they're keeping that record in mind. Again, I don't blame them, it just doesn't do me any favors. Rail Trip's not the highest mountain. I know that remark about weights is probably a loaded comment meant to discourage giving her too much, otherwise they go elsewhere. To get Z in the Vanity, they're gonna give her less than she warrants. Whatever you think about handicap races, if you take a 17 hand undefeated phenom beating up on the same quality of field and it's her own gender, there's no reason to give her less than 130. It's ridiculous.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

Waiting for the Jay Hovdey defense of all things Zenyatta at drf.com in 3, 2, 1...

He snuck this one past you when you weren't looking.

http://hovdeyblog.drf.com/hovdeyblog/

[slotdirt]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

He snuck this one past you when you weren't looking.

http://hovdeyblog.drf.com/hovdeyblog/

What is with this dude? Seriously, everything he posts on his "blog" ends up being a slam on Jackson and his horse or blatantly unwarranted praise for all things Moss and Zenyatta. I'd wager that there is a far larger percentage of horse racing fans who question Zenyatta's creds than there were George Bush defenders circa 2007 or so.

[TouchOfGrey]

Shirreffs was asked if there was any chance Zenyatta would run in the Hollywood Gold Cup against males. Shirreffs responded, "No. We're not looking to climb the highest mountain possible. She's proven herself now."

DRF|Don't expect Zenyatta to challenge Rail Trip

ETA: Sorry, didn't see this link was already posted.

[Smooth Operator]

Shirreffs knows what he has … a monster win-machine router which is gunna love going from synthetic to that CD dirt.

Heard she was "eating up" the stuff the short time she was there last year before the scratch.

Just get that win record (a simply remarkable accomplishment given her running style) … and get her to the big race fit and fresh as a spring daisy, John.

If she catches a break with that miserable KY weather … she'll run down all the 10f pretenders in the lane … and make history again…

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

John Shirreffs is a terrific trainer and seemingly a nice guy but he has now provided us with two incredibly stupid statements in the last month regarding where Zenyatta will run.

NT

I don't look to trainers (or jocks or owners) for intellectual stimulation. Shirreffs has this mare 17 for 17. That and showing up in the BC is enough for me. When ANYTHING that has run to this point in time this year does something NOVEL, something Horse of the Year novel, someone wake me up.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

I don't look to trainers (or jocks or owners) for intellectual stimulation. Shirreffs has this mare 17 for 17. That and showing up in the BC is enough for me. When ANYTHING that has run to this point in time this year does something NOVEL, something Horse of the Year novel, someone wake me up.

So, running a 3YO filly in the KY Oaks, Preakness, Mother Goose, Haskell and Woodward, as part of an eight race campaign, isn't novel.......but running five races, four against cupcakes, with one tough race is novel.

I got so much to learn about this game.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

So, running a 3YO filly in the KY Oaks, Preakness, Mother Goose, Haskell and Woodward, as part of an eight race campaign, isn't novel.......but running five races, four against cupcakes, with one tough race is novel.

I got so much to learn about this game.

That was last year. Let the aforementioned filly show up this year and we can discuss this again. I'm sure the Z camp will probably reevaluate, should this happen. If they're giving this year's award for last year's performance, then maybe they can also take away last year's award based on this year's performance. Seems only right to me.

I mean, let's face it, even if Z beats the high Beyer numbering RT, Mike the EUNUCH and his group would still want to see a high Beyer on dirt. So, the argument still remains for the cultists. Z gains NADA by beating RT (at least here, and PA, which is where it really counts ).

Note this year in my post.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

That was last year. Let the aforementioned filly show up this year and we can discuss this again. I'm sure the Z camp will probably reevaluate, should this happen. If they're giving this year's award for last year's performance, then maybe they can also take away last year's award based on this year's performance. Seems only right to me.

I mean, let's face it, even if Z beats the high Beyer numbering RT, Mike the EUNUCH and his group would still want to see a high Beyer on dirt. So, the argument still remains for the cultists. He gains NADA by beating RT.

Rachel Alexandra has faced tougher horses in 2010 than Zenyatta....and even you know that.

[the_fat_man]

That wouldn't be the case if RA showed up, like she was supposed to. You run against the field that shows up. Do you also want to assume that little Z handles Z in the morning?

In fact, I'm still wondering why all the other fine fillies in the land don't head out to CALI and take down Z -- she's so SLOW, after all. Or why they didn't bother showing up at OP. It must've been because RA was going to be there. Last I checked, when you get taken out in an early round, the playoffs are kind of over for you until next year -- i.e. until you show up.

Let me take an additional moment to put SCUDS back on ignore. Clearly, he's not taking his meds and feels the need for unsolicited attention.