Zenyatta v. Rail Trip??

[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.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by 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.



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.

I think the record is their goal right now. Can't say I blame them at all for that. As for weights, sure they're going to try their best to keep them low-but by doing that as well as their over all handling, they've got no one to blame but themselves for the lack of respect they feel she is getting. Thing is, I think people respect the horse but not the connections. Many just know that she can do more, that she possibly could really excel-but they just won't test her.

[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…

For starters I have been a RA fan since day one before Jackson & co...having the ability to be on the Oklahoma training track last year and seeing her up close and the training she did in the mornings was incredible. Her campaign last year was a throw back to all who loved the old style war horses of days gone by were thrilled when RA gave us that type of year....but having said that and being at the Woodward I looked right at my 81 year old father that day after she held off Macho and said she will NEVER be the same again. She bottomed out and that is that...

Z has over time caught my attention and the BC pre race..pawing her front legs into the dirt told me all I needed to know about this classy filly...she is truly a war horse of old and can not fault her for one minute after bashing her most of last year. She dances the dance as we say! I only hope she comes North this year and allows all of us to witness her brilliance up close. We should all be honored to be able to even write/blog/twitter/bitch/honor about these two marvelous horses and what they have done for OUR sport.

Scat OUT

[declansharbor]

Originally Posted by 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…

Someone check the sky to see if it's falling, I actually agree with the Booth Operataaaaa...

From the iggy bin to agreement in the fell swoop of a ten day period. Nevermind, get to your storm shelters people, the end is here.


Sincerely,

Andy's most devoted kool aid drinker, intravenously.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

and get her to the big race fit and fresh as a spring daisy

When should the trainer of a 3yo filly start thinking about keeping his filly fit and fresh for the BC Classic?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by 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…

god knows with her strenuous campaign, he'll have a hard time doing that.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

fit and fresh as a spring daisy

Those words belong in an ad for a feminine hygiene product. They have no place in describing the campaign of a "great" mare.