Zenyatta

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I think what might get lost here is how horrid this field was in relation to past editions of this race.

Whoever was riding First Dude caused a huge pace collapse .. it basically was supposed to be a stone cold Blame 1st and Fly Down 2nd type of race at that point. Credit John Shireffs - he has an amazing record when he points for an objective. Zenyatta ran much better than I thought she would.

The final time was a joke. Uncle Mo is going to get a Beyer figure only 3 full points slower than Blame will for winning a wildly sub-par edition of the Classic.

I remember everyone make a huge deal about about how Arazi was the star of the 1991 Breeders Cup ... keep in mind he needed 1:46.40 in his blowout win over Bertrando.. Uncle Mo needed 1:42.60 today ... his final time was 3.80 full seconds (or 22 lengths) faster than Arazi's in his destruction Bertrando.

Blame's final time of 2:02.28 - was just 0.52 seconds faster than Black Tie Affair's 2:02.80 Breeders Cup Classic win at Churchill also in 1991.

It's a pretty sad statement to the older males when you have a horse like Blame - who's run Beyers in the 101-to-103 range in five of his last six career starts .. and even so I thought enough of him to make him my 2nd pick in this race in the paper today.

There was no slouch like Volponi or Mine That Bird out there today to deep six this field and make a mockery of them ... but this group was asking for it. Japan sent over the wrong horse. A speedy miler off of a bad prep .. had they sent over some late running dirt closer in halfway decent form - they probably win this.

I think the time of the race is very misleading because every day at Churchill the track slows down over the course of the day. I don't know if it was like that in past years but I've noticed that consistently this year.