Zenyatta assigned 129 pounds for Vanity

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Scav

I agree. To me, it is obvious the old man gets a hard on when she runs in California because some of the attention gets put on him. He is praised by the people there for running them there.

Personally, I can care less what races she runs in, I'm just glad she is running. Sure I would like to see her against better competition but it is what it is.

I wasn't around for Personal Ensign or Ruffian or any of the other greats that all the old timers talk about. In my lifetime, Zenyatta is a 'great' and I enjoy seeing her run. I'll never forget the energy inside of Santa Anita when she popped her head out down the lane in the BC, it was like people were only watching her the whole time and saw she had a chance and went apeshit.

Blah blah blah. She's not doing anything new, so why's it so great that she's still running? She might as well be retired. It's nice that you were there for her BC win and it's nice that she has fans in California, but the rest of us couldn't give two shts about that right now. We want to see her challenged, not do the same damn boring thing three years in a row.

Again, they want best in show, not HOY.

[Danzig]

no, they want hoy. they just don't want to run an hoy campaign to earn it. they're supposed to get the votes just based on her 'talent', not on her actual on the track accomplishments. kills me the bitter zenyatta fans who think she should have won over a 3 yo who went out and EARNED it throughout an entire, perfect season.
at the very least, zenyatta should be in the californian. and giving nine pounds-big deal. like that's something to brag about.

am i glad she's running, sure. is the campaign one for the ages? hell no.

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Danzig

no, they want hoy. they just don't want to run an hoy campaign to earn it.

That's as succinctly as anyone can possibly put it.

[Cannon Shell]

Honestly there is less interest in general in Zenyatta's CA AAA events than any other supposedly great horse in history. I doubt that I will go out of my way to watch her race.

The best thing would have been her losing that race at Del mar last year so they wouldn't be so obsessed with the stupid winning streak. Winning streaks are only in vogue now because owners want to be part of the story and the college football mentality rules. Perhaps if they didn't have the undefeated deal they would have tested her in traditional proving grounds. Now if she doesn't win out and win the BC i just dont think she will be remembered as anything more than a really good horse who spent much of her career ducking competition, and mostly historically weak competition at that.

[cakes44]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Honestly there is less interest in general in Zenyatta's CA AAA events than any other supposedly great horse in history. I doubt that I will go out of my way to watch her race.

The best thing would have been her losing that race at Del mar last year so they wouldn't be so obsessed with the stupid winning streak. Winning streaks are only in vogue now because owners want to be part of the story and the college football mentality rules. Perhaps if they didn't have the undefeated deal they would have tested her in traditional proving grounds. Now if she doesn't win out and win the BC i just dont think she will be remembered as anything more than a really good horse who spent much of her career ducking competition, and mostly historically weak competition at that.

SOLID.

[10 pnt move up]

I want to see how she runs Sunday, if she runs off and wins for fun than yea this sounds really stupid.

[smartbid09]

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But these comments about Zenyatta are so weird to me. I am looking very forward to seeing Zenyatta run. She is attempting to make racing history sunday. Only one other horse in america will ever have won more races than Zenyatta while undefeated. That's Huge.

Zenyatta is not responsible for what races she runs in. She's a horse. On Sunday she will attempt to make history and there are people here saying they're not going to watch it. They're entitled to do what they want. But in my opinion it's really dumb to miss out on a historic race because you dislike her campaign. History is history - and one way or another Sunday's race will be a race people will talk about for years to come.

Don't miss history because you hate a horse's campaign.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by smartbid09

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But these comments about Zenyatta are so weird to me. I am looking very forward to seeing Zenyatta run. She is attempting to make racing history sunday. Only one other horse in america will ever have won more races than Zenyatta while undefeated. That's Huge.

Zenyatta is not responsible for what races she runs in. She's a horse. On Sunday she will attempt to make history and there are people here saying they're not going to watch it. They're entitled to do what they want. But in my opinion it's really dumb to miss out on a historic race because you dislike her campaign. History is history - and one way or another Sunday's race will be a race people will talk about for years to come.

Don't miss history because you hate a horse's campaign.

You must have been pretty excited about Pepper's Pride as well.

[smartbid09]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

You must have been pretty excited about Pepper's Pride as well.

Not at all blackthroated...
Good way to avoid the point that this is going to be a race worth watching

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by smartbid09

Everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But these comments about Zenyatta are so weird to me. I am looking very forward to seeing Zenyatta run. She is attempting to make racing history sunday. Only one other horse in america will ever have won more races than Zenyatta while undefeated. That's Huge.

Zenyatta is not responsible for what races she runs in. She's a horse. On Sunday she will attempt to make history and there are people here saying they're not going to watch it. They're entitled to do what they want. But in my opinion it's really dumb to miss out on a historic race because you dislike her campaign. History is history - and one way or another Sunday's race will be a race people will talk about for years to come.

Don't miss history because you hate a horse's campaign.

There is a wide chasm between truly great achievement and notable achievement. In my eyes and the eyes of others who have at least some sense of the history of the sport this streak that she has been on is a really nice accomplishment. However simply beating up on the same group of mediocre fillies in the same fairly non-descript stakes over a synthetic surface just isn't in the same league as true greatness. This and her previous campaigns were seemingly contrived with only keeping this inane streak alive by rarely venturing out of the comfort zone of the California filly division.

The fact that she is carrying a little bit of weight gives the race a little bit of intrigue but the opponents that she is beating are non-descript to be kind. What further turns me off is the idea that she will continue to race in the same rut of races in her next start. Despite the older male division being terrible save a few horses the past few years, she has avoided running against those horses with one notable exception. They run a race called the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. If they insist on staying in CA then why not take a shot in there? Instead they want to make "history" and try to become the first three time winner of the Clement Hirsh. Oh boy now that is something that we all will look back on fondly.

If there is one thing that turns off people in regards to athletics, it is when talent is seemingly wasted. By continuing to take the low road Zenyatta's connections are wasting a chance to do something really special. And if she runs 3rd or worse in the Breeders Cup then everybody will look back and say was she really all that? And that is the sad part. One bad race can tarnish her reputation because despite all the wins and accomplishments, she has only one time stepped out of the box and that race that she won looks worse and worse with each passing flop of those who ran behind her that day.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

There is a wide chasm between truly great achievement and notable achievement. In my eyes and the eyes of others who have at least some sense of the history of the sport this streak that she has been on is a really nice accomplishment. However simply beating up on the same group of mediocre fillies in the same fairly non-descript stakes over a synthetic surface just isn't in the same league as true greatness. This and her previous campaigns were seemingly contrived with only keeping this inane streak alive by rarely venturing out of the comfort zone of the California filly division.

The fact that she is carrying a little bit of weight gives the race a little bit of intrigue but the opponents that she is beating are non-descript to be kind. What further turns me off is the idea that she will continue to race in the same rut of races in her next start. Despite the older male division being terrible save a few horses the past few years, she has avoided running against those horses with one notable exception. They run a race called the Pacific Classic at Del Mar. If they insist on staying in CA then why not take a shot in there? Instead they want to make "history" and try to become the first three time winner of the Clement Hirsh. Oh boy now that is something that we all will look back on fondly.

If there is one thing that turns off people in regards to athletics, it is when talent is seemingly wasted. By continuing to take the low road Zenyatta's connections are wasting a chance to do something really special. And if she runs 3rd or worse in the Breeders Cup then everybody will look back and say was she really all that? And that is the sad part. One bad race can tarnish her reputation because despite all the wins and accomplishments, she has only one time stepped out of the box and that race that she won looks worse and worse with each passing flop of those who ran behind her that day.

It reminds me of the year Dave Winfield became a singles hitter to try to win the batting title....or Wilt the assist leader. Only in her case they have already done that and are going for it again. At least in their cases people understood it was the end of their careers.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Blah blah blah. She's not doing anything new, so why's it so great that she's still running? She might as well be retired. It's nice that you were there for her BC win and it's nice that she has fans in California, but the rest of us couldn't give two shts about that right now. We want to see her challenged, not do the same damn boring thing three years in a row.

Again, they want best in show, not HOY.

[slotdirt]

People who bitch about Zenyatta carrying too much weight need to take a look at a history book. How much did Phar Lap carry and give in his day? Kelso? Spectacular Bid? If she's going to be considered by her fans to be an all time great, the horse needs to be treated like one.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

Originally Posted by slotdirt

People who bitch about Zenyatta carrying too much weight need to take a look at a history book. How much did Phar Lap carry and give in his day? Kelso? Spectacular Bid? If she's going to be considered by her fans to be an all time great, the horse needs to be treated like one.

those were great horses..she is exceptional for her time but as ateam said
you will never be in the same page as them with the continuation of the
poly program..race vs the same ones in your back yard..peppers pride #2

[parsixfarms]

Originally Posted by hoovesupsideyourhead

those were great horses..she is exceptional for her time but as ateam said
you will never be in the same page as them with the continuation of the
poly program..race vs the same ones in your back yard..peppers pride #2

Because of Zenyatta's performances in the Breeders' Cup, these comparisons are really hyperbole. That being said, the manner in which her connections are campaigning her this year is truly disappointing and will tarnish her legacy if she is unable to pull off a BC Classic repeat.

[Thunder Gulch]

She is the greatest synthetic track runner in the 5 year proliferation of synthetic tracks in the US. That's about all we can feel reasonably comfortable stating. Her place among the "greats" of racing in America just can't be confirmed with the evidence we have.

[miraja2]

I'm no huge fan of Zenyatta, but I really wish people would stop mentioning her in the same sentence with that New Mexico rat. Yeah, it wasn't a very good BCC field, and yeah it was on a synthetic surface, and yeah the "top-tier" Cali fillies and mares she has pounded most of her career aren't great, but come on. She has at least been running in G1 races where any filly and mare in the country could show up to run against her, and twice they have ventured out of the state in search of actual competition. Sure we'd all like to see them do that with her more often, but they deserve at least some credit for doing it on those occasions.
Comparing her to that record-holding slug who plugged along her entire career against bottom-tier talent - even if it is just to make a point about beating up on the same competition - really just seems unfair.