Rachel Alexandra a go for La Troienne

[randallscott35]

clown infestation

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by randallscott35

clown infestation

Irony meter explosion.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

Irony meter explosion.

Douche meter for you and the knee skinners on here.

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by Revidere

Not sure where this goes from here, but I just want them to remain healthy and happy. If they run against each other, so be it. One great champion will win and the other will go back to the Assmussen barn.

Well sure, once RA beats Z what else is there to do but retire, and the Mosses will bow to Asmussen's expert skill and send Z over to his barn. I kid I kid. I adore John Sherriffs. No diss intended. They're both extraordinary gals. Watching them do what they do best at the same time would probably blow my mind, I know that.

[letswastemoney]

It's hard to be a Zenyatta fan and constantly have to hear from people that she's completely invincible and capable of no wrong.

I don't think most Rachel Alexandra fans believe she can definitively beat Zenyatta on dirt no matter what. The argument seems to be she "can" beat Zenyatta.

But for Zenyatta fans, there is no "can" or any other possibility. Zenyatta will win in their minds no matter what. So it's hard to like Z when some of her fans are that radical.

I think CSC would lick Zen's taint.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

It's hard to be a Zenyatta fan and constantly have to hear from people that she's completely invincible and capable of no wrong.

I don't think most Rachel Alexandra fans believe she can definitively beat Zenyatta on dirt no matter what. The argument seems to be she "can" beat Zenyatta.

But for Zenyatta fans, there is no "can" or any other possibility. Zenyatta will win in their minds no matter what. So it's hard to like Z when some of her fans are that radical.

Zenyatta has yet to run a race as fast as a few of Rachel's. There is no debate.

[TouchOfGrey]

So, since Zenyatta isn't running in the La Troienne...

Does anyone know who else Rachel will be facing? Have they done the draw yet?

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

It's hard to be a Zenyatta fan and constantly have to hear from people that she's completely invincible and capable of no wrong.

I don't think most Rachel Alexandra fans believe she can definitively beat Zenyatta on dirt no matter what. The argument seems to be she "can" beat Zenyatta.

But for Zenyatta fans, there is no "can" or any other possibility. Zenyatta will win in their minds no matter what. So it's hard to like Z when some of her fans are that radical.

Why should this matter to anyone ? There are radicals on both sides so what? Both horses are for the ages and should be respected and admired on their accomplishments and the excitement they bring to racing.

Originally Posted by Port Conway Lane

Why should this matter to anyone ? There are radicals on both sides so what? Both horses are for the ages and should be respected and admired on their accomplishments and the excitement they bring to racing.

That's the problem I have with both sides. That is debatable.

[Princess Doreen]

I've got this sneaking suspicion that neither R or Z will win the BC Classic.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Revidere

Not sure where this goes from here, but I just want them to remain healthy and happy. If they run against each other, so be it. One great champion will win and the other will go back to the Assmussen barn.

You said she beat Gio Ponti on a surface "he preferred," which isn't remotely true. And I like the faux impartiality comment here.

Wake me up when they finally decide Zenyatta's proven all she can prove in California. I have a feeling I'll be asleep for a while.

[Port Conway Lane]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

That's the problem I have with both sides. That is debatable.

True. I simply can't recall too many years like the one Rachel had and careers like Zenyatta's. As far as Zenyatta is concerned, I've never called a horse beaten more times than I've called her out and been wrong every time.
Same thing in Rachel's Woodward. She had every right to lose that race.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

That's the problem I have with both sides. That is debatable.

Both are in the top 5-10 of my lifetime. That's good enough for me in terms of all time greats... your requirements to reach that level might be more stringent.

Originally Posted by philcski

Both are in the top 5-10 of my lifetime. That's good enough for me in terms of all time greats... your requirements to reach that level might be more stringent.

I'm talking about the history of the sport both male and female and assumed that's what he was talking about as well.

To me, Zenyatta is about 20 notches above Pepper's Pride. She'll have to run the table again this year and at least have 4 more races on dirt before I crown her an all-time great.

Synthetic surfaces are clown shoes. It may be exciting racing to most people but to me it's boring.

Rachel is only 4. She needs another year as well. Solid 3-year old campaign but I'll hold off on crowning her ass as well.

[DaTruth]

Shirreffs expresses his hesitation about Zenyatta crossing the Rockies again anytime soon, and the Zealots largely remain silent. Not a peep from the usual suspects. However, when a thread is started about Rachel running on Friday, the Zealots awaken and quickly turn the thread into a Rachel-bashing party. Can someone please explain to these people that Zenyatta's accomplishments will stand on their own merits, and their efforts to marginalize Rachel's accomplishments only make them appear even more foolish.

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by DaTruth

Shirreffs expresses his hesitation about Zenyatta crossing the Rockies again anytime soon, and the Zealots largely remain silent. Not a peep from the usual suspects. However, when a thread is started about Rachel running on Friday, the Zealots awaken and quickly turn the thread into a Rachel-bashing party. Can someone please explain to these people that Zenyatta's accomplishments will stand on their own merits, and their efforts to marginalize Rachel's accomplishments only make them appear even more foolish.

[philcski]

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

I'm talking about the history of the sport both male and female and assumed that's what he was talking about as well.

To me, Zenyatta is about 20 notches above Pepper's Pride. She'll have to run the table again this year and at least have 4 more races on dirt before I crown her an all-time great.

Synthetic surfaces are clown shoes. It may be exciting racing to most people but to me it's boring.

Rachel is only 4. She needs another year as well. Solid 3-year old campaign but I'll hold off on crowning her ass as well.

Originally Posted by DaTruth

Shirreffs expresses his hesitation about Zenyatta crossing the Rockies again anytime soon, and the Zealots largely remain silent. Not a peep from the usual suspects. However, when a thread is started about Rachel running on Friday, the Zealots awaken and quickly turn the thread into a Rachel-bashing party. Can someone please explain to these people that Zenyatta's accomplishments will stand on their own merits, and their efforts to marginalize Rachel's accomplishments only make them appear even more foolish.

Great posts.

[Revidere]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

You said she beat Gio Ponti on a surface "he preferred," which isn't remotely true. And I like the faux impartiality comment here.

Whatever you think about Gio Ponti is fine. The horse ran a winning race. Are you going to now say he didn't like the surface? Pick your semantic.
And there is no faux impartiality here (thanks for the psycho-analysis). I'm a racing fan. I love watching good horses run. I think Rachel Alexandra is outstanding.

I just think Zenyatta's better.

Wake me up when they finally decide Zenyatta's proven all she can prove in California. I have a feeling I'll be asleep for a while.

Good one. haven't heard that in one of these threads for a while. If this keeps up you may be able to insert the "the only horse Zenyatta beat was Ginger Punch and boy was she slow and overrated" line.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Read below about the BC. Your own logic about dirt and synthetic horses should tell you why they didn't want to run her in the BC, especially after what happened with Curlin the year before. As for the Apple Blossom, I'm disappointed that they didn't run her, but if the horse isn't fit, the horse isn't fit. Unlike the Mosses, Jackson doesn't have a history of treating his supposed superhorse with kid gloves, so he gets the benefit of the doubt. Again, you're deflecting instead of explaining why the immortal Z continues to run against allowance horses in her playpen nine times out of ten.



Because, as your fellow Zentologist points out, dirt horses have a tougher time transferring their form to synthetic than vice versa. It's not understandable that Jackson didn't want to have an ultimate showdown between the two on a surface that Zenyatta was far more likely to excel on?

I think the Jackson camp misread what happened to Curlin. Curlin ran well on turf and he also handled POLY. What he couldn't handle was the setup: he moved too soon in what was a layered, and collapsing, race. RA had an advantage that Curlin didn't, and, that up until recently, was not really exploited by other POLY runners: the ability to control the pace by staying close enough to the lead but not moving prematurely and collapsing the race for the closers. This is what allowed the distance challenged Rail Trip to get 10F in the Pacific Classic. Too bad her connections didn't give her a chance to try the BC.

I'm not deflecting anything: Z won the BC classic last year. Other were welcome to try her. She made the trip to OP this year; others didn't. If you think that she needs to leave CALI to add to her resume, you'll also probably agree that she needn't do it except where it works to her advantage. Why ship the horse for meaningless races? She'll ship for the BC, at least. What else does she really need to prove? If she beats the dirt best at CD, then she's done about all she needs to.