Zenyatta

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

invasor skipped a race prior to the bc with a sickness..but came back strong

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Yeah, because that's all he did in his career. Invasor is pretty much a different species from Blame. And for all of everyone's excuses about Zenyatta's trip/not handling the track, Bernardini looked like he was spinning his wheels and then got the typical early move ride from Castellano that day.

He was in an all out drive and looked empty... Something was not right, I take it back about him not showing up. He did not handle something, but still kicked in.

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by CSC

I'd like to attempt to put some semblance of closure to this, with Zenyatta's 2nd to Blame in the BC Classic as probably being the only gauge on how she fares against the best dirt horses in the world, she should go down as one of the greatest in the game, losing to Blame is slightly better than losing to Alphabet Soup in most opinions, so if Cigar is to be considered as one of the greats then certainly she fits the critaria also. Greatest of all time, no she hasn't done enough to rank with Secretariat whom I regard as the gold standard of all standards. No one touches him and I doubt we will see another like him. But in terms of being able to run on both surfaces, she has proven she is efficient on both. Not many can, consider that.

Wish we could have saw more, but you punish the connections for this, not the horse.

I can't believe no one has gone near this idiocy. I don't even really know if Cigar is considered an all time great, but the quality of horses he beat consistently, all across the country and world is head and shoulders better than what Zenyatta has. He had clearly lost a step by the '96 Classic and was hung out wide for a long time. He ran pretty big all things considered.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

He reminds me a lot of Blame. His nose win over Sun King does not make me think best of the past 5 years.

I personally liked him and thought he was very good horse. The one race that sticks out to me was the 2007 Donn. I know he beat no one, but the way Garcia steadied and basically stopped him and then have him re-rally on the rail made me believe he was indeed that good.

[satan's twin]

As someone who's first job was to rake horsesh*t out of stalls at Arlington when I was a 14 year old kid, I would have thought I would have moved on to better and more profitable vices by now. It didn't happen and I'm so thankful for it.

Along the way, while chasing the horses, I have met my best friends, taken some memorable road trips and have stored up a closet full of memories and laughs. I have gotten to see Secretariat run on a couple of occasions, watched Ruffian run the last strides of her life and have seen most all of the other champions since run once or twice. And on Saturday while in the grandstands I saw Zenyatta come down the stretch at Churchill Downs.

Is Zenyatta the greatest mare of all time? Doubtful.
Is she the Horse of the Year? Don't know and don't care.

But on Saturday for the second year in a row I saw her in person on racing's biggest stage in front of the game's largest audience run down the lane and stand the hair on the back of everyone's neck on end.

How do you measure greatest in a race horse? Don't know.
But I KNOW I saw it Saturday.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by satan's twin

As someone who's first job was to rake horsesh*t out of stalls at Arlington when I was a 14 year old kid, I would have thought I would have moved on to better and more profitable vices by now. It didn't happen and I'm so thankful for it.

Along the way, while chasing the horses, I have met my best friends, taken some memorable road trips and have stored up a closet full of memories and laughs. I have gotten to see Secretariat run on a couple of occasions, watched Ruffian run the last strides of her life and have seen most all of the other champions since run once or twice. And on Saturday while in the grandstands I saw Zenyatta come down the stretch at Churchill Downs.

Is Zenyatta the greatest mare of all time? Doubtful.
Is she the Horse of the Year? Don't know and don't care.

But on Saturday for the second year in a row I saw her in person on racing's biggest stage in front of the game's largest audience run down the lane and stand the hair on the back of everyone's neck on end.

How do you measure greatest in a race horse? Don't know.
But I KNOW I saw it Saturday.

Gread read, this gave me chills.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

Gread read, this gave me chills.

[Travis Stone]

The bottom line from this weekend...

Zenyatta silenced her critics. She's legit. She ran huge. She will always be a victim of her style, but that's how it goes. Teams live by their offense, or die by their defense... visa-versa. The good ones overcome, which she did all 20 times. Unfortunately for her, Blame fired huge. He heard her coming too, dug-in, held his lead before, on and after the wire. Losing by a nose to him in today's racing game is no slouch.

As for the Horse of the Year, anyone but Blame receiving the honor would be a tragedy. Horse of the Year rewards accomplishments, which in this game, is about winning. And when winning counted most, it was Blame.

It scares me that this might even be a close vote.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

I can't believe no one has gone near this idiocy. I don't even really know if Cigar is considered an all time great, but the quality of horses he beat consistently, all across the country and world is head and shoulders better than what Zenyatta has. He had clearly lost a step by the '96 Classic and was hung out wide for a long time. He ran pretty big all things considered.

When your favorite horse runs in 2-3 meaningful races her entire career, you really have to make stretches to compare her to the greats. Clearly if Cigar one time lost to a ho-hum Classic winner, that makes him equal to Zenyatta. Nevermind what the two of them did through the rest of their careers.

[Princess Doreen]

Originally Posted by Dahoss

I can't believe no one has gone near this idiocy. I don't even really know if Cigar is considered an all time great, but the quality of horses he beat consistently, all across the country and world is head and shoulders better than what Zenyatta has. He had clearly lost a step by the '96 Classic and was hung out wide for a long time. He ran pretty big all things considered.

I was thinking about it, but I didn't know where to begin.

[Ogygian]

As we all sit back and wonder why horse racing is the crapper, I will only say this...read the majority of these posts...negative, negative, negative. Someone says some thing positive and others bash them for it...damn near every blog is negative. Every horse sucks, is too slow or overated, every jock sucks, every announcer sucks...every race for the last 20 years the fields are "horrid', every horse that does win, either their beyer sucked or they beat a "horrid" field. And we have the nerve to ask "what is wrong with horse racing"? It's pathetic...
Just sit back and enjoy the animals and jockeys that put their lives on the line for us everyday...
Shes too slow, she raced no one, her jockey is a ******, the field sucked...damn just enjoy the moment people!!!!

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Ogygian

As we all sit back and wonder why horse racing is the crapper, I will only say this...read the majority of these posts...negative, negative, negative. Someone says some thing positive and others bash them for it...damn near every blog is negative. Every horse sucks, is too slow or overated, every jock sucks, every announcer sucks...every race for the last 20 years the fields are "horrid', every horse that does win, either their beyer sucked or they beat a "horrid" field. And we have the nerve to ask "what is wrong with horse racing"? It's pathetic...
Just sit back and enjoy the animals and jockeys that put their lives on the line for us everyday...
Shes too slow, she raced no one, her jockey is a ******, the field sucked...damn just enjoy the moment people!!!!

You're right, horse racing is in trouble because people on message boards can be critical at times. You nailed it. NTRA should be calling you soon.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

You're right, horse racing is in trouble because people on message boards can be critical at times. You nailed it. NTRA should be calling you soon.

You have a wise comment for everyone don't you?

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

That's the cleverest name he could come up with for me. His hard-on for me is really getting weird.

That poster is a legendary internet troll with zillions of identities across messageboardland. It is only worth laughing at ( or pitying ) but not worth reading.

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

You have a wise comment for everyone don't you?

It's easier than responding to things like that seriously.

[Bigsmc]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

What is this obsession you have with me? Did I say the 90%/10% thing? Or are you too dumb to look at the poster's name and just assume that if it's something you disagree with it's me or Andy. I'm seriously getting a little creeped out by you addressing every single post you make to me.

And Gio Ponti lost to Interpatation, Winchester and Debussy too you ignorant mouthbreather.

Karelian.

[smartbid09]

Zenyatta is one of the greatest of all time. Hands down. The people who needed her to stay perfect to prove that should go curl up in a corner and die. The world needs less idiots. How could you ask anyone to stay perfect in any sport to prove they are great? That's just cruel. It's insulting. 19 in a row wasn't enough. 20 in a row wouldn't have been enough either. It wasn't how many races Zenyatta won. You simply would never have called Zenyatta one of the greatest of all time.

If you think that by Zenyatta losing this race she has now proven herself to be less than one of the greatest of all time you're wrong. Let's put this race in perspective. What was this race to determine? 2010 HOY honors.

This race wasn't a race to prove if Zenyatta was amongst the greatest ever. And stop turning it into that. What did this race prove that we didn't already know? Horses get beat and she was beaten by a horse who loved Churchill Downs and had the exact style of running that put her at a disadvantage. And Zenyatta always starts at a disadvantage to begin with.

To ask Zenyatta to win this race was asking a lot. She was up against it. But She still showed her greatness by coming as close to a win as she possibly could. She technically shouldn't have even come that close. But she is just amazing!

Blame is an excellent horse. He beat Quality Road at his distance and he beat Zenyatta at her distance. But he lost this year too. He couldn't overcome the running style of a horse like Haynesfield on the lose and he went all out trying. The same thing happened to Zenyatta. She couldn't overcome the task at hand. She just couldn't. It was impossible. Don't ask a horse to do the impossible. But you ask them to do the impossible and they lose by inches they truly deserve to be among the greatest ever.

I am taking nothing away from Blame. He's great. It would be easier to ask a horse like Blame to win 19 in a row than to ask a horse with Zenyatta's running style to win 19 in a row. But he couldn't. He can't overcome everything. Neither can Zenyatta. She shouldn't have won this race and she didn't but she almost did.

This race showed so much about Zenyatta in a positive light. I know that Zenyatta can overcome just about anything after watching this race. So for all of you people who made this race into a test of her greatness fine. Do that. But If you needed this race to show you that Zenyatta is amongst the greatest horses of all time I think it did. When horses are at a disadvantage they lose by lengths. Blame did. Zenyatta lost by inches.

[Dahoss]

Oh my god

[slotdirt]

I think I just got dumber reading that.

[Indian Charlie]

Dontcha just love how Zenyattards hang their hat on Z's perfect 19 for 19 record as being the only proof they need for her all time greatness, then when she loses, they pull dumbass stuff like this?