Past the Point to Woodward

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

Please tell me one of those slugs will step up and beat the filly, King Glorious...

No horse in the country beats Rachel unless she injures herself in the race. Period.

[Smooth Operator]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Could you see if Anabaa's Creation is available to come over? Now that's a racehorse.

NT

12-12-0-0

[Smooth Operator]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

No horse in the country beats Rachel unless she injures herself in the race. Period.

THUD

[JerseyJ]

Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

12-12-0-0

You really are a ****** I see...

How about this stat:

116-111-108-108-101-103-100-99

Yeah, those are Rachel's last 8 beyer speed figures...Zenyatta, hell any horse in this country wishes they could run those, but nothing can. This is the best horse in America, male or female, and the sooner you come to the realization of that, the easier it will be to accept when Rachel is horse of the year. By the way, that 99 came in October of her 2YO season, which OOPS, coincidentily seems to be Zenyatta's MOST RECENT figure.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by JerseyJ

You really are a ****** I see...

How about this stat:

116-111-108-108-101-103-100-99

Yeah, those are Rachel's last 8 beyer speed figures...Zenyatta, hell any horse in this country wishes they could run those, but nothing can. This is the best horse in America, male or female, and the sooner you come to the realization of that, the easier it will be to accept when Rachel is horse of the year. By the way, that 99 came in October of her 2YO season, which OOPS, coincidentily seems to be Zenyatta's MOST RECENT figure.

So figures decide who is the better horse? Im not saying she is or isnt the best horse but this argument is weak. Zenyatta is the reigning champ and has done nothing wrong.

[Sightseek]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

So figures decide who is the better horse? Im not saying she is or isnt the best horse but this argument is weak. Zenyatta is the reigning champ and has done nothing wrong.

It's easy to do nothing wrong when you're doing the same thing over and over and only running every few months.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

So figures decide who is the better horse? Im not saying she is or isnt the best horse but this argument is weak. Zenyatta is the reigning champ and has done nothing wrong.

far more to it then figures, altho that is an easy way to point to supremacy. rachel has won by huge margins, has set records, came close to the record in the haskell while wide and on the slop..has taken on and beaten the boys not once, but twice, in grade one company-her latter race by open lengths (just like every race this year except the preakness), has run on how many tracks now? and is now going to take on open company.
zenyatta was all out to win by a scant nose vs her peers, you don't need more than one hands worth of fingers to count how many tracks she's run on, has not taken on males in her age group, or taken on open company. her lack of racing and lack of competition are strikes against her. were she not a one run closer, she wouldn't get near the attention, but for some reason race fans love those one run closers. is she the reigning distaff champ? yes. does that mean anything this year? no. she'll get top older mare while rachel could well get HOTY.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

It's easy to do nothing wrong when you're doing the same thing over and over and only running every few months.

i wish she'd have smashed the field last time out. with that narrow win, they'll be very hesitant to take her anywhere vs males.

[Revidere]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

I'd agree with this - the Haskell gave me chills the way she put them away.

Although I could have done without Borel hitting her in the stretch 10 times times.....Inexcusable.

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by Danzig

far more to it then figures, altho that is an easy way to point to supremacy. rachel has won by huge margins, has set records, came close to the record in the haskell while wide and on the slop..has taken on and beaten the boys not once, but twice, in grade one company-her latter race by open lengths (just like every race this year except the preakness), has run on how many tracks now? and is now going to take on open company.
zenyatta was all out to win by a scant nose vs her peers, you don't need more than one hands worth of fingers to count how many tracks she's run on, has not taken on males in her age group, or taken on open company. her lack of racing and lack of competition are strikes against her. were she not a one run closer, she wouldn't get near the attention, but for some reason race fans love those one run closers. is she the reigning distaff champ? yes. does that mean anything this year? no. she'll get top older mare while rachel could well get HOTY.

I totally disagree with the bolded. Running style has nothing to do with how much attention she gets. Its the streak...its her dominance over the division over the last year and a half. She gets about as much attention as Azeri did and she ran most of her races on the engine.

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

So figures decide who is the better horse? Im not saying she is or isnt the best horse but this argument is weak. Zenyatta is the reigning champ and has done nothing.

FTFY.

I dont understand the "reigning champ" thing either. Just because you win an award one year SHOULD NOT give you a leg up for the next year.

If Rachel wins the Woodward, she should be HOY, 3YO filly champ, 3YO colt champ, Champion older horse and Champion Older Mare.

Zenyatta has done nothing this year to win any awards IMO. She still has a couple opportunities to change that..

[brianwspencer]

Originally Posted by Danzig

far more to it then figures, altho that is an easy way to point to supremacy. rachel has won by huge margins, has set records, came close to the record in the haskell while wide and on the slop..has taken on and beaten the boys not once, but twice, in grade one company-her latter race by open lengths (just like every race this year except the preakness), has run on how many tracks now? and is now going to take on open company.
zenyatta was all out to win by a scant nose vs her peers, you don't need more than one hands worth of fingers to count how many tracks she's run on, has not taken on males in her age group, or taken on open company. her lack of racing and lack of competition are strikes against her. were she not a one run closer, she wouldn't get near the attention, but for some reason race fans love those one run closers. is she the reigning distaff champ? yes. does that mean anything this year? no. she'll get top older mare while rachel could well get HOTY.

I like Zenyatta, but it's important to put this in perspective too. Nobody is saying that Rachel is beating up on any soon-to-be legendary superstars by any stretch, but Zenyatta's "peers" this year are for the most part, not even close to Grade I quality in any way ....here's what I said elsewhere as far as facing quality competition.

Of the three runners-up in Zenyatta's 2009 races, Life Is Sweet is the only one who even belongs in the conversation.

Let's not get carried away by her gutsy Clement Hirsch win over the barely Grade III-quality (at best...I'm being generous here) Anabaa's Creation who was sent postward in that spot at 22-1 off a scintillating no-excuses 5th-place finish against 3rd-level allowance company in her prior start, and who hasn't proven herself to be of any significant class (at least of the kind we'd be talking about when discussing the "real race horses" our leading HOY contender had beaten!) since 2007.

Or perhaps we're talking about Briecat, whose career highlight came in winning the Grade II Bayakoa against six other foes, but whose 2009 record is marginal at best, considering that she has been soundly, borderline embarrassingly-beaten in all of her 2009 starts except for...wait for it...the time she ran within two and a half lengths of Zenyatta. Her other four starts of the year have led to drubbings of a combined 39 lengths against inferior competition.

Of course you can pick at Rachel's opponents too, but let's be intellectually honest here and cut the pretending that there is some great talent disparity between who they are beating. And something tells me that Rachel wouldn't be life and death to beat Anabaa's Creation either, but that's pure conjecture on my part.

[Gander]

I dont know what the reason is but I get no excitement from Zenyatta. Probably my east coast bias, especially since the poly came to California, but I think it goes beyond that. I loved when Lava Man was on top of the world, at least out west. But Zenyatta does nothing for me. I could care less when she races.

[alysheba4]

Originally Posted by Sightseek

It's easy to do nothing wrong when you're doing the same thing over and over and only running every few months.

......yeah horses like her are a dime a dozen

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

I totally disagree with the bolded. Running style has nothing to do with how much attention she gets. Its the streak...its her dominance over the division over the last year and a half. She gets about as much attention as Azeri did and she ran most of her races on the engine.

i'm not saying it's the only reason, but it's a big reason why-people love closers that come flying right at the end. they never get accused of stealing a race like a confirmed front-runner. the link below is to an article on bloodhorse. honestly, i didn't read it-and just barely glanced at it when i went to see if it was still available. the title alone was what caught my eye the other day.

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/racin...-a-closer.aspx

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by brianwspencer

I like Zenyatta, but it's important to put this in perspective too. Nobody is saying that Rachel is beating up on any soon-to-be legendary superstars by any stretch, but Zenyatta's "peers" this year are for the most part, not even close to Grade I quality in any way ....here's what I said elsewhere as far as facing quality competition.

Of the three runners-up in Zenyatta's 2009 races, Life Is Sweet is the only one who even belongs in the conversation.

Let's not get carried away by her gutsy Clement Hirsch win over the barely Grade III-quality (at best...I'm being generous here) Anabaa's Creation who was sent postward in that spot at 22-1 off a scintillating no-excuses 5th-place finish against 3rd-level allowance company in her prior start, and who hasn't proven herself to be of any significant class (at least of the kind we'd be talking about when discussing the "real race horses" our leading HOY contender had beaten!) since 2007.

Or perhaps we're talking about Briecat, whose career highlight came in winning the Grade II Bayakoa against six other foes, but whose 2009 record is marginal at best, considering that she has been soundly, borderline embarrassingly-beaten in all of her 2009 starts except for...wait for it...the time she ran within two and a half lengths of Zenyatta. Her other four starts of the year have led to drubbings of a combined 39 lengths against inferior competition.

Of course you can pick at Rachel's opponents too, but let's be intellectually honest here and cut the pretending that there is some great talent disparity between who they are beating. And something tells me that Rachel wouldn't be life and death to beat Anabaa's Creation either, but that's pure conjecture on my part.

when i say 'peers' it has more to do with her facing off vs fellow distaffers-not making any statements about their ability to be competitive-or not. just like when i say that rachel has run vs her peers-they're all the same age. other than that, certainly far from equal!

i enjoy both horses, and have loved seeing their races. but i think only one of the two will still be mentioned and have horses compared to her years from now-and it's not the one based out west that i'm talking about.

[Revidere]

Originally Posted by alysheba4

......yeah horses like her are a dime a dozen

[Smooth Operator]

Originally Posted by JerseyJ

You really are a ****** I see...

How about this stat:

116-111-108-108-101-103-100-99

Yeah, those are Rachel's last 8 beyer speed figures...Zenyatta, hell any horse in this country wishes they could run those, but nothing can. This is the best horse in America, male or female, and the sooner you come to the realization of that, the easier it will be to accept when Rachel is horse of the year. By the way, that 99 came in October of her 2YO season, which OOPS, coincidentily seems to be Zenyatta's MOST RECENT figure.

LOL




Yo Beyer boy ...






Breeders' Cup CHAMPION

[JerseyJ]

Originally Posted by Smooth Operator

LOL




Yo Beyer boy ...






Breeders' Cup CHAMPION

Rachel Alexandra: Horse of the Year to be...Where's Zenyatta's horse of the year? I guess I seemed to have missed that one.

[Smooth Operator]

Been a loooooooooong time since a 3yo filly took an open dirt route like the Woodward



Are all you Rachael fans willing to bet the ranch that she'll prevail this weekend?