If I Ran Racing....
 

Nationally televised match race between Zenyatta and Rachel.... Neutral track, find a weekend where the networks were offering some no name golf tournament and hockey playoffs. Do a national voting/betting pool like American Idol......mandate that network talking heads explain racing, wagering options, where tracks are at, the Derby Trail and annual cycle of our sport.

Sometimes dreams are the only non-devalued currency :D

I/L

too much talk about RA being the greatest filly every by beating MTB by a length.....MTB couldnt warm Zenyatta up IMO.

I already decided that the next time I see Mr. Duchossois I am asking him to step up, ala Cigar Day here.

Put 2 million in the kitty on Million Day here and it is ON!!

you'd have to think, based on running style, that a match race would suit RA far more than zenyatta. but i'd love to see it.

MTB is a closer, just like zenyatta. it would be one hell of a finish if they both had clear sailing.

RA would own in a match race with Zenyatta on a dirt track. They have 2 very different styles, of course you're going to pick the speed horse in a match race.

How about the Personal Ensign at Saratoga?

except zenyatta has about a 2/1 stride to that horse.

I would be all for that, she has done her best running at HP, along with OP, and they are the closest to dirt. Personally I would like to see HP Gold Cup, Pacific Classic, Ladys Secret, BC Classic. That is me though not Shirreffs.

I thought she handled DM the worst of all the tracks.

Would be a great place to do it, but do you think that the NYRA would step up with a purse increase?

I would think that it would take alot of convincing to get them to face each other before the Breeders Cup?

that would be sweet.

maybe so...don't get fooled by big horses, northern dancer proved the folly of that.
mine that bird is a fast horse at the end of a race, stride length notwithstanding.

The question is not about Zenyatta taking-on Rachel Alexandra, it's Zenyatta taking on the boys. I sure hope the BC Classic is their goal this year.

i doubt it. especially after reading the shirreffs q/a today on equidaily...

Sheriffs is too conservative to place Zenyatta against males. I'd be surprised

you just compared Northern Dancer to Mine That Bird!

Rachel Alexandra would toy with Zenyatta in a match race on dirt.

There is no way the connections of Zenyatta would possibly be stupid enough to ever agree to a match race with RA on dirt.

She has no tactical speed at all. RA would loaf on about an 8 length lead like nothing with less pressure than she's ever seen in her life .. and when it turns into an all out sprint ... you don't quicken and make up considerable ground on dirt. I'd be utterly shocked if she can make up any more than 2 or 3 of the 8 length gap late.

A match race on dirt between those two basically translates to a 3 furlong sprint with Rachel Alexandra starting with a massive head start.

While logically, RA should win that kind of race by 5 ... she could probably easily win by double digits if Zenyatta is taken out of her game and kept within contact of RA.

In that case, RA would dominate her in the late stages and Zenyatta would finish like Mine That Bird finished up in his fast paced Sunland Park races.

A match race on Pro-Ride would be a different story because horses routinely cut absurdly slow fractions under no pressure and get absolutely run over on that Pro-Ride.

The Breeders Cup Distaff is on Pro-Ride .. and there will be horses in there to keep RA honest. RA has absolutely no chance against Zenyatta on Pro-Ride in a race where she's almost certainly going to be kept from getting away with murder.

A type of race where the outcome would be in doubt would be a 10 furlong race run with an honest pace on a dirt track. That type of race would be interesting.

drugs you really needed that many lines of print to say the obvious?

yasher koach:tro:

0000000000000

Sometimes the obvious seems pretty elusive to many.

:rolleyes:
yeah, size wise.

but the premise was a horse of northern dancer could compete with the best horses of all time despite his size, which is accurate, but Mine That Bird can not.

no, my point was that length of stride isn't indicative of what time a horse can put up at the end of a race. i think i know what point i was trying to make; you're putting words in my mouth.

Aside From The Great Comments on The Combatants..
 

the main idea was to have an event that would breath life into public interest around racing....I watch the simulcasting and see like two people standing at the rail at an otherwise empty churchill or belmont... and it's depressing. Your average Joe or Jane just have no insight into what the sport has to offer.

Thanks...I feel better :o

i do find it interesting, and refreshing, that there haven't been comments about 'another year, no t.c. winner-bah humbug'. this is the least disappointed crowd i think we've ever had after the derby winner lost the preakness. i think it proves there's more to racing than just the t.c., and that it's an individual horse that can generate excitement, not the series of races that they win.

Rachel wins the Haskell...Z wins the Whitney. Showdown in the PE. The Spa would be rockin' Travers weekend

Who wins match races case in point: Typecast vs. Convenience at Hollywood Park, 1972 (I think). The two were vying for top mare in the west. Convenience was a speed horse and Typecast was deep closer. Convenience went out and set the pace as she wished, Typecast behind a couple lengths. Typecast closed hard, but Convenience held on by a nose. Typecast went on to be named champion older mare of the year, largely off of her turf wins over males in the Hollywood Invitational, Sunset, and Man o' War.

who runs match races, its a non starter.

Zenyatta is a very special horse, I want to see RA out of restricted races against say Music Note and Cocoa Beach before I get into the hyperbole, she is very good.

If I ran racing, I'd force the Moss' to sell Zenyatta to an owner with courage. How depressing is this?

Conservative path for Zenyatta
By Steve Andersen
INGLEWOOD, Calif. - Zenyatta is likely to have a conventional campaign of major stakes in California through the summer and fall in defense of her title as the nation's outstanding older female.

Two days after her easy win in the Grade 2 Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park on Saturday, Zenyatta was walked at trainer John Shirreffs's barn on the track's backstretch. The 5-year-old Zenyatta, unbeaten in 10 starts, is likely to return to racing in the $300,000 Vanity Handicap, a Grade 1 over 1 1/8 miles on June 27.
Shirreffs has not mapped out a specific plan for Zenyatta, but the schedule is essentially defined on their behalf. If Zenyatta stays in California, the $300,000 Clement Hirsch Handicap at Del Mar on Aug. 9, the Lady's Secret Stakes at Santa Anita in early October, and the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in November are the goals.

Owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, Zenyatta won the 2008 BC Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita and that race this year will probably be the final start of her career.

"I would think that would be it," Shirreffs said. "You're anxious to get a foal out of her because they do breed."

Shirreffs is reluctant to ship Zenyatta to other circuits, especially with the Breeders' Cup drawing closer.

"With the Breeders' Cup out here, what's the need?" he said. "When it gets closer to [Breeders' Cup] time, you don't want to ship around too much. Saratoga is a long way."

Shirreffs is not interested in trying Zenyatta against males in a race such as the $700,000 Hollywood Gold Cup on July 11.

"The Gold Cup is a mile and a quarter," he said. "She's never run that far. It would be an ambitious spot and against the boys? Let's make it even harder."

Zenyatta won the Milady by 1 3/4 lengths over stablemate Life Is Sweet. Jockey Mike Smith guided Zenyatta around five rivals on the second turn and hand-rode her to a popular victory.

Prior to the race, the saddling enclosure was four-deep with Zenyatta's well-wishers, many of whom were snapping away with cell phone and digital cameras or holding up small camcorders to record the moment. It's not often that fans in California have a chance to be that close to a reigning champion, and one that has yet to be beaten.

The mare did not seem to mind the attention. While occasionally pawing at the ground, she otherwise stood quietly, with her ears pricked, taking in all the attention.

It is possible that Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet could have a rematch in the Vanity. The winner of the Grade 1 Santa Margarita Handicap at Santa Anita in March, Life Is Sweet was not disgraced in defeat on Saturday.

"She ran a super race," Shirreffs said.

Shirreffs said he will consult with owner Marty Wygod about Life Is Sweet before finalizing plans.

i read that earlier...so much for the dream match up between her and rachel at 'toga.