Shirreffs' latest gem
 

First it was the insurmountable Rockies, then it was equating Rail Trip to 'the highest mountain,' and now this, his reasoning behind not shipping Zenyatta to the Beldame. It actually has little to do with Zenyatta!

Yes, that's right folks. It's not that he's scared to ship his champion mare, it's no longer the Rockies that are the problem, it's that there's no one who could possibly take care of his other horses for the handful of days he'll be out of town! God dammit, if only Shirreffs were a good 'telephone trainer.' Oh well, just our luck!

That is totally legitimate. If he ships her to New York, he doesn't want to ship her all the way back to California and then ship all the way back to Kentucky. He would go straight to Kentucky from New York. If he does that, he's going to want to be in Kentucky and watch her train. If it was for a week, it wouldn't be a big deal. But it would be a very big deal if he was away for 5 weeks. He's a hands-on trainer. He watches all of his horses train every day. He doesn't like to miss a single day. He is extremely conscientious.

There are actually some trainers that don't even watch their horses train. They sit in their office all day and rely on their assistants. Shirreffs is not like that. He watches everything, every day. He will notice if the slightest thing is off. That is why he is so good.

He wants another cup cake Grade 1 win.

Rinterval shipped over the rockies to lose her 20th race in her last 21 attempts in fine fashion. 3rd place finisher Princess Taylor has lost 18 races in a row.

Level weights against those horses again? How can you pass that up?

You're a bright guy, which makes this all the more interesting. What is it about Zenyatta and her connections that makes people lose all rational thought?

They act like no one has ever shipped before and people eat it right up. It's pretty amazing.

I don't see how the guy has enough time to train while he's thinking of all of these lame excuses. He must have an assistant write this stuff while he's grooming the animals.

Assuming the plan is to run in the BC Classic, won't we get our answers then? I mean, either she'll win the race two years in a row and retire 20 for 20, or she'll lose and people can say she was overrated (which is probably a ridiculous thing to say, but whatever.) I don't see the need to criticize every move the team makes.

I say, why ship to NY when a prep in CA will do just fine?

Here an explanation:

1) Your Horse of the Year is a NO SHOW for the AB (after losing to Z's caddy)
2) YOUR Fastest Horse in Training falls on his face in the Whitney (eliminating all those STUPID arguments that he can get 10F once and for all)

It's called 'taking the offensive'.

She shipped in April for the Apple Blossom and she's going to ship again in November for the BC Classic. Shipping across the country twice in a year is a reasonable amount.

With regards to horses shipping in general, it really depends on the horse. But even if a horse was a great shipper, I probably wouldn't ship the horse across the country more than 3 times in a year.

With regard to keeping the horse in Kentucky for 5 weeks, if you know John Shireffs you wouldn't have any doubt that he would be uncomfortable with that. The guy is incredibly anal and wants to oversee everything. I don't think that's a negative. It's good that he is so conscientious.

Ok, so don't ship but run the best races out west. Tiago and Giacomo ran them, or does she not measure up to those two??

Is her race Saturday good enough to win the Whitney?

Was her race in the Hirsch last year good enough to win the BC Classic? No, but it didn't stop her from winning it.

I think because Zenyatta is female, they are getting as many easy G1s as possible rather than going for the more difficult open company G1.

Tiago and Giacomo had no other G1 options other than to run in the open company races.

It did not and that cannot be taken away from her. I was just looking for a comparison, the original quote from TFM mentioned QR falling apart, hence my question. Could be rephrased simply as; does she win the Whitney on Saturday?

Zenyatta
 

They have said all along that their ultimate goal is to run in the BC Classic at CD. Everyone will have their chance to run against her at that point. If JS pulls out of that race then we are opened to criticize them.

The days of all the best horses running against one another in all the big stake races has long passed us.

Would it be great to see RA vs. Zen in the race in NY? Of course it would. Is it a little tiring to see them both race against allowance and G3 type of horses? Of course it is.

But, it is what it is and we will have to wait to see who shows up in the BC Classic.

I swear if I had a nickel for every time Arkansas was called "across the country" I'd be a rich woman.

You have a point but at this point, winning the Goodwood doesn't do anything for them. There's no real upside. There's only downside. They don't need to run there to win HOY.

I'm sure they think they could win the Goodwood, but they probably figure "Why gamble at this point?". She would have to run harder in the Goodwood than the filly race. The harder you run, the more risk you take in terms of not coming out of a race good. Since their goal is to win the BC Classic, how dumb would they feel if she ran her butt off to win the Goodwood and it knocked her out? They are so close to their goal at this point. Why take a risk (even if it's only a small risk) when there is really no upside to that risk. They want to be 100% healthy for the BC Classic. The best way to ensure that happens is by having an easy race rather than a tough race for her final prep.

In addition, they are going to be taking a risk of getting beat in the BC Classic and ending her streak. At this point, I think they'd rather take that risk just once rather than twice.

I prefer the rational that NY and Kentucky are nearby. I see that a lot.

yes lots of people seem to think Churchill is on the east coast too. quite the hike from NY!

Churchill & Oaklawn.. East Coast tracks all the way!

Don't forget Arlington. Hell might as well include Arapahoe Park since it is east of the Rockies. :D

There's really no way to know. Her race was obviously not nearly as good as Blame's race. But that doesn't necessarily mean anything with her. I think she has shown that she usually runs to her competition. The times of her races and her margin of victory don't really tell you much.