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#1
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SD obviously missed the Mile |
#2
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![]() It amazes me the comparison of a 6 year old mare losing to a 4 year old colt as the defining race determining her talent and ability.
Its an unprovable opinion but I really think she was at her best as a 4 year old and had this race been run two years ago I am not sure she comes up a head short.
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"To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize"...Voltaire |
#3
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![]() She's a useful mare. That win parlay is now zero on her.
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#4
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![]() Do you have an opinion why turf fillies/mares fare better against the males? We've seen it in Japan, France, England, here in the BC, however there are not too many dirt females that have any tangible success against male dirt horses. On the surface it would seem turf is a whole different ballgame that allows both sexes to compete on a level playing field, I'm not knocking anyone, I'm just pointing out when a female beats males on turf, I hardly bat an eye anymore.
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#5
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#6
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#7
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#8
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#9
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![]() The whole SoCal plastic track experiment is indeed what complicates things here. If she'd gone 19 for 19 on dirt, then you'd just have to upgrade her. Even the arguments about her not shipping would have been more muted. I have no problems putting her up with the great F&Ms of all time--she belongs in that discussion. But greatest horses of all time? Please. In my race-watching lifetime, just sticking to classic distances on dirt, there are only two horses for sure that I can put on that list--Secretariat and Spectacular Bid. The rest are either a tier below or need a hell of an argument in their favor. And of those (Slew, Affirmed, Ghostzapper, Easy Goer, Sunday Silence, Cigar, etc.), they would routine destroy Zenyatta the way most races shape up. Even horses like Mineshaft or Best Pal would be too much. Her running style just couldn't cut against such types on dirt most of the time.
I will say this--since plastic is on the way out at SA, and HOL is not long for this world, she is likely to be--forever--the great synthetic horse of all-time, of any sex. |
#10
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However, there are plenty of examples in the last few years of fillies/mares beating males on dirt. |
#11
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![]() Yeah I know there have been a few, however I mean't races only at the highest level. Certainly not as frequent as in Europe. Someone mentioned Jolypha, her BC Classic is one of the best performances by a filly on dirt that is often overlooked. But that was still only a 3rd.
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#12
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Just as an aside, after the race I was even more pissed at Zenyatta's connections than before. I really feel cheated because they deprived us of seeing some really great things. She could have run away and hid in the SA Hcp, Hollywood Gold Cup, and Pacific Classic. She could have come east and done some things. Instead, they stayed ultra conservative. I think that had they won some of those other big races, they'd have built up some credits and could withstand a loss in the Classic, sort of like Curlin in 2008 and Cigar in 1996. But by playing it the way they did, they left themselves no room for error and even though many walked away thinking Zenyatta ran the better race, she still lost and that should end any arguments for her to be HOY. To me, it's either Blame or Goldikova.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020) Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine |
#13
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![]() Personally she is the best stretch running filly/mare I have seen since Relaxing. Personal Ensign deserves acknowledgement as well.
Zenyatta's career was truly remarkable and until yesterday it was difficult for me to assess her because of the surface/competition issues. At the very least we finally got to see her best. |