See page 6 of DRF today 8/9
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Tags: Alexandra, Between, Close, meeting, NYRA, Rachel, Setting, Zenyatta
See page 6 of DRF today 8/9
Tags: Alexandra, Between, Close, meeting, NYRA, Rachel, Setting, Zenyatta
This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 1:11 pm and is filed under News. You can follow any comments to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.
Please don’t pay attention to the answer before me. Rachel is not gonna be running in the Breeder’s Cup this year but there are supposed to be some races where they might be able to meet finally. Sorry i don’t have alot of time right now so you might wanna check out http://www.bloodhorse.com
EDIT: I just found out that its possible that Rachel and Zenyatta will face each other in the Dubai World Cup next year with Rachel as a 4 year old and Zenyatta as a 6 year old. We’ll just have to wait and see! If they do run against each other in Dubai though the NYRA won’t have anything to do with it I’m sure Dubai has their own racing association
won’t happen.
UPDATE: The New York Racing Association is seeking a corporate sponsor and air time on ESPN to transform the Beldame Stakes at Belmont Park in October into a much-coveted showdown between the filly Rachel Alexandraand the undefeated mare Zenyatta. I guess it will happen after all.
In addition to Military loving girl’s answer..
How a future match might work
Neither of the horses’ owners has opposed the prospect of the horses racing each other sometime in the future. In a Daily Racing Form article, Moss , Zenyatta’s owner, was quoted as saying, “We hope both horses do well throughout the year and that they can meet somewhere.” The question then becomes, when, and under what circumstances the two would meet.
Obviously, the two horses would need to meet somewhere where they each have an equal advantage. “Yes, the match between the two amazon females, and arguably best horses in training, would be monumental and great for the sport, but it has to be, over a level playing surface, a fair surface to both.” DiJulio asserts.
An entry in the Handride blog proposed an interesting solution, “Why not sign up for a 2 race deal? Mr. Jackson will commit to running Rachel in the [Breeders’ Cup] if [Jerry and Ann Moss would] commit to running Zenyatta on a dirt track sometime before then. Now if they split it, I think you just call it a tie and say that each excels on their surface, and appreciate their greatness on each.”
In the meantime, while a matchup remains on hold indefinitely, Stafford points out that there are benefits to the status quo. “I get that we need the “thrilla in Manilla” style matchup to help hype the sport to new levels, but I’m not willing to do so at the potential expense of these two runners. We’ve essentially had no stars since Curlin retired. Now we’ve got 2. Why the rush to dwindle that down to 1? Let’s just enjoy what we’ve been blessed with while we can. The minute they face one another, one of them has to lose. I’m just not interested in seeing either of these gals lose. Of course, I could always pull for a dead heat, which would be the only outcome I’d be interested in seeing. What an amazing story that would be!”
This is just out.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/19/sports/19racing.html?_r=1&ref=sports
Ya know, two mountains can be close, maybe just a couple miles apart, but they’re never going to meet.
And I’m afraid that may be the case for Rachel and Zenyatta.
The Mosses and John Shirreffs have a mare that has done most of her racing in California, clearly loves the tracks out here, and the Breeders Cup is coming to her home ground. If she goes into the Classic and beats the best horses that come out for the Classic, they have a legitimate argument that she’s a deserving vote-getter as a horse of the year. (FWIW, they may not care if she gets the Eclipse for Horse of the Year; they resisted the calls to put Zenyatta into the Classic against Curlin rather than in the Distaff. Retiring her undefeated might mean more to them than winning Horse of the Year.)
Rachel Alexandra has done everything asked of her and done it in spectacular style. She’s beaten the best boys of her crop, and the older male division is gutted this year, I have no doubt she can beat the best older males in North America when she’s asked to. She’s atop the leader-board in the current Horse of the Year standings. Jess Jackson has no incentive to take Zenyatta on, because as things stand, he cannot gain from going against Zenyatta. If Rachel wins, she merely confirms her position as the leader. If she loses, then suddenly Zenyatta may get the Horse of the Year award.
So I guess it comes down to, how much do the Mosses and Jackson value sportsmanship, do any of them really want to see which of these fabulous females is the best on the racetrack?
While I really want to see Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra meet on the track with Horse of the Year on the line, I can understand the owners wanting to do what they feel is best for their filly, too.
I hope they can work it out and we’ll see the dream race, but I’m not going to hold my breath about it, either.
As for the race in Dubai, that would be in March of next year. That’s a long, long, long way away, both time-wise and in distance, and a lot can happen between now and then.