After last Saturday, much has been made (like on “the other board”) that true racing fans should cheer for both Zenyatta AND Rachel.  And more specifically, that Zenyatta fans should not delight in the fact that Rachel got beat.

My answer is…SCREW THAT!    I’m a little too old to start with the Political Correctness now.  So I’ll just say it.  Yeah, I cheered for both Zenyatta and Rachel.  I cheered for Zenyatta to win and I cheered for Rachel to lose.  And I’m glad Zenyatta won, and I’m glad Rachel lost.  So sue me.

I’m from Chicago, and the Cubs-White Sox school of sports fandom.  (Red Sox and Yankees fans will know exactly what I mean.)  In Chicago, every breathing male is either a Cubs or White Sox fan…BUT NOT BOTH!  Most of us inherit our team from our Dads.  I know I did…it’s in my DNA.  So on any given day, I’m cheering for the White Sox and whomever is playing the Cubs.  And it bothers me not at all that the Cubs have struggled in futility for over a century.  In fact, I like it!

So Saturday I was rooting for Zenyatta to win, and Rachel to lose.  And I had a very good day.

To be perfectly clear, like every true racing fan, my first wish and prayer is that every horse gets a good, clean ride, and comes home safe.  That goes without saying.  I would never ever wish misfortune on Rachel or any other horse.  But Rachel had a good, clean ride Saturday, and came home safe.  So did Zardana.  But only one could win.  And you better believe I was cheering wildly when Zardana passed Rachel at the head of the stretch.

Certainly I have nothing against Rachel the horse.  She’s a truly wonderful, exciting champion.  And yeah, maybe it’s a little because I think Jess Jackson is an arrogant, self-centered, hypocritical jerk.  (Tell us what you really think, Vic!) And wasn’t it delicious irony that Steve Asmussen and Jess Jackson got beat by John Shirreff’s “B-Team” filly?

But it’s more than that.  In 2010, I hope Zenyatta finally gets the recognition she deserves, as one of the greatest American race horses of all time.  Recognition she has been denied because of her too-timid connections.  You see, I believe strongly that Zenyatta has been the best race horse in America in each of the last two years.  Better than Curlin in 2008, especially considering that Curlin continued deteriorating as the year went on (and after he got off the juice), while Zenyatta got stronger and stronger, resulting in the absolutely predictable 2008 Breeders’ Cup performances for both.

2009 is a closer call, as Rachel had a truly remarkable year.  She won some stirring races against the boys, while Zenyatta’s connections took her through the “Been There, Done That” tour, until the very end when they, uncharacteristically, and finally, went “all in” for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.  And Zenyatta shocked the world (and probably her connections, too)!  Not only did she win the BCC, but how she won it!!  In the World Championship race, against clearly the toughest field assembled in America all year, she weaved through rush hour Los Angeles traffic, got clear, and won going away.  And Rachel’s connections ducked the race.  (Had Rachel been there, Zenyatta would have blown right by her, too.)

(Which is why Trevor Denman needs to knock off this whole “unbelievable” thing.  Trev, it’s Zenyatta!  And when she wins, and however she wins, it’s no longer “unbelievable”.  It’s just Zenyatta!)

But with all that said, I don’t begrudge either Curlin or Rachel their HOY Eclipses.  Although Zenyatta was the best horse in both years, Curlin and Rachel ran the best, most adventuresome, campaigns in their respective years, and that counts too.  Which is why, however, I truly want Zenyatta’s connections to let her go in 2010, and let’s see – once and for all – what she can do (do we really even know yet?)  Zenyatta is truly a horse for the ages, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long, long time.  2010 needs to be her year!

And if Rachel losing a few along the way helps make that clear, well, that’s okay with me too.

Like the MasterCard commercial – Zenyatta winning Saturday…Wonderful!  Zenyatta winning AND Rachel losing Saturday…PRICELESS!!

Look…Sports is just more fun when you’ve got someone to root FOR, and someone to root AGAINST!!

GO White Sox!!  GO Zenyatta!!

Jess Jackson did the distaff division of thoroughbred racing a huge favor by racing his future champion Rachel Alexandra against the boys. The  wonderfully unintended consequence of his actions has been an uptick in owners and trainers running their fillies and mares against males.

A recent example was Tizfiz, a 5 year old Tiznow mare, taking the Edward J. Debartolo Sr. Memorial Handicap at Remington on September 7th.  At 9F on the turf, the race may not have featured horses the caliber of what Rachel Alexandra was facing, but  the connections had enolugh confidence to run her, and she made an impressive accounting of herself.  Let’s hope this is a portent of things to come. If fillies such as Zarkava and Goldikova could regularly conquer the open ranks in Europe, there’s no reason why stateside fillies can’t do likewise.

I would like to get a donation site together called “LetsAdoptDaTara.com.” A future career as a stable pony or riding horse would be a far better fate than the indignity this poor horse has had to suffer since his Belmont win.

Would someone PLEASE tell me what is behind the mindset that’s entering him in G1 after G1, resulting in off-the-board finishes?  Prior to his disastrous Albert the Great start, this horse finished 2nd 3 straight times in allowance company at Belmont.  So … after 3 off the board finishes at Saratoga dating back to last year, he’s in the Woodward -  thrown in as a hapless rabbit to knock off Rachel Alexandra?? What kind of delusion are his connections operating under?

The Zito school of training operates using the same philosophy as some of the men I knew when dating, in days of yore:  ask 10 women out, and maybe 1 will say yes.  In this case, run a horse 10 times, and maybe he’ll hit the board in 1 of those 10 starts.

The same philosophy must have been in force when he campaigned Anak Nakal last year.  Yes, amongst those many clunkers the horse managed to win the Pennsylvania Derby against a mostly allowance level field, but for the most part, this horse had no business in many of the fields he entered – especially in the Dubai World Cup.

Something in the Zito mindset must not be averse to being a laughingstock, or having his horses become a laughingstock.  “Fans” were booing poor Da’ Tara after he was eased in the Albert the Great.

They should have been booing his trainer instead.

While I applaud TVG’s $400K contribution to the Beldame purse, designed to coax the connections of Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra to enter, it’s not going to happen.  Online fans are already going toe-to-toe about the merits of each horse, but this proposed Beldame purse increase is just fomenting the snarkiness between the two camps. Don’t get me wrong; I would love to see Zenyatta meet Rachel Alexandra in any race – it’s just not going to be at Belmont.

The Mosses are NOT flying Zenyatta to Belmont. End of story.

If the $400K went towards construction of a new detention barn, they may reconsider, but why? While I’m not defending Zenyatta’s perplexing, unchallenging schedule, in every other sport it’s the challenger that comes to meet the champion, not vice versa.  Jess Jackson’s already voiced his disdain for synthetics, and despite his horse having won on the stuff, he still won’t ship Rachel Alexandra  to California because of Curlin’s poor showing in the Breeders’ Cup Classic of 2008.

Jess, get over it. Curlin trained fine over the track. He just was tailing off after almost a 2 year run of mostly exceptional performances. Not all horses can turn in perfect races every time. It was not Curlin’s time. Let Rachel have HER time. Bring her to the BC Ladies’ Classic and let’s end all this turmoil between the two camps once and for all.

After 5 crops, Tiznow has become almost exactly the type of sire I had expected – one whose offspring are late blooming, middle-distance loving and can run on anything. When his first crop was just about to hit the track I boldly proclaimed to my fellow thoroughbred racing enthusiasts that he would be “similar to Dynaformer” only with more brilliance. Statistics have borne this out.

With his first crop now 6 years of age, Tiznow has climbed to near the top of the sire list. We had fully expected this especially this year when his “Folklore effect” foals reached racing age.  Folklore, Tiznow’s first champion and winner of the 2005 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies,  made Tiznow the #1 Freshman Sire, causing his breeding popularity to soar (from a 50ish crop to over 100) in the 2006 season.  Thus far this year, Tiznow’s late blooming tendency continues, as he has had only 4 juvenile winners – all coming from August onwards.  The Folklores and Tiz Wonderfuls appear to be the exception rather than the rule.

But while those who expect their Tiznow foals to win first out may meet with some disappointment, the patient breeders are rewarded.  Both Bullsbay and Informed – full horses at 5 – became multiple graded stakes winners in 2009.  Well Armed, already a stakes winner last year at 5, became a Group 1 winner at the classic distance of 10 F, winning the Dubai World Cup.   Tizfiz, like Bullsbay and Informed a member of the class of 2004, has taken home 2 prizes on the turf this year.  Tiznow’s ability to sire versatile runners excelling at all distances seems to know no bounds – his stakes winners have won from 6 F to 12 F on all 3 surfaces; Colonel John, now a 4 year old, holds the distinction of having won stakes on turf, synthetic and dirt.

After watching hundreds of his offspring  run over the last 5 years, there have been idiosyncrasies and running styles of  every kind, but a few quirks stand out.  Tiznows tend to lack focus when rounding a turn into the stretch.  I find myself cringing and barely able to watch Tiznow first-timers on the lead going into the stretch;  you’ll find me yelling, “Keep him straight!” at the jockey.  As a two and three year old, Colonel  John was slow in changing leads – another Tiznow tendency. His sons and daughters tend to be pacesetters, taking a few starts before learning how to rate, if they learn at all. Anyone remember Tizthen, the 2 year old filly who placed in the Anokia  Stakes some years back?  Her rank behavior made her a terror on the track.  And then there is Mr Hot Stuff, who, while possessing a world of talent, can’t seem to find focus at all (though blinkers and a jockey change helped him place in his last start). With maturity and added distance, he could become an outstanding handicap horse. One lives in hope.

Trainers Don’t Let Your (Tiznow) Babies Grow Up to Race at Gulfstream

While the future is big for Tiznow as the sire destined to carry on the Man O’War sire line, one thing holds true: his children absolutely detest Gulfstream.  So trainers, think about this before dragging your horses there. Only 2 Tiznows in my memory have won there – Kalium, a low level claimer, and Capricious, who broke her maiden there in 2007.  I kid you not.  Yes, we know Tizbig and Bullsbay were stakes placed at Gulfstream, but ask Bullsbay what happened during the Donn. ‘Nuff said.

Good luck to all the Tiznows entered in the upcoming Road-to-the-BC-Classic races – the Woodward (featuring Tizway, Bullsbay and Da’ Tara) and the Pacific Classic (with Informed and Colonel John).