Zenyatta News

[Legit Campaign]

Or run just 5 times!

Yea that extra race that zenyatta ran (5 in restricted company) should be enough to push her over the top.

[Forego]

Thw way some of you sneer and carry on in this thread, you seem to want racing to gp down the toilet. No newbies!! No fans!! Only hardened handicappers and exotics bettors!!

Gimme a break.

I see nothing wrong with the "pretty horsie" fans. They come out every summer - only more so now because of Zenyatta. I introduced many new people to the track this year - their interest was keyed by Zenyatta. A friend who has never been to the track in her life came with me one afternoon as she had been interested in Zenyatta and I had a pass for box seats - and now she cannot wait for the track to open in April. So Monmouth Guy and his ilk can sneer and sling around terms like Zentards and Zealots - and they still fail to see the big picture and will likely never see it...

I was at the paddock at Emerald Downs this summer explaining to a few complete strangers how to read the program and how to bet (and explaining the lip chains) when a short - maybe 14.1 HH at the most - filly paraded by who was so astonishingly... well, CUTE... that she made you look twice. Or maybe three times. She was on her toes and prancing and jigging and dappled - and her face was CUTE, demmit. Her PPs were not indicative of much, though. I pointed that out to my little band and then noted that she was dropping in class and stretching out - and had to explain that. My advice was never bet The Cute just based on Cute. And then I said But Sometimes... it's called playing a hunch.

Well, The Cute won easily under a handride at about 7-1.

Those people were delighted - and I saw some of them at the track over the following weeks as well.

And standing under the simulcast monitors at Emerald Downs in a huge crowd as Zenyatta raced and won down at Del Mar - all of us urging her on and breathing as one and seeing even the hardened horseplayers turn to complete strangers and say... Wow...

I think I said this about a hundred pages back but Zenyatta did more for racing this year than the NTRA has done in 25 years.

Yes, I may cringe inwardly when I am at rhe rail at the paddock and the woman next to me is snapping photos of every horse that comes past and trilling to them about what a pretty princess they are (insulting to the colts and geldings, I am sure) ... but I also recognize that she paid to be there. She may bet a few times. And few more times on her next visit. She may buy a tshirt or six. And who the hell am I to declare she should not be there?

Even if she thought the tongue tie was some kind of an ID tag..

ETA: Whose alter is Legit Campaign? *snort*

[Legit Campaign]

trouble is those 'pretty horsie fans' don't bet and without the handle being helped the sport will not be helped.with Zenyatta retired they will all disappear.

[Railbird]

Granted, a lot of the "pretty horsey" fans may very well disappear into the woodwork. BUT if even just a few of them decided they like the sport as a whole, and want to stick around and learn some more - that's better than none of them sticking around. Maybe some of them saw Uncle Mo or Awesome Feather win on BC weekend and will want to stick around and follow an exciting young horse...and bet on that young horse next time out...and maybe bet another horse that catches their eye on the undercard next time...

Many of us who are "serious" about the sport started out as "pretty horsey" fans. I started out by falling in love with one racehorse. Did I have any clue what a trifecta was at the time? No. But I fell in love with the horses, learned about the sport because of that passion, and over 15 years later, I handicap regularly, I write about racing, and I own a share in a NYB yearling. Everyone has to start somewhere - so I think rather than disparaging new fans, we should be figuring out how to continue to educate them and get them further involved.

Also, if some of the "pretty horsey" fans decide they just love the horses and want to stick around and help facilitate racehorse retirement - that's OK by me. The Mosses are huge supporters of Old Friends, and I know there were at least a few donations to the organization made in Zenyatta's name during BC week.

[Horse's Rear]

Thw way some of you sneer and carry on in this thread, you seem to want racing to gp down the toilet. No newbies!! No fans!! Only hardened handicappers and exotics bettors!!

Gimme a break.

I see nothing wrong with the "pretty horsie" fans. They come out every summer - only more so now because of Zenyatta. I introduced many new people to the track this year - their interest was keyed by Zenyatta. A friend who has never been to the track in her life came with me one afternoon as she had been interested in Zenyatta and I had a pass for box seats - and now she cannot wait for the track to open in April. So Monmouth Guy and his ilk can sneer and sling around terms like Zentards and Zealots - and they still fail to see the big picture and will likely never see it...

I certainly see nothing wrong with "pretty horsie" fans. I don't always think well of their opinions, but that is just as likely to be true of the opinions of bettors as well. In my experience bettors tend to be every bit as fervent in their opinions about horses as non-bettors; though I think there opinions are usually more oriented toward the animal-as-athlete, rather than to the animal-as-aesthetic-object. But, other than that, I don't think that there is a lot of difference. Except in terms of how much they contribute materially to prolonging the sport's demise.

[Rick1323]

Yea that extra race that zenyatta ran (5 in restricted company) should be enough to push her over the top.

I assume you will just go away when the HOTY voting is over?

[BARNFOUR]

I assume you will just go away when the HOTY voting is over?

Why would he/she go away?LC will most likely have a victory party....

[violabella]

trouble is those 'pretty horsie fans' don't bet and without the handle being helped the sport will not be helped.with Zenyatta retired they will all disappear.

They don't? You know this for a fact? But ALL the folks involved in the industry bet ALL the time, right?

And this whole "they'll leave now that Zenyatta is retired" line really bothers me. It's as if there will never, ever, ever be another horse that captures the imagination of the general public. Please. Remember when folks said that after Smarty Jones retired? Or when Barbaro died? While I believe it will be a while until we see another horse with the same depth of quality and accessibility to the general public like Zenyatta was, I am not foolish enough to think that no other horse will come around and ignite excitement in the sport. Who knows, maybe we'll get another superstar faster than we think- after the brilliance of Secretariat, who would have thought that we would have Affirmed, Alydar, Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid less than 5-7 years later.

[Horse's Rear]

Don't forget Forego, Foolish Pleasure, Wajima and Ruffian.

[Rick1323]

They don't? You know this for a fact? But ALL the folks involved in the industry bet ALL the time, right?

And this whole "they'll leave now that Zenyatta is retired" line really bothers me. It's as if there will never, ever, ever be another horse that captures the imagination of the general public. Please. Remember when folks said that after Smarty Jones retired? Or when Barbaro died? While I believe it will be a while until we see another horse with the same depth of quality and accessibility to the general public like Zenyatta was, I am not foolish enough to think that no other horse will come around and ignite excitement in the sport. Who knows, maybe we'll get another superstar faster than we think- after the brilliance of Secretariat, who would have thought that we would have Affirmed, Alydar, Seattle Slew and Spectacular Bid less than 5-7 years later.

Fair point. I wonder if the Barbaro/Smarty/Zenyatta fan is the same person?

It would be interesting to study each group and see if any are still interested in racing. How many have gone to the track this year? How many made a bet? If none of them have, racing has virtually no future when my generation dies off.

[islandgirl45]

;-) I think they're nuts too, mostly because I hate being cold ... but for the most part, they are up in the stands and not in the locker room with the players expecting to have their photo taken with Tom Brady.

I don't mind at all hearing folks screaming at the top of their lungs for a horse to win a race. In fact, I prefer it to what a day at the track is like these days. I'm lonely out there when there are not a lot of loud voices surrounding me.

It's the whimpering, crying, sappy, "oh sweetie" stuff that gets me. I think the age cut off for that is maybe 26 (hahahaha).

I don't see any of those people at the track on a regular basis and lord knows, I'm at a race track a lot. As someone wrote later in this thread, there are people like that at Saratoga and Del Mar, but what I read is that there are people who are betting on races who don't know very much about it, who take too much time trying to decide who to bet on and how to place the bet ... and that irritates Rick et al. Those aren't the folks I was describing.

How many people with Zenyatta, Rachel or Barbaro t-shirts do you see standing in line betting. My guess is not many. So I think these are separate issues. Rick's people are just rookie racegoers, fans if you will; the others aren't fans, they're fanatics. We actually want the rookie racegoers at the track because at least they are making an effort to put some money into the game.

One thing about the football folks. They've paid an enormous amount of money to park their cars. They've paid through the nose for those tickets ... in some cases many hundreds of dollars, just to get in. They'll spend money on beer and hotdogs. They may buy shirts and hats and rubber fingers too. By the time they've left, they could easily have spent anywhere from $100 to five or ten times that.

One of these tickets? This was from my decoupage days back in the '70s and that ticket is the loser of the two in the $5 8-9, 9-8 box, my first winning exacta bet.

Let's see, I have a Jimmy Buffett T-shirt, several Miami Boat Show T-shirts, and I think I still have one from years ago when some friends and I went to see Paul McCartney at the Citrus Bowl. OMG, If only I'd realized those T-shirts were the mark of a fanatic! Alas, I guess it's too late now.

[djnorth]

I also have a virtual collection of Springsteen t shirts Wait, I AM a fanatic...but have chucked many dollars Bruce's way.

Is that good?

[Curlin]

My issue with the treatment of so-called "pretty pony" types has zero to do with whether they contribute to the game. That's a separate issue altogether. My problem is, many of us are not "insiders," and many of the non-insiders aren't just pretty poniers, there are plenty who do wager as well. I don't understand the disdain and condescension in general that's aimed at the non-owner, non-breeder, non-trainer, non-rider, non-backsider. Show me how many of those over 50 degenerate gamblers at the track actually work in the industry itself, and I'll show you a vast minority.

Al Michaels and Howard Cosell didn't do a bad job of calling football games, yet I'll bet neither of them played a single game in their lives. Yet many of those in horse racing treat those outside the game like they don't know sh!t from sh!inola, and when some of those on the outside wish to learn, all they get is a hefty dose of disdain.

It's interesting that at the track, whether it's at Clocker's Corner at SA or while visiting any of the barns, the horsemen and women never act this way; the attitude seems to proliferate more online simply because most of the rude people are simply too chicken to be rude in person. Bwak!

As a point in fact, I met one person from TBC who was widely known as a rude boy and had been banned countless times. In person, he's the nicest guy you'd want to know. I won't share his handle because I wouldn't want to ruin his image.

Sorry for the tangent, we should get back to talking about Queen Z and not this peripheral BS. When I see the snow today at Turfway, I think of poor Z shivering in her stall wondering *** she's doing there!

[Horse's Rear]

I don't understand the disdain and condescension in general that's aimed at the non-owner, non-breeder, non-trainer, non-rider, non-backsider.

It's interesting that at the track, whether it's at Clocker's Corner at SA or while visiting any of the barns, the horsemen and women never act this way; the attitude seems to proliferate more online simply because most of the rude people are simply too chicken to be rude in person.

I couldn't agree with you more, except I think that the issue just as much that the "disdain and condescension" you experience is simply imagined. Believe it or not, I have heard of posters here who interpreted comments as conveying disdain where no disdain was intended, and conversational styles were simply misunderstood.

kumbaya / Oh Lord, kumbayah . . .

[islandgirl45]

My issue with the treatment of so-called "pretty pony" types has zero to do with whether they contribute to the game. That's a separate issue altogether. My problem is, many of us are not "insiders," and many of the non-insiders aren't just pretty poniers, there are plenty who do wager as well. I don't understand the disdain and condescension in general that's aimed at the non-owner, non-breeder, non-trainer, non-rider, non-backsider. Show me how many of those over 50 degenerate gamblers at the track actually work in the industry itself, and I'll show you a vast minority.

Al Michaels and Howard Cosell didn't do a bad job of calling football games, yet I'll bet neither of them played a single game in their lives. Yet many of those in horse racing treat those outside the game like they don't know sh!t from sh!inola, and when some of those on the outside wish to learn, all they get is a hefty dose of disdain.

It's interesting that at the track, whether it's at Clocker's Corner at SA or while visiting any of the barns, the horsemen and women never act this way; the attitude seems to proliferate more online simply because most of the rude people are simply too chicken to be rude in person. Bwak!

As a point in fact, I met one person from TBC who was widely known as a rude boy and had been banned countless times. In person, he's the nicest guy you'd want to know. I won't share his handle because I wouldn't want to ruin his image.

Sorry for the tangent, we should get back to talking about Queen Z and not this peripheral BS. When I see the snow today at Turfway, I think of poor Z shivering in her stall wondering *** she's doing there!

^Well said. I originally started following Z's career toward the end of 2008. That got me more interested in the sport and I began following other horses, so now I have a virtual stable with several trainers and dozens of horses, including many promising 2-year-olds that were pointed out here on TBC. On bigger race days, I also bet through XpressBet, although certainly not to the extent of TBC's "pros." I don't have an excess of disposable income to risk in big bets.

Despite what I mentioned above, which should be enough to "contribute" in my own way to the sport, I find myself and others who just happened to follow Zenyatta's career labeled as "fanatics," "stupid," "nut jobs," "crazies," "cat-hoarders" and the like. True, some of these epithets are spewed by TBC's resident haters, but I also see them pitched by those who should know better.

That's why I started the topic about this behavior. And I'm happy to see others stand up and say the same things.

[PJMIII]

It's interesting that at the track, whether it's at Clocker's Corner at SA or while visiting any of the barns, the horsemen and women never act this way; the attitude seems to proliferate more online simply because most of the rude people are simply too chicken to be rude in person.

Well said. A lot of Internet warriors are a lot braver with a keyboard than they would be face to face. This particular subject probably demonstrates that more than most.

[moonwalker]

I think they're nuts too, mostly because I hate being cold ... but for the most part, they are up in the stands and not in the locker room with the players expecting to have their photo taken with Tom Brady.

I had my picture taken twice with Zenyatta at Churchill Downs, once invited by Dottie Shirreffs, once by Steve Willard. They said, whoever wants their picture made, stand here. There was no one fainting and screaming hysterically and running at the horse drooling, as you want to imagine. I'm sure the truth is hard for some men to take, but both men and women stood in line to visit Zenyatta and were polite and respectful. The women were not throwing their arms around the horse and licking her. Only one person that I saw kissed her on the nose -- and that was a man, Steve Haskin.

I was in the barn area at Churchill because I had a friend with an owner's license. At Hollywood Park, John Shirreffs would sign people in to see Zenyatta. I didn't even know that was possible when I visited California or Hot Springs. I've never visited the barn area of a racetrack before, and didn't think to ask. John Shirreffs encouraged people to see Zenyatta, and he's a smarter man than most. Unlike some of the hard core gambler types, he knows that being exclusionary doesn't help the sport. *Everyone* who wanted to like horse racing, even if that like is started by seeing an impressive horse, was welcome. Even gamblers.

To sum up, I am in the exact demographic to be most hated by male bettors: I'm female, over 40, I love horses, I take pictures, I own a cat who even travels with me. Yet, I did not launch myself at the horse during the race wanting to pet her. So sorry to disappoint. The only people I have heard of running on the track during the race were the guy who jumped out at Artax, a couple of youths during the Kentucky Derby in the 70's, and Bill Nack -- all men. Your stereotypes, like most stereotypes, are rude, condescending, and say more about the person doing the sneering than they do the ones being sneered at. Perhaps some therapy would help your deep seated problems, which considering the target, seem to have to do with your mothers.

And I bet. In fact the money I used to visit Zenyatta in California and Kentucky was made from betting on the Kentucky Derby. I parlayed a $200 lottery ticket into a win ticket on Super Saver. I spent that money on Breeders' Cup tickets and travel. I only wish I could have bought that win ticket through a home betting account, instead of having to travel 70 miles to an OTB in Denver. But alas, Colorado is a nanny state where busybody churchy types like to tell me what I can do with the money I work for and earn, and they say online betting is illegal. Thus except for summer, when Arapahoe Park is open on weekends, it is cost prohibitive for me to be anything but a FAN in Colorado. Your target of disdain is mistaken -- if anything, point fingers at nannying state governments who keep people from betting, not women who like horses who might take up betting if they were allowed.

Mary MMM

[daisy]

For those who don't get the Thoroughbred Times, editor Mark Simon in this week's edition called for Zenyatta's immediate induction into the Hall of Fame - no 5 year waiting period.

I can go for that. Better than the horses that are on the ballot again and again and again until they finally get in. Or sticking Point Given in there.

[Horse's Rear]

Why the rush?

Is he afraid she will be forgotten in five year?

[CoronadosQuest]

Maybe they want to give her some more help to beat Blame for HOTY?