Zensational through racing

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Zayat Stables' multiple Grade 1 winner Zensational has been retired after his fifth-place finish in the Breeders' Cup Sprint and will enter stud at Hill 'n' Dale Farm in Lexington. The 3-year-old Unbridled's Song ridgling will stand for $25,000 stands and nurses.

The farm said that breeders paying the stud fee on or before Nov. 15, 2010, will receive a 10-percent discount.

Zensational won three Grade 1 races in a row against older rivals: the Triple Bend Handicap, Bing Crosby Stakes, and Pat O'Brien Handicap. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert conditioned Zensational, who won 5 of his 8 starts, finished second once, and earned $669,300.

"Having already won three Grade 1 races, we feel that he will be more valuable at stud," Zayat Stables owner Ahmed Zayat said of the retirement. "We are committing a majority of our best mares to Zensational, including the dam of multiple Grade 1 winner and Kentucky Derby runner-up Pioneerof the Nile, and we look forward to his chances as a stallion."

According to the farm's announcement, Zensational's first-season book also will include two-time champion Indian Blessing and Grade 1 winner Behaving Badly.

Bred in Kentucky by Claiborne Farm, Zensational is out of the Phone Trick mare Joke, a stakes winner. Zensational is the 11-year-old mare's first winner and first stakes winner.

Zayat paid $700,000 for Zensational at the 2007 Fasig-Tipton Calder select auction in Miami.