INGLEWOOD, Calif. – Rain fell at Hollywood Park early Monday, but the weather did not match the mood of trainer John Shirreffs.
Two days after his star mare Zenyatta suffered her first loss, finishing a head behind Blame in an epic Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs, Shirreffs was smiling more often than not, reflecting on the mare’s remarkable career of 19 wins in 20 starts.
“I think everyone realizes what a champion she was and what an effort she made,” he said.
Dakota Phone’s $77.40 upset in the Breeders’ Cup Dirt Mile made him the 14th Breeders’ Cup winner to also race in Northern California.
Wild Again, who won the inaugural Classic in 1984, ran third in a turf race at Bay Meadows in his final start before his Breeders’ Cup upset. Princess Rooney, the 1984 Distaff winner, might have been the first Breeders’ Cup winner to race in Northern California, but she cut her head getting off a van upon her arrival at Golden Gate Fields for a race and had to be scratched.
WASHINGTON – The nationwide television audience watching “Zenyatta: A Quest for Perfection” and the 72,739 people cheering for the mare at Churchill Downs surely felt deflated when she lost to Blame in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. They shouldn’t have despaired. Zenyatta was more ennobled by this defeat than by almost anything she did during the 19-race winning streak she brought into Saturday’s race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Stewards issued a six-day suspension Sunday to jockey Javier Castellano for careless riding aboard Prince Will I Am in a roughly run Breeders’ Cup Marathon Friday at Churchill Downs, and fined Castellano and jockey Calvin Borel for a fight between the two in the winner’s circle after the race.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - It wasn’t quite Babe Ruth calling his shot, but trainer Al Stall Jr. definitely hit one out of the park. Nearly a year ago, he mapped out a plan to best get Blame to the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs. And on Saturday night, Blame hit a home run for Stall, scoring a dramatic victory over favored Zenyatta in the Classic.
“It’s rare for anybody,” Stall said at his Churchill Downs barn on Sunday morning. “But that’s what it takes to win these things. You have to hit every short-term goal as you go along.”
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Zenyatta may have finished second in her final career start on Saturday in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but she remained first in the hearts of her fans here Sunday morning at Churchill Downs, literally stopping traffic on a public road adjacent to the barn area when motorists realized she was out grazing.
Final thoughts: Crist: "That was a terrific horse race. Blame was courageous in victory and Zenyatta was excellent in defeat. Blame earned the Horse of the Year title on the track, but Zenyatta lost nothing but her undefeated record. Between the Classic finish, Goldikova's victory and Uncle Mo's emergence as the sport's newest star, this was quite a Breeders' Cup." Read More >>
Total commingled handle on the Friday and Saturday cards at Churchill Downs featuring the 14 races of the Breeders’ Cup increased 13 percent at a time when betting levels are dropping precipitously at many tracks across the country, according to figures provided by the Breeders’ Cup late on Saturday.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Mike Smith jumped off Zenyatta following Saturday’s Breeders’ Cup Classic, dirt in his face, tears in his eyes. He was used to the former. He had never experienced the latter.
After getting accolades for more than two years for his rides aboard Zenyatta - through 16 of the mare’s 19 straight victories including two Breeders’ Cup triumphs - Smith blamed himself for that streak coming to an end by a head to Blame in Saturday’s $5 million Classic at Churchill Downs.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – There is no joy in Louisville. Mighty Zenyatta got beat in her last at bat.
The storybook finish did not include a photo. Zenyatta, seeking her 20th victory without a defeat, came up just short of catching Blame in a dramatic running of the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs, falling short by a head after closing furiously from far back.
