SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – For the first time since his forced retirement in 2013, Ramon Dominguez has spent a large amount of time at the racetrack this summer at Saratoga.
His apprehension has been replaced by the realization that the track still has the comforts of home.
Chocolate or vanilla? Ford or Chevy? Mantle or Mays? The Beatles or the Stones? These are topics that can be debated for hours, and of course there is no right or wrong answer; it’s mostly just a matter of personal preference. For horse racing fans in recent years, there’s a topic that has joined that list: Who was better, Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta?
Breeders love to repeat successful patterns.
This is totally understandable, both from a commercial and logical viewpoint. The long history of nicks in Thoroughbred racing has convinced breeders and buyers alike that horses bred on the same pattern as great racers of a previous generation are more likely to be good horses themselves. Genetic logic is far less certain, but in the commercial realm, it is perception that matters.
Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year, was confirmed by her connections on Thursday to be in foal to Medaglia d’Oro for 2017.
The foal will be the fifth for the newly elected Hall of Famer, who is owned by Jerry and Ann Moss and resides at Lane’s End in Versailles, Ky. The mating was initially announced in May.
It is the first time Zenyatta was paired with Medaglia d’Oro, who stands at Darley’s U.S. base in Lexington, Ky., for an advertised fee of $150,000. Zenyatta is a daughter of the late Street Cry, who was also on the Darley roster.
Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year and newly elected Hall of Famer, was bred to Medaglia d’Oro for the 2017 foaling season.
The mating was announced Monday on the official Zenyatta website, which added that the mare would be checked in 15 days to determine whether she was in foal.
It marked the fifth trip to the breeding shed for Zenyatta, a 12-year-old daughter of Street Cry, and her second trip to a stallion at Darley’s Jonabell Farm. The late Street Cry also stood at Darley’s U.S. base.
Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta never met on the racetrack, but their Hall of Fame plaques will be alongside one another on Aug. 12, when those two outstanding female racehorses as well as jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Steve Asmussen are inducted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
The outstanding female racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, both of whom were named Horse of the Year during their careers, along with jockey Ramon Dominguez and trainer Steve Asmussen – who prepared Rachel Alexandra for her celebrated victories over males in the Preakness, Haskell, and Woodward – make up the 2016 induction class to the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame, it was announced Monday.
Zenyatta’s newborn War Front colt died Wednesday morning at Rood and Riddle Equine Hospital near Lexington, Ky., continuing a run of bad luck for the champion as a broodmare.
The colt was born Sunday night at Lane’s End Farm, where the 2010 Horse of the Year and Hall of Fame finalist has been boarded since her retirement for owners Jerry and Ann Moss. While the birth was uncomplicated, the colt was born meconium-stained, leading the attending veterinarian to send the mare and foal to a clinic for observation.
The brilliant female racehorses Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, both of whom were named Horse of the Year, top a star-studded final ballot for this year’s National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame that also includes Steve Asmussen, the trainer of Rachel Alexandra, and the accomplished jockeys Victor Espinoza, who won the Triple Crown on American Pharoah, and Ramon Dominguez.
Ten finalists were announced Wednesday by the Hall of Fame. Also making the final cut were the horses English Channel and Kona Gold, jockeys Garrett Gomez and Craig Perret, and trainer David Whiteley.
It has been 37 years since a horse made his first start since winning the Triple Crown. On Aug. 8, 1978, Affirmed went off at 1-20 in the Jim Dandy Stakes at Saratoga Race Course, two months after famously outdueling Alydar once again to win the Belmont Stakes under teenage riding sensation Steve Cauthen. According to the day’s charts, attendance at Saratoga that day was 21,544.
