Crankiness about Rachel and Zenyatta's connections
Yeah, so it's only taken me a week to weigh in on last week's races. Can I say again how tired I am of the vitriol being spewed about how Rachel is a hack? It's funny, but I feel like I'm rooting for an underdog these days. Hate the connections, not the horse. She's got just as much talent as Zenyatta. You don't set 3 stakes records and very nearly 2 more if you're not pretty damn good.
Anyway, Zenyatta's race was kind of a yawn for me. Yes, she negotiated traffic, yes she won, yes she gave away weight. The time was average however, and we've seen her beat the snot out of second-rate fillies about a dozen times now. I like Zenyatta, don't get me wrong. She's freaking gorgeous and huge and obviously extremely talented, but somebody please call me when she does something interesting, like, oh, runs against males again? She won the BC Classic in 2:00 and change. Clearly, she can hold her own and then some in any open G1 on the country. So Shirreffs and the Mosses need to stop worrying about keeping her record perfect and start thinking about how she will be remembered in 50 years. If she keeps running against girls and winning, we'll look back on her as a brilliant filly and wonder what else she could have done. If she runs against colts and wins (and I have no doubt she can), we could be looking back on her as one of the greatest horses of this century, not just one of the best mares. Her connections seem to have failed to see the bigger picture here.
Since they are going to Oaklawn anyway, I wish they'd run her in the Oaklawn Handicap instead of the Apple Blossom. Not like there's much point to the AB since Rachel won't be there. It would be sort of fun to see if Zardana could run with Zenyatta, but I doubt it. I don't think she's quite in the same class as Z and Rachel.
As for Rachel, I really hope Jess Jackson learned his lesson. The AB was supposed to have been her first start of the year, not her second. When it was announced Zenyatta was going, Jackson said Rachel would not run because there wasn't enough time to get a prep in her. And before the $5 million purse was added, 4 weeks training after a 5 month layoff was still not enough time to get her ready for her prep. But add some money and one more week, and suddenly the great "sportsman" is ready to sacrifice his filly for personal glory and hearty backslaps. Ugh, how I loathe that vainglorious asshole.
For once, I actually feel sorry for Asmussen. He said all along that Rachel was not going to be ready. She's not a machine after all. Her race was run in average time, too, and though she was clearly short in the stretch, she fought gamely. Had Zardana not been in the race, though, Rachel would have won by 11.5 lengths, and she'd be on her way to Oaklawn, whether or not she was fit, ready, or recovered. It is all about how great Jess Jackson is after all.
I know it's easy to be an armchair trainer, but it's pretty bloody obvious to me that a horse that's been out of training for 5 months can't be whipped back into shape in just 5 weeks. Rachel's works alone tell that story. Jackson ought to have listened to his trainer and just waited until the horse was ready to run before he made any grandiose plans about meeeting up with Zenyatta. It's common sense.
Hopefully Rachel will bounce back to her 3 year-old form with some more training time, and hopefully she and Zenyatta will both have terrific seasons. If they meet up, I hope each filly will be fit and ready and have no excuses so we can see exactly what they're both made of.
< /rant>
Anyway, Zenyatta's race was kind of a yawn for me. Yes, she negotiated traffic, yes she won, yes she gave away weight. The time was average however, and we've seen her beat the snot out of second-rate fillies about a dozen times now. I like Zenyatta, don't get me wrong. She's freaking gorgeous and huge and obviously extremely talented, but somebody please call me when she does something interesting, like, oh, runs against males again? She won the BC Classic in 2:00 and change. Clearly, she can hold her own and then some in any open G1 on the country. So Shirreffs and the Mosses need to stop worrying about keeping her record perfect and start thinking about how she will be remembered in 50 years. If she keeps running against girls and winning, we'll look back on her as a brilliant filly and wonder what else she could have done. If she runs against colts and wins (and I have no doubt she can), we could be looking back on her as one of the greatest horses of this century, not just one of the best mares. Her connections seem to have failed to see the bigger picture here.
Since they are going to Oaklawn anyway, I wish they'd run her in the Oaklawn Handicap instead of the Apple Blossom. Not like there's much point to the AB since Rachel won't be there. It would be sort of fun to see if Zardana could run with Zenyatta, but I doubt it. I don't think she's quite in the same class as Z and Rachel.
As for Rachel, I really hope Jess Jackson learned his lesson. The AB was supposed to have been her first start of the year, not her second. When it was announced Zenyatta was going, Jackson said Rachel would not run because there wasn't enough time to get a prep in her. And before the $5 million purse was added, 4 weeks training after a 5 month layoff was still not enough time to get her ready for her prep. But add some money and one more week, and suddenly the great "sportsman" is ready to sacrifice his filly for personal glory and hearty backslaps. Ugh, how I loathe that vainglorious asshole.
For once, I actually feel sorry for Asmussen. He said all along that Rachel was not going to be ready. She's not a machine after all. Her race was run in average time, too, and though she was clearly short in the stretch, she fought gamely. Had Zardana not been in the race, though, Rachel would have won by 11.5 lengths, and she'd be on her way to Oaklawn, whether or not she was fit, ready, or recovered. It is all about how great Jess Jackson is after all.
I know it's easy to be an armchair trainer, but it's pretty bloody obvious to me that a horse that's been out of training for 5 months can't be whipped back into shape in just 5 weeks. Rachel's works alone tell that story. Jackson ought to have listened to his trainer and just waited until the horse was ready to run before he made any grandiose plans about meeeting up with Zenyatta. It's common sense.
Hopefully Rachel will bounce back to her 3 year-old form with some more training time, and hopefully she and Zenyatta will both have terrific seasons. If they meet up, I hope each filly will be fit and ready and have no excuses so we can see exactly what they're both made of.
< /rant>