Breeders' Cup: Zenyatta races for immortality

At Churchill Downs: six races Friday starting at 4:10 p.m., eight races Saturday starting at 1:50 p.m.

Zenyatta has 19 career starts — all of them wins. In what will be her final race, she's the 8-to-5 morning-line favorite in the Classic, to be run at approximately 6:45 p.m.

 

I'm DVRing all of it since I have to work both days. I hope she does it.

My brother's very high on Uncle Mo in the Juvenile.

 

You can still get 5-2 in Europe. One of the great mysteries is the price she'll go off at when the gate opens.

 

Zenyatta gets a break with Quality Road on inside post ... this is going to be a fun race to watch.

 

Yeah, I'll bet Pletcher isn't thrilled with the 1 hole. John V will probably have to use him a bit out of the gate so he doesn't get swallowed up. Assuming he gets in the gate, which hasn't been an issue this year.

I'll be rooting like crazy for Zenyatta to win, but no way is she bettable at 8-5. This is a terrific field with several talented stalking and late-running types.

 

I'm thinking of taking a flyer on Rogue Romance in the Juvenile. Well, if I had a way to bet on it without dealing with overseas sites.

But that's my longshot for that race.

 

Picked up my Form today. Waiting on some advice from my brother, who can read the ink off a Racing Form. He has some contacts through his work who are familiar with the European horses and he gave me a boatload of winners on the opening day last year.

Bonne chance to all!

 

Saw Rogue Romance run twice at Saratoga, and I'm scratching my head why he's even in the Juvenile against Uncle Mo and Boys At Tosconova instead of in the Juvenile Turf. He has very unique form for a 2-year-old -- three starts, all on the grass, all at a mile and a sixteenth, two wins, including a graded stakes. This all SCREAMS for the Juvenile Turf, and yet -- and yet -- he's in the Juvenile. Imjustagirl, as hunch plays go, you will get a very fair price on this horse. And he's got a lot going for him (Leparoux, wins from off the pace, likes the distance, Smarty Jones, etc.)

 

Right, the fact the line is/was 30-1 is the only reason. I don't think he can win, but I think he can finish in the money. My brother (my horse racing junkie brother) went on and on about the Juvenile Turf today and why he has no idea RR isn't in that race at all, so he's with you on that point. He's still firmly in the Uncle Mo corner, but said RR could pull off a good run.

My point (and I'm admittedly not a studied horsewoman, just a fan of spring afternoons in the paddock at Keeneland) was that maybe McPeek put him in the Juvenile to get him on the turf and prepare him for the Derby. No idea. It was all I had.

 

“Rogue Romance’s breeding and his training during the summer over the main track at Saratoga indicate he will perform well on the dirt,” Runnymede general manager Martin O’Dowd said. “He’s bred top and bottom for it and everything about his conformation suggests the dirt. His talent is what has propelled him to his success on the turf.”

 

Not driving to Birmingham to absorb the aroma of ass and cancer from the carpet at the Race Course?