Zenyatta vs. Rachel Alexandra

Oaklawn Park ponies up $5 million to get them to finally race other.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/horse/news/story?id=4906381

 

Yes, I saw this last nite on the ticker.
Zenyatta was a horse I played 9 dollars on to win 1 last summer at Vegas.
1-to-9 odds. I'd never seen that.
My $100 paid about 10 bucks. And she trailed for most of the race, so I had to sweat it.
Will blow the fine horse Rachel out of the water, I predict.
Though I know too little about intricacies horse racing other than how to walk up to the wager window.
Hype will be on Seabiscuit level.

 

Who knows what kind of shape either horse will be in. That's a whole lot of money the track has to recoup and I don't think it can do it in handle. They'll be lucky to get three other horses in the race unless an owner just wants to run a horse for third-place money.

 

$500,000 for 3rd should draw a few entries. That's what the entire purse was going to be for the race sans RA and Zenyatta.

 

Zenyatta's been kept in training since the Breeder's Cup and Rachel needed the extra week, apparently, so she could fit a warm-up race in her schedule.

While I also believe Zenyatta's going to beat Rachel, the mile and an eighth seems to play more to Rachel, which hasn't been tested at distance to my knowledge.

I also agree on the Seabiscuit comparison. This has the feel of a modern Sea Biscuit - War Admiral showdown, especially considering the way the owners have been jockeying for the right time in the schedule.

 

Ruffian was the first thing I thought of when I saw this on the wire last night.

 

Ruffian died in her match race but that doesn't make match races dangerous. She shattered her right foreleg.

 

Contrary to popular opinion, the presence of testosterone doesn't make the fairer sex more likely to breakdown -- catastrophic or otherwise.
One of the girls will be a late scratch. That's where I'd bet my $2.

 

That's what I'm worried about. I fear the morning of the race one of the trainers will discover his horse kicked the stall and cracked a hoof or something.

 

Hell, it could be as simple as a muddy track.