2010 American Horse of the Year
Zenyatta stands among the very greatest racehorses ever to look through a bridle, an enormous dark bay mare whose magical run captured the hearts of the entire country. She was foaled in 2004, a daughter of the great sire Street Cry out of the mare Vertigineux. She raced for Jerry and Ann Moss of Mercedes Stables, the same owners behind Rock Hard Ten, and she was trained by the soft spoken John Shirreffs. Mike Smith was her partner from the very first start to the very last. Standing at 17.2 hands, she was one of the largest fillies most fans had ever seen.
Zenyatta was famous for her style as much as her speed. She danced in the post parade with a prancing high step that made her look more like a circus horse than a racer, and she settled at the back of every field with a calm that drove handicappers crazy. Then she would unleash a sweeping run from the back that overwhelmed her rivals at the wire. She won her first 19 starts in a row, including the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic at Santa Anita, where she ran down a strong field of older mares with her trademark stretch kick.
The defining race of her career came in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. Zenyatta became the first female ever to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, charging through the lane and collaring the leaders right at the wire. The image of Mike Smith raising his arms as she crossed the finish became one of the most replayed moments in modern racing. She returned at age six in 2010 and kept rolling, winning every start as she headed to Churchill Downs for one more Breeders' Cup Classic. There the magic finally ran out, as she came up just a head short of catching Blame in a stretch run that left thousands in tears.
She finished her career with 19 wins from 20 starts and the 2010 Eclipse Award as Horse of the Year. Zenyatta retired to Lane's End Farm in Kentucky to begin a broodmare career, where she has produced foals by some of the top stallions in the country and has been celebrated by the tens of thousands of fans who still visit her. Zenyatta is remembered not just for her record but for her enormous personality, her dancing post parades, and the way she made racing fans believe in magic for three glorious years. Mike Smith has said many times he is not sure he will ever sit on another horse like her, and few who watched her would argue.
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