Happy Friday to All,
As you know, Dottie and John are at Pimlico for the Preakness with Mr. Commons. I gather he is being one terrific guy. He trained nicely this morning and got a chance to see all of the surroundings. They have large tents up in the infield, and he looked at all of them. It was nice for him to get to see ALL OF IT and get used to this different type of infield environment. Later this afternoon, he will school and visit the paddock as well. So many things to learn, to do, and to accomplish! I remember it well!
In addition to all of the things going on with the Preakness, Dottie told ME that no matter where she and John went….. PEOPLE ASKED ABOUT ME! ME….now isn’t that TOO CUTE! I am so flattered! They wanted to know how I’m doing, how much I love my life now….and of course, the big question, how much have Bernie and I been dating.? Katherine and Carol asked John and Dottie for a photo op with them….which, of course, they did! Steve Haskins asked them to do a video clip…..and guess who he mentioned to Dottie? ME! They also met Ann Maree, who often writes responses in my Diary. All of this is so special and such fun.
The weather has been very pleasant so far and tomorrow, Preakness Day, is supposed to be beautiful! So, HOOVES CROSSED for a great RACE DAY!
WOW! People are asking about ME! This statement has such a nice RING TO IT! Thank you so much for BEING SO THOUGHTFUL and caring!
With Love,
Hugs to All~
Z
Diana_NV
Love ya, Z Girl! And best of luck to John and Mr. C in the Preakness. Safe race to all!
audreyc
Just read “Haskin’s report on Preakness – mucho confusion” on Bloodhorse.com. I loved his comment on Mr. Commons, and how no one can get a horse looking so dappled and good as John Shirreffs. John (on this site- by way of Dottie) – perhaps you were a horse in another life? It seems you know how to communicate to, and treat them, in a way to get their best, and be the most content. At any rate, every single race horse, most certainly deserves to have a trainer like you. (I also like Nick Zito). Anyway, loved the comments…
Aaron
Zenny, whatever the question is, your the answer! Great posts today. Good luck to all horses and their jockeys tomorrow. Especially liked the poem.
KIMBERLY
Z. Everyone knows and loves the BEST RACEHORSE EVER!!!
Marshall (girl's name)
For all the Preakness races: Safe trips for all horses and riders! Good luck to Animal Kingdom and all competitors, also!
candi cartier
good luck to mr. common tommorrow.Of course people will be asking you my dear queen zenyatta cause you are the superstar.
Holly Zemba
I always want to know how you are doing!! Good luck to Mr. Commons Tomorrow!!
Barb Zylbert
Good Luck, Mr. Commons! And where did you get that name anyway? Please let us know! Zenyatta, take it easy and let us know the answer to the BIG question soon!
Trina Nagele
Dearest Zenny, On his blog Zipse at the Track, Zipse gives Mr. Commons a lot of respect in “Is Mr. Commons Poised to Become Mr. Preakness?” Of his top three picks from the “new shooters” (horses who weren’t in the Kentucky Derby), he states “there is only one who I feel will have no problem getting the 1 3/16 miles distance of the Preakness. His name is Mr. Commons, and I think he may do something extraordinary ….”
http://www.horseracingnation.com/blogs/zatt/Is_Mr_Commons_Poised_to_Become_Mr_Preakness_123
Trina Nagele
@Better Step Aside–Have fun and a safe trip around at Charlestown.
@Makoma and Chantal at HP–Go, ladies, go!
@Mr. Commons–Go get those black-eyed Susans!
To all the horses and jockeys,may you all come home safe and sound.
Sleep tight, Z, tomorrow’s a big day.
Dona
Of course everyone asks about you, and why wouldn’t they? :)
Go Mr Commons! Good luck and to Makoma also.
FYI – A foal was born 5-18-2011 – He’s a full brother to our beloved Barbaro. Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Jackson of Lael Stables, Mill Ridge Farm and Headley Bell where the dam La Ville Rouge is housed and to Three Chimney’s Farm where the great Dynaformer stands at stud. Healthy, good bone and leg and weighs 138 lbs! Welcome, little(big) one.
Diana S
Okay Z family – how about this perfect Preakness dream? A triple dead heat between Mr. Commoms, AK, and MMM? AK gets the 2nd leg of the TC, MMM gives his trainer a well-deserved thrill, and the extended Z family and team gets a huge and historic race! TOO COOL! diastu in Tempe
Dani
@Shari Voltz – I’m so sorry to be getting back to you so late. I don’t often get the time to scroll through the comments so I am way behind. I wanted to answer your questions about needy horse rescue facilities. Of course, many of us have heard and have donated to orgnizations like Old Friends, TROTT, Canter, MidAtlantic and ASPCA Equine Fund. I see that you have made a donation to Mims which is also a great retirement organization, smaller and always in need of donations. But there are also a few smaller ones that I have tried to help out. Last Chance Corral, Angel Acres Horse Haven Rescue and Heart of Tucson. They all have websites and Facbook pages. Trust me, I am not rich. Far from it. I often have to rob Peter to pay Paul to scrounge up the money to give to these charities. But is has become so important to me and has brought me untold happiness to know I have made a difference.
Shari, I know school ends on June 1st for you but maybe this is something you want to consider for your next class – provided you keep your Zenyatta experience with them. On the Angel Acres Horse Haven Facebook, towards the bottom there is an article about two little girls ages 6 and 7 who drew pictures and sold them to neighbors for a scant amount to raise money for horse charities. It’s the sweetest article and such an amazing thing for such little girls to do. Maybe you and your class could do something similar. I was thinking one good charity would be Last Chance Corral because it rescues orphaned babies, often a few days old. They literally get hundreds of them for whom they care for and must find homes for. Maybe you could contact them and figuratively adopt one of the babies and donate to him/her and get photos and updates. Remember any amount helps. I don’t know if they work that way but it is worth checking out. Anyway, it’s just an idea. I apologize to all for talking on so long. I have just developed a passion for trying to help out however I can as I don’t live anywhere near a rescue or retirement facility that I can volunteer at so I work to help feed tummies and get veterinarian care and to help others provide love and care to the neglected, abused and abandoned horses who every day fight for their very lives until they find refuge. Abigail Anderson posted on her Facebook early May an ESPN expose on the black market horse meat trade. I don’t think any of you will dare want to watch it. I couldn’t make it past a few minutes before desolving in tears. But these are the things that need to drive us to strive to push ourselves to afford salvation and a life for these unwanted horses through our donations and our letters to Congress. Zenyatta leads the charmed life that she should but we need to all try to make a least one horse at a time happy and healthy and knowing what it is like to be safe, cared for and loved too. Thank you for listening. Sincerely – Dani Crawford
Llorien
Love you so much Queen Zenny. You’re in our hearts forever. Good luck to all in The Preakness, come home dears safe and sound.
CARRIE
My dear Z. forget you. Never..you have touched my like no other horse has. I am proud to have seen you race to watch you in your glory at the breeders cup..to watch every you tube, and picture of you until late at night..(such as this night) when I should be asleep. Love you Queen Z and am so glad that you are pampered and loved! Every horse should be taken care of like you..Love you Z.
Sug Gragg
Zenny, I’ve been reading assorted news articles about the Preakness. Several have mentioned John, and your name seems to pop up for some reason. Too many of us still have you in our thoughts. Dottie helps keep us informed, thanks to her.
janice
good morning ZENYATTA Today is race day seen MR COMMON on HRTV he was eating grass looked great and happy MR JOHN is the GREATEST TRAINER AROUND he loves all his horses just as much as horses love to eat GRASS GOOD LUCK today MAY THEY ALL HAVE A SAFE RACE ALWAYS LOVE YOU
Susan
Hi Z,
I saw the video with Dottie and John on the Bloodhorse website yesterday. I knew Steve Haskin would ask about you! Dottie and John were very gracious and so well spoken. Dottie said she just gets excited when she writes a “Z”!!!! In your words,”TOO CUTE”!!!! Wishing Mr. Commons and everybody a safe trip today in the Preakness.
Lois Gillespie
Beautiful morning here (DE) -hope it’s as nice in MD! Z (and Dottie), I caught a glimpse of Dottie walking toward the stables yesterday while watching HRTV for the races – Joanne Jones and Scott Hazelton were reporting from the stable area, and there went Dottie with her blond hair and pink jacket (even from the back I can recognize her!) – I felt like a groupie!
Safe racing for all today – hoping for AK to win, but wishing for Mr. Commons to do well (and if neither win, for Astrology and Mike to come in first–)
Sue Fredrick
Just have to respond again,
@Robyn Mulhausen, just a thought about getting to the track at Pimlico, if you call the track # and ask them if they have handicap facilities they may accomodate you, my hubby is on oxygen and can’t walk that far and at Keeneland they have golf carts that pick you up and take you to the gate and back. It’s great!
@Margie, that spelling would be really cute too!
LauraJ
@DJ, have fun with your tea. Will you wear an outrageous hat? Keep those pinkies up. :-)
–
@Peggy, yes, so far all systems are GO for Step’s race tonight. Post time is 9:58. It’s race 7, I think. Step and four other horses are making their first starts, so it could be interesting.
–
@Trina Naegle, Step thanks you for the good wishes.
Celeste
Thank you so much for sharing the adorable photo of Mr. Commons resting up for his race – it is too cute! The photo of him on Bloodhorse in one of their articles shows him out grazing and highlights his awesome dapples just like you have, sweet Zenyatta. It certainly does speak well of John’s wonderful abilities to bring a horse to peak condition, but we all already knew what a great trainer he is because of you! :) Yes, I spend a lot of time hanging out on Bloodhorse, so I also caught the interview with John and Dottie and Steve Haskin – some of my most favorite people I have never met, yet I hold them all dear. I find it very interesting that Dottie’s son, David, picked out Mr. Commons so it is really a wonderful family affair! Too cute. I wish him a great race and safe trip, but since I am such a romantic, I’d love to see Animal Kingdom win for a chance at the Triple Crown. If AK can’t get it done, then Mr. Commons should win – lol! Above all, though, safe trips for all the horses. I’m so glad the Preakness field is limited to 14 and not the stampede of 20 like the Derby. I will stop my rambling now but I will say once again – thank you Dottie and Zenyatta for this arena in which we can freely express our love for the Queen!
Susan in TN
Good morning,Zenny! Well, I know you are probably pulling for Mr. Commons today(so am I!) but I wonder about The Girls? I’ll bet you all have had some interesting conversations. Does Charles even get a word in edgewise?! Hope you have a great day,sweet girl.Love you!
@Dorothy Hopper:Sorry it took this long to get you an answer about the gray Arabian mare on the River Horse Farm Rescue website, but she was found wandering the backroads of this county(45 miles WSW of Nashville) with an Arabian gelding. The owners could not be located, so who knows? You never know where a horse will end up-unfortunately.
@DJ:I loved the poem!
@Laura J: Good luck to Step today- I wish him a safe and educational trip! I’m going to watch his race on replay because I don’t think I’ll be home most of the day.
@Dani:You wrote so passionately about horse rescues-and so well. I feel the same but can’t always get the words to come out right! Also,I saw that ESPN show and you’re right-prepare yourself if you ever plan to see it.It was well-done but unflinching.
@LindaJ:Have fun at The Preakness! What fun!
@Marshall(girl’s name),Shari Volz,Amanda G in Alabama,Dawn Conrad,Peggy,Sharon Call,Judy Berube,suew,Max,Margie,and Trina Nagele: Thank you all for sharing my excitement about the new baby! I am going out this morning and I will tell him that these wonderful people whom I met thru ZENYATTA care about him and are happy he is in the world and that he could not be connected by a more amazing horse! Well,except for his mama :) I will see about getting pictures on the website-River Edge Farm Horse Rescue (I know I keep repeating that but that is so you don’t have to scroll back to look.)
Safe trips to everyone @ Pimlico today!
All right-I am going to have to PUT DOWN THE MOUSE AND STEP AWAY FROM THE KEYBOARD…
Susan in TN
Well, I had to step back to say my post was so long that I forgot I had already mentioned the rescue name. Brother!
DJ
Dearest Sweet “Z”,
Good morning! Well it is another beautiful day. And to think there were some who thought we would not have one. My heart goes out to them. The sun is shining “Z” and I am sure Mr. “C” is up by now and munching on his power breakfast. Good luck to him and ALL on this exciting day.
…………………………………
LauraJ: Unforfunately no outrageous hat, as it is a business meeting, but I will be pouring tea outrageously fast to clear everyone out of the house by noon for “you know why!” Shhh :)
DJ
Q.H, Peggy and Susan: I am glad you enjoyed the little poem. Have a beautiful day!
judy berube
Morning Z,
Another exciting race day. Good racing luck to all. Rooting for Mr. C. Love you and love to all of you. Judy and Russ
judy berube
Dear Susan in Tn:
Looking forward to a photo of your new pride and joy. Hugs, Judy B.
Nancy
You will always be in our hearts, Zenyatta!
Dorothy Hopper
RE: Diary Post #251
I think the 2010 Breeders Cup race will be on people’s minds for a long time to come; I know that it’s still on mine. The armchair analysts will be forever debating the results, much like they still debate the races between Affirmed and Alydar, as if no other horses raced with them.
Zenyatta you lost the race by only a nose and Blame won the race by only a nose; in this case, a nose says a lot.
This was your first loss, and I would have loved to see you retire with an undefeated record. But even with that one loss, you are in good company of other horses with only one loss; Man O War, who was voted the best horse in history, has a record of 20 of 21 starts. And Native Dancer’s record was 21 of 22, but that horse didn’t dance! And the list of undefeated horses in Wikipedia, contain names of horses that most people wouldn’t recognize. What is the record of Blame?
In our human race, we believe that loss often happens for a reason and that how we handle defeat shows the true character of a person. Since the race, you experienced another loss, that of your first offspring. These are two very sad things in your life, and you are fortunate to have a wonderful team to take care of you. Now I can hear people objecting that I am humanizing an animal, but when an animal, a horse, has the will to run and fight to win as you did Zenyatta, you must also feel the pain of defeat and loss.
I watched you Zenyatta, come from the rear; how many lengths behind the field were you? Yet there was a pack of horses, males, who ran the entire race near Blame, but not one of those horses had the ability, energy, strength or desire to seriously challenge Blame and move ahead just one more neck or one more half a body length!
But you Zenyatta, fought so hard as you came from well beyond the rear to pass the pack and challenge Blame head to head! And at the end of the race, it seemed to me that you still wanted to run. I have a feeling that if the race had been on Belmont’s track we would have seen some serious space between you and Blame, with you in the winner’s circle. Only your jockey can confirm this, whether we saw all that you had to give or not.
Zenyatta you have touched the hearts of people around the world! That one race touched my heart like nothing else. I have recently been in extremely difficult circumstances; I have often felt that I am trailing far behind the field of people in society. And when I saw you trailing in that race, I saw myself in those circumstances. And to see you fight so hard, a horse, expending every ounce of energy to reach the other horses, then to get to the front of the field to challenge Blame, was astounding and inspiring!
That desire, that fight; where does that come from? You are an animal of flight but you ran into the fight! You could have said to yourself, “I’ll never catch them, why bother trying? This is my last race anyway,” then lollygagged at the back of the pack.
You must have been sad, knowing that the Breeders Cup would be your last race, you must have heard the talk around the barn. But Mike made you try.
Mike is a good jockey and Zenyatta, to think of you running 40 mph is awesome! I can’t ride that fast on my bike, but I know how that speed feels in my car. I don’t know if I would have the courage to ride a horse that fast!
Dottie wrote in a recent diary a defense of your jockey, which prompted me to think about and write this different perspective of your last race. Mike’s tears upon your defeat were of genuine sorrow and his willingness to take responsibility for your loss publicly, to the world, make him not only a good jockey but also a good man. His was a heartfelt example that so many young men and young women today could learn from.
I’m sure that each of us made a mistake or wrong decision at some point in our lives that we wish to go back and change, but we can’t always correct things. And we are not always in control of the outcome of circumstances but we must strive to do our best in the race or purpose before each of us. And if we lose a round, we need to find the lesson in the event. I hope that I will be able to find in myself the same desire and fight to accomplish the things that I want in life, that you showed us.
This is what I gained from your 2010 Breeders Cup race.
And finally lest we forget, Zenyatta, you already won the Breeders Cup race in 2009! You are the first female horse in history to beat the males and win that race! So the way I see the 2010 Breeders Cup, is not that you lost a race, but that you taught us about courage, and desire and the will to fight in this race of life. You are beautiful and have such a nice temperament, as your photos attest. You are clearly the best horse EVER and matchless in your character and heart.
Good luck today Mr Commons!