Zenyatta

Queen of Racing

Z's Diary

Diary Post #288

LUCKY ME! TREATS! THANK YOU, SHIRLEY! Photo by Sarah Campion

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

I want to wish all of you a fantastic HOLIDAY WEEKEND and a very safe July 4th.

While many people will be off to the races, walking on the sand, and enjoying great barbeques, I’ll be here at Lane’s End having a special time as well. MY JOHN and his crew will be racing.

I’m looking forward to enjoying the sunshine, grazing on the bluegrass, and eating some of my favorite TREATS! As you can see, I’m happily awaiting a few bites from my ST. LEO’S friends in this photo. This is a visit I did to help fund-raise for a local school. I must say, the ladies were so gracious and brought ME the perfect treats!

The holiday weekend is also filled with a large number of fabulous stakes races. One in particular is of great interest to ME. On Monday, my dear, dear friend, HARMONIOUS, is running in the ROYAL HEROINE G-2 at Hollywood Park. It is one mile on the turf. This will be her first start since February when she tried the dirt at Santa Anita. Harmonious has a wonderful past performance record. She is a very accomplished turf filly by Dynaformer out of a mare named Jade Tree! I’m wishing her ALL THE BEST!

Harmonious and I spent a great deal of time together at Barn 55. We not only grazed together each morning and afternoon, but we shared MARIO as our groom. He is truly one terrific guy! As we would often be outside at the exact same time, Mario would be with ME and Frank would be with Harmonious. It worked out perfectly for everyone.

Hi Z! It's your pal, HARMONIOUS! I'm here with your pal, Mario, and a 3 year old filly named Nereid. We're out here grazing on your old stomping grounds at Barn 55. WE MISS YOU! WE REALLY REALLY DO!

I believe this is one of the reasons why it was such a smooth transition for ME to share a paddock with other horses once I acclimated to life at Lane’s End. It was such a familiar and comfortable situation as I have literally spent years outside grazing at Barn 55 with other horses close by: Tiago, Life Is Sweet, Zardana, After Market and Harmonious to name a few. We always respected each other’s space, which is so important, and simply enjoyed sharing our time outdoors with each other. We could literally stand there and look around for hours and hours. We weren’t necessarily ‘eating anything’…we were just enjoying the time outdoors! Hmmmm, I still do that!

I’d personally like to wish HARMONIOUS and VALERIA (one of my Moss pals) GOOD LUCK in their races. They are both running on Monday, the 4th! Such FUN!

Enjoy your Holiday!
Please be safe!

With love,
Hugs to All~
Z

Reader Interactions

416 Comments

  1. / Reply

    To Terry C: Thank you. I promise I will not follow-up with jokes on the “C” word, and I don’t mean Conformation :) You are “First” so I can always blame you…. “Blame again!”

  2. / Reply

    Happy Fourth of July, Zenny!Happy Fourth of July,everyone! Hoof, hoof, hoof ray!
    @Heidi Kruckenberg/DinkyDiva—Thank you for your response to Charlotte’s need to get dirt from Golden Gate Fields. She will probably post any second now herself, but I wanted to thank you and let you know there was also another response to my comment on Steve Haskin’s blog from someone who knew someone who works right there at Golden Gate, so it may not be necessary for you to make the trip across the bridge. I have Charlotte’s e-mail address and will e-mail her your kind offer to help. THANK YOU SO MUCH!

  7. / Reply

    @ Terry Crow
    She was also a big filly, which often means longer time to start racing, because she will take longer to reach her full height, structure and balance. She did not start racing until almost 4,
    Nov 2007. Remember all that training time costs lots of money.

  8. / Reply

    Dear Signofthetimes:
    It is my understanding the the man who was injured was not the man who struck the horse. It was another person. I don’t know who he was. He grabed the horse, apparently, after the injured man went down and couldn’t hold on to the horse anymore. Personally, I think most of the gate attendants do a fine job and can be in precarious situations at times. But, I don’t believe hitting a horse that’s already frightened and misbehaving is the way to go. I think the guy just lost it when he saw the other attendant was injured. Doesn’t make it right. Hugs,J.B.

  9. / Reply

    Dear Anne from Paramount:
    Wasn’t me who asked about “Hoof ray”; must have been another Judy. Any news on Rightful Image?. Hugs, J.B.

  10. / Reply

    Judy B—Interesting post about Mariah’ Storm and the movie “Dreamer”. I was an extra in the movie, which was filmed one week at Keeneland–and others sites as well.It was exciting seeing all the stars, they were great.
    Zenny—Hope you’re feeling wonderful, I know you’re looking terrific.
    Happy 4th of July to everyone. Good Luck to Harmonious today. I know the Dumpling gang will have fun, wish I could join you!
    Loved the video of Renny & the bucket!

  12. / Reply

    @Terry Crow, the ringworm was probably the main reason Zenyatta sold so low, but there were other factors as well. One was that Street Cry was at the time an unknown quantity. Z was from his first crop. He has turned out to be a top sire, but no one knew then if his babies could run or not. Z’s oldest sister, Where’s Bailey, was only stakes-placed at the time. Balance, who would eventually be a G1 winner, was an unraced 2-year-old. On the plus side, although her mother was not a stakes winner, she came from a strong female family with plenty of black-type winners and producers in the first three generations.
    –
    From a monetary standpoint, Zenyatta was not the biggest bargain of that sale. Curlin was. He earned more on the track and more important, he is a stallion who can earn stud fees for the next 20 years. He sold for $55,000.
    –
    The biggest bargain of the modern era remains Seattle Slew, $17,500, who of course won the Triple Crown and was highly sought-after at stud. Another of my favorites was Canonero II, $1100 IIRC, who won the Kentucky Derby and The Preakness. He did not make a big impact on the breed at stud.

  13. / Reply

    Dear Lil from KY:
    Wow, that’s great. Must have been a wonderful experience for you. Hugs, J.B.

  14. / Reply

    Hi Big Z
    I’m so looking forward to seeing Harmonious after her little layoff. I have a thing for Dynaformer fillies and she is soo beautiful, although not quite up to your gloriousness!
    I also really enjoyed Courageous Cat in the Shoemaker this weekend. I have always liked him alot and now he is my new racing love. He is so classy and has such a beautiful face. Go CC and P Val in the BC Mile!
    Have a great 4th Big Beautiful One. You will always be #1 in my heart!!!! Lori

  15. / Reply

    Dear Laura J.
    I knew the sale prices of Z and Seattle Slew, but Curlin was a surprise to me. I did not know that. Step ran third on Friday. Maybe he is over his problem. I hope. Hope the new owners take good care of him. Hugs, J.B.

  17. / Reply

    @Judy B
    The whole thing seems unclear especially from the blog you posted and Peggy One account as well.
    @Laura J
    Definately a huge bargain, Seattle Slew, who is now a breeding line. Just goes to show looks aren’t everything. There is a lovely
    Inside Information series on him. Eric Kronfeld was way ahead of everyone breeding Zenny from “V” and Street Cry. He intuitively saw the class, style and racing ability of Street Cry.

  19. / Reply

    To Signofthetimes:
    You’re right. There’s really not an article I could find that detailed the incident by the people involved. Hugs, J.B.

  24. / Reply

    This year’s Fourth of July Horse and Man blog starts off with a pug in a patriotic top hat, followed by a great link to last year’s Fourth of July page which featured parade horses (gorgeous photos). This year’s page continues with the topic of teaching your horse tricks (including “tricks” that can be useful in everyday life, like teaching your horse to lower his head for a halter or bridle), and includes excerpts from the book “Trickonometry: The Secrets of Teaching Your Horse Tricks” (love the title) Enjoy! horseandman.com

  26. / Reply

    @PeggyOne: I mean no disrespect to you, but your post was insulting. There are many people who post here who have a great deal of experience with race horses, as breeders, owners, trainers, as well as long-time track observers. The horse doesn’t care about the language, and as a Navyman’s daughter, I don’t either, but the whack to the side of the head by the other gate crew member, observed by several people who have posted here, is something the horse WILL care about. Just what do you suppose the horse will be “thinking” the next time he’s in the gate with a lot of excitement around him? A horse should never, ever be hit in the head. Period.
    diastu in tempe

  27. / Reply

    @Judy Berube — Thanks for the link to Azeri, our #2 favorite horse. Wish she was still in KY. She is a national treasure.

  29. / Reply

    @judy berube — that Azeri slideshow certainly brings back memories. We will never forget the post parade for the BC Classic at Lone Star — as she passed the grandstand, she stretched her head high looking over the lead pony to view her cheering fans — the crowd was with her. And the photo of Azeri with Arienza is priceless.

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