Good Morning,
What a weekend! There was such great racing around the country. My pals all ran wonderful races…and were so competitive. I am very proud of all of them.
On another note, it was a weekend of great PRIDE for ME! Not only did my owners receive the PINCAY AWARD for their contributions to our sport, but there was a fascinating one page article in Sunday’s LA TIMES sports section titled,
THE GREATNESS SOCIETY
Here’s a membership list for one of sports’ most exclusive clubs: The best of all time
By Douglas Farmer and Matt Stevens
In this piece, Farmer and Stevens have named the athletes for several major sports who are ‘the best of all time’ and a comment about each. They have listed them by the date/years each participated in his/her particular sport. Per their article, here are the “MEMBERS OF THIS CLUB”:
Basketball Guards: Bob Cousy, Oscar Robertson, Jerry West, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant
Basketball Centers: George Mikan, Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Shaquille O’Neal
Women’s Tennis: Margaret Court, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Steffi Graf, and Serena Williams
Boxing: Jack Johnson, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Manny Pacquiao
Hockey: Gordie Howe, Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, and Mario Lemieux
Football Quarterbacks: Sammy Baugh, Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady
Soccer: Pele, Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi
Football Running Backs: Jim Brown, Gale Sayers, O.J.Simpson, Walter Payton, Barry Sanders and Emmitt Smith
Golf: Bobby Jones, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods
Baseball Sluggers: Babe Ruth, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ken Griffey Jr. and Albert Pujols
and
Horse Racing: Man O’ War, Native Dancer, Secretariat, Seattle Slew and ME…ZENYATTA!!!!!
What can I say! I am SO HONORED and SO INCREDIBLY PROUD! (Blush, Blush)
MY TEAM shares these emotions with ME! To have one’s name included on this list, considering the exceptional levels of achievement and prominence by the other MEMBERS OF THIS CLUB, is so incredibly humbling and quite overwhelming!
This is truly an extraordinary feeling for ALL OF US!
With Love,
Hugs to All~
Z
Mary Ann Wrenn
You DESERVE it!!! And, so does TEAM ZENYATTA for all the love and support you give each other!!!
DJ
Dearest Sweet “Z” and little “z”,
Take a BOW! There you are with the ‘boys’ again…and the greatest of all time at that! Congratulations. It won’t be too long before you can celebrate with Peppermints and Guinness :) Have a beautiful Today!
…………………………………..
“Z” Dumplings – what did you do to our Terry Crow?! You wore him out :) He is so tired that he cannot even tell his jokes yet.
………………………………….
Pamela Hill
wonder what kind of baby you and secretariat would have made?? too bad tb.s don’t save semen and do IA’s! anyone see the gold cup? what a race and was pulling so hard for the girl jock to win!!! (having a senior moment and can’t remember her name.) anyhoo, very proud for you, zenny, and your team! as great as secretariat was, and as much as he’s my hero, you win because you have the best team ever!! thank you team “z” for keeping us abreast of zenny!!!
Kathryn Cogswell
Easy to agree — look at her!
DJ
To Terry C: Apologies..I just saw the joke of the day! Thank you. Good to know you are back in the saddle!
Judy (Maass) Gadwood aka Judy MG
Hi Zenny girlfriend!
Well, numerous Z Dumplings met on Saturday for the first time :-D. We had an absolute ball!! You touched the lives of each and every one of us… we shared our “love” stories about you Queen Z!
————
I saw YOUR JOHN and I handed him a gift that I just happened to KNOW he’d like. It has something to do with YOU! No, it’s not a photograph. I will just keep it a secret. I just hope he enjoys the gift as much as I enjoyed getting it for him.
————
We saw Dottie accept the Pincay Award for the Mosses (who were out of town). Then we saw Dottie carrying the award by tunnel 2 ~ I made a mad dash to her and called her name. She stopped and said “hello”. That’s when I got to see the award up close ~ WOW!!! One of the Dumplings took a picture. Hopefully, it will appear in your diary! :-)
————
I want to thank both John and Dottie for being so approachable to us “crazy” Z nuts! They are truly the BOMB :-D
————
HUGS & KISSES, QUEEN Z AND BABY Z XOXOXOXO
Patti in Carlsbad
THIS WAS A FANTASTIC WEEKEND FOR YOU, DEAR ZENNY!
ON THE GREATNESS SOCIETY LIST..
I’LL BET YOU NOTICED YOU WERE THE ONLY FEMALE HORSE! GO, GIRL :) :) :)
sherry drish
ALL YOUR FANS ARE SO PLEASED THAT MUCH DESERVED AWARDS WERE GIVEN TO THE MOSS FAMILY AND TEAM ZENYATTA. YOU STILL DO KIND WORK FOR OTHERS HUMAN AND HORSE. GOD BLESS. SHERRY D. WV.
Mary Margaret fm Georgia
Congrats to all of your team Zenyatta. Hope all is well with you and your baby.
Margot Grummon
right they are!
OraJean Stevenson
Dear Zenny & Team-Z,
These most resent awards, honoring Z and
your entire TEAM, are so deserved and will
be part of insuring your legacy in horseracing, FOREVER!!
CONGRATULATIONS to you ALL!!!
Have a great week. Hugs. Fondly, OraJean
DJ
To Judy MG: Thanks for the ‘Trailer’! I cannot wait to see that photo!! TOO CUTE in a crazy z nuts sort of way :)
Lanalee Jorgensen
Zee, you, your “ghost writer” and all the rest of your entourage have done more to educate the public in the sport of horse racing then any other single influence I can think of in my 50 years around the industry. You have not only helped them understand how a horse’s mind works, how the equipment they may see is important for specific uses in protecting the horse and it’s people, how many layers there are to the making of a champion, actually, you have helped in more ways than can possibly be listed here. I know this is a labor of love and we all love you for it. PS I as one f those that stood for 4 1/2 hours in the 17 degree weather at keeneland just to see you. It was worth it!
Lisa
Zen you deserve the glory. The horses mentioned with you were all extremely great racehorse, but you all have one very important thing in common. You all touched people’s lives in so many ways. I have been so lucky to see Secretariat and Slew win the Triple Crown. Even though I never saw Man O’ War he is who hooked me on racing and still to this day his ability to stir people is amazing. The part that is not amazing is that YOU are included. The list would not be complete if you had not been put on it, and to be a girl. AWESOME!!!! You are a toarch for racing today, even though you are not running I can bet that your baby is the most anticipated foal on the planet.What a boost for racing. You are the Best.LOVE YA.
Kathryn Cogswell
To Jeanne from Texas: For me, she gives every heartbeat, every nuzzle on tiny Madison`s hair to reach her, embraces Mario embracing her, stretches to a flat-out-nearly 30-foot stride, racing or retiring, all from the purest spring. ‘She`s Zenyatta,’ Mike said; brought to life by love of the best humans can give, radiating that each degree of every defined circle she enters, every time, all the time, lyrically.
Kathy Baldwin
Strength and Honor Zenny, that’s just part
of what you and your Team Z are all about.
Wish I could have been at Hollywood Park
on Gold Cup Day, but I will probably be
there on Closing Day, this Sunday, the 17th.
Peace, Love & Blessings to all,
Kathy from SoCal :)
Annika
Hi Zenny,
sooo well deserved,
The whole Zenyatta Family should be on the list actually.
But you showed the world what horses really are, and what love and trust really is.
You made me realize how much I actually love horses and we should be happy that you came from heaven to earth to make us feel lucky and proud.
Really Zen, you are the best!!!
I truly love you with whole my heart
Kissez and Hugz from me for you and your pals, have fun!!!
Sue
Dear Queen Z, OMG you are Zenyatta of course you are on the list. This is just one more moment for the Zenyatta Nation to be so proud of you. We love you very much.
DJ
Headline: ‘Dangerless Dumpling Dashes Darling Dottie at Derby!’
Maryyette
So Proud of you, Zenny! YESSS!
Love you sweet girl –
Debbie
Congratulations Z!!! YOU definitely deserve such an honor!!! YOU are and always will be my favorite athlete and I love YOU so much gorgeous mama xoxoxo
Penny
Dear Zenny,
Congratulations! Glad the writers got it right and included you with the big boys. I watch the piece by ESPN yesterday before the race. I was disappointed that they didn’t show more film of you; especially when you spent your time preparing for the camera. You are beautiful and I could watch footage of you for hours. Everywhere I look in my office, Zenyatta is looking at me! It’s my private stall 55!
XOXOXO,
Penny
Alexandra Bowdoin
I love it, The Greatness Society…Good for you!! You certainly deserve this!!
Maria K.
You definitely deserved the recognition. To me you’re the greatest! I love you! I love you! I love you!
Elyse Mach
ZENYATTA …SO deserving of this wonderful honor!! You are so special… and it has been recognized and acknowledged worldwide.
I am so fortunate to have had the privilege of seeing you, Secretariat, Native Dancer and Seattle Slew run and win such thrilling races. It doesn’t get any better than that in horseracing.
Judy (Maass) Gadwood aka Judy MG
@ Terry Crow – I just wanted to make a correction as to WHO requested the visit to Barn 55… it wasn’t Karen (sorry, Karen) it was Diana S ~ I just wanted Diana to get the recognition :-D I was standing next to her when she spoke to John… I wasn’t about to “invite” myself AGAIN (over extend my visitions!) However, John knows I’ve been to the barn in the past, so I raised my hand and volunteered to lead the The Dumplings ~ and NO, I didn’t wear a uniform LOL
————-
I want to thank Frank, too, for walking with us. He happened to be walking back to the barn when the Z nuts were heading that way. Thanks, Frank!!! :-)
Gloria Jeanne
Thanks Zenny- I had the newspaper hear at work so now I can add this to my collection of Zenny memories I have of you.
DJ
To Karen G: Just received your message. You are TOO WONDERFUL! Thank you so much for giving us the gift of your time and talent. Y.O.U. made this possible :)
Susan in TN
Zenny-Oh, the company you keep! I am SO proud of you and your Team<3 Sometimes when you do the right things, the right things happen to you! Your photos today are stunning-and Mario had such an important part in helping you be who you are! Love you<3
Barbara Wood
@DJ–love the headline!
Precious Z- now the world is FINALLY “getting it” about you. We have known all along how great you are because we FEEL it in your presence. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve held my ground on bloodhorse.com blogs against the naysayers who said you were only a synthetic track specialist, etc. The grand irony in this, I believe, is that it was your only “loss” that showed the world what you did on that track that day. That was the unbelieeeeevable race! You showed them what you were made of and made countless fans in the process. Blame is a lovely horse, and I wish him well at Claiborne, but there is only ONE Zenyatta.