Zenyatta

Queen of Racing

Z's Diary

Diary Post #355

My friends are coming to town! Photo by John Shirreffs

Good Morning,

This is going to be a very busy week. Some of my dear friends from Barn 55, NEREID and STAR BILLING, are in town to run in the Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup this Saturday at Keeneland. It is a Grade 1 stakes race going 1 1/8 miles on the turf for 3 year old fillies.

This is an Invitational Race…and both fillies were invited. What an HONOR for each of them! When a race is classified as an ‘Invitational’…it means the Racing Secretary (the person who manages all of the entries for races and writes the condition books) reviews all of the possible candidates for a particular race . He and his staff then decide which horses would be the most qualified to run in the particular race based upon their accomplishments. After all of this is considered, the top horses are given an ‘invitation’ to run.

NEREID and STAR BILLING arrived Tuesday at about noon Kentucky Time via a Tex Sutton Charter. MY JOHN, Frank, and Jose Luis traveled with them on the plane. I heard the flight went very well and they have settled nicely into their Keeneland barn.

The weather here is picture perfect at this time. I hope it stays this way the rest of the week for them.

When MY JOHN took this photo, Frank was doing something by NEREID’S stall. Jose Luis’ charge, STAR BILLING, was in her stall relaxing nice and comfortably.

The shed row at Keeneland!

So much fun!

As you may recall, FRANK was on my traveling team. We always had such fun together.

Entries for Saturday’s race will be taken this morning. Here’s hoping they both get a GREAT POST POSITION!

Joe Talamo will be flying in from California to ride NEREID. Victor Espinoza is coming into town to ride STAR BILLING! Hmmm…..I wonder if their jockeys will travel together and be on the same flight…just like the fillies did?

With Love,
Hugs to ALL~
Z

Reader Interactions

196 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Dearest Zenyatta,
    Thank you so much for the great pictures! It such fun to get to see the backsides of the tracks and glimpses of the manner in which you race horses travel from one racing venue to another.
    I’ll especially be watching for Nereid and Star Billing. Your John must feel so honored to have the horses invited for such a prestigous race. Good luck to them both!
    Glad to hear your weather is perfect. Hope you and Tasty are enjoying the sun and grass and autumn beauty around you!
    Kisses,
    Stel

  2. / Reply

    Safe racing for all. How exciting for them to be invited to this race. It will be a tough one, I think Winter Memories is in this race!!! I’m not 100% sure on that so don’t quote me! But challenge is good for any athlete, these hard working filly’s are sure to rise to the level of competition. Have fun with your visitors.

  3. / Reply

    Catching up on the posts. @Sue Noel and Judy Berube-Thank you. @Diana S-You would improve any gene pool. Agree on Hollendorfer. Just because a trainer has a bunch of wins does not mean he has class.@Deborah Richman-One does not need to know a lot about racing to smell a rat in the BL situation. @ Heidi-Good description of Blind Luck’s race in the Lady’s Secret. Wish I had thought of it. @Abigail in Montreal-Thanks for the link to Our Mims. @Katie Clawson, future jockey-Keep the posts coming. I hope I live long enough to see you ride. @Susan in TN and Kari Bussell-You might be a redneck if you take a beer to a job interview. You might be a redneck if your sister has a subscription to Soldier of Fortune magazine. You might be a redneck if, during the wedding ceremony, the minister says Do you take this woman to be your old lady? You might be a redneck if the local county fair’s main attraction is a cow pie throwing contest. Will post a joke later.

  4. / Reply

    Dear Zeny: Good luck to Nereid and Star Billing. John must be very proud of them. Let’s pray for a great post position and safe race. Happy to hear they had a good flight. Hope you are well and enjoying the weather. Love and hugs, Marilu

  6. / Reply

    @J Smith – I think that the QEII race is actually a series of races but I could be wrong. Winter Memories is going to run, as well as Nereid and Star Billing. I’ve read that Frankel is also running. So while it would be INCREDIBLY EXCITING to see all these wonderful horses race each other, I just don’t see that happening. I can only guess that there are different races; maybe all turf but of different lengths and maybe not all invitationals.
    Have a lovely fall day, everybody.

  7. / Reply

    Ah! I see that maybe some confusion is that there are races in the UK called the QEII also!
    I also found out that the UK stud books don’t jive with ours either, so every now and then you run across 2 horses with the same name.

  8. / Reply

    @JAG – wow! thanks for posting that great Oak Tree publication> I liked the commentary “when Mike Smith unleashed the Zenyatta freight train” !!!!! Don’t we all yearn for those days!
    I wish safe trips for all competitors this weekend and very good luck to Star Billing, Nereid and Frankel.
    PS – happy birthday, JAG!

  9. / Reply

    @ sharon in seattle
    You’re welcome!! My pleasure!
    Thanks for the birthday greetings ;-) It was a WONDERFUL day from beginning to end ~ great friends celebrated with me.

  10. / Reply

    @Joanna from TX, This coming Saturday is “Champions Day” at Ascot in England. It
    is like our Breeders Cup races at the end of the year. I love Ascot, the race track in incredible, love the ups and downs and running on the turf…Great day of racing! Watch how they warm up their horses and how they load them in the gate. No whips used!! They are kinder to the horses loading in the gate I think.

  11. / Reply

    Zenny, after much deliberation I finally joined facebook so I could add YOU as my friend! My hubby almost died when I told him…he is on FB and wanted me to join years ago but I declined. Se what powers you have? I know you’ll enjoy being with your Barn 55 family…how they must miss seeing you everyday. I know I would. Thanks for the info on upcoming races…there is always such wonderful info coming to us from you and Dottie.

  12. / Reply

    @Jag — thanks for the links especially Oak Tree. John Henry and Zenyatta are my favorites too. Ironic that the publication also mentions that Blind Luck probably propelled Hollendorfer to Hall of Fame.

  14. / Reply

    PRAISE THE LORD!!!
    “The New York State Racing and Wagering Board voted to revoke Richard Dutrow Jr.’s trainer license, as of Oct. 18, at its monthly meeting today in Schenectady, New York. Dutrow was also fined $50,000. The hearing officer originally recommended a permanent revocation, but that was later amended to a 10-year period. Dutrow’s attorney Michael Koenig indicated that he would file an appeal in Schenectady County Supreme Court”

  16. / Reply

    Z I’m still sick and I feel awful. Great big cold in the nose. However, I do hope your TEAM gets to come see you. And since none of us can be there maybe they could give you an extra carrot for all of us????

  17. / Reply

    Geez, I knew Rick Dutrow drugged BB but had no idea of how serious and long term his infractions have been. Just wish instead of banning him from the track–they’d take the horses out of his barn. His assistant will take over but Rickie boy will still be the trainer–over the phone.
    Maybe other owners will see what a creep he is and take the initiative.

  19. / Reply

    Dear Margaret:
    Hope you feel better soon. Also hope you are right about owners switching to a different trainer for their horses. Hugs, JB

  20. / Reply

    That’s great that your friends Nereid and Star Billing and YOUR John are in town, Zenny. I’m going to Keeneland Sunday so I’ll miss their race by a day, but I’ll watch it on TV and I’ll definitely cheer for them. I love you, Zenny! :-)
    @Terry Crow – I love your redneck jokes!

  21. / Reply

    I am THRILLED that Dutrow is banned in NY for the next 10 years. He can’t race in Kentucky either…his situation is a GREAT argument for a national training license…all or nothing..you are good or you are disallowed…end of story. Many owners would be much more thoughtful about where they place their horses for training if they had a national requirment for a training performance standard. 50 different states with 50 sets of colliding rules is nonsense.

  22. / Reply

    Zenyatta,

    Thanks for all the informative info. Good luck to Nereid and Star Billing. Stay happy and healthy big Mama.
    @ Margaret, Get well soon.
    @ NYRB, Yeah………

  24. / Reply

    Z’isters Rejoice!
    The wicked Dutrow of the East is gone! Let’s hope he doesn’t darken the doorway of Florida or California. When I read this, I thought of my favorite line in Laura Hillenbrand’s great book, “Seabiscuit: An American Legend,” when a famous sportswriter of the day (Jolly Roger) wrote after Seabiscuit’s legendary win of the 1940 Santa Anita Handicap: “Oh that I have lived to see this day!” That man should never touch another horse. I think the endangered burros in Texas should use him as a human shield. That wasn’t very loving, but you all know what I mean.
    j

  26. / Reply

    Dutrow should be banned from racing for life! He was caught with so many drugs over the years and so many suspensions. They found cobra venum in his barn!!

  30. / Reply

    @Zenny and YOUR JOHN: I love the nuts and bolts stuff, like seeing just how horses go from van/trailer to jet plane. Love that photo. Thank you!

    @eastcoastkid: National Training License! What a concept! But we’d need to get a National Regulating Body first, eh? Well, let’s all work on that! Nothing is impossible for Z fans!

    @Alex: I second GO FRANKEL!

    @All: Is it too much to wish for another dead heat – for the girls this time? Love them both.

    diastu in tempe

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