Zenyatta

Queen of Racing

Friday Photos

Friday Photos and More

Coz and Ziconic are just a few stalls from each other in John's barn at Saratoga.
Coz and Ziconic are just a few stalls from each other in John’s barn at Saratoga.

Happy Friday!

Zenyatta’s boys are at Saratoga with John Shirreffs. They’re enjoying the greenery and beautiful weather. Scroll down for a quick video of Ziconic in his stall.

-Team Z

Cozmic One at Saratoga
Cozmic One at Saratoga
Ziconic at Saratoga
Ziconic at Saratoga

Reader Interactions

689 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Dear Deb E.I used to love watching Mr Wu when he was a little darling cub.I remembered the twins birthday on July 15th forgot his on the 29th July.It would be wonderful if Bai Yun could produce another little one but age is against her maybe?Bao-Bao’s birthday comes up soon on the 23rd.Still waiting news from Edinburgh.Hugs Sheena.

    • / Reply

      I agree about Bai Yun. I don’t think she’s pregnant because of her age (23), but she’s sure acting like it, just in case. That means denning up and all that goes with it. She’s not on the Panda Cam right now because her nannykeepers are allowing the whole pregnancy/pseudopregnancy cycle play out and that means rest and absolute quiet. Who knows, maybe she’ll surprise everyone again because Mr. Wu certainly wasn’t expected!

      The aliens have invaded Mei Xiang’s mind. She’s on the Panda Cam from the National Zoo every day, but is not doing much except stay inside her indoor enclosure and sleep. She’s been nest building and cradling what her fans call her “pseudobaby”, a Kong toy shaped like a gorilla that is a favorite chew toy of big dogs. Mei likes to collect “babies” for her nest; in the past along with Kong she’s added a drain grate from the floor, a piece of log, and a treat ball. In fact, she was holding Kong when she gave birth to Bao Bao!

  4. / Reply

    Goodnight Zenyatta, love you with kisses and your sons
    loving zprincess and dear Sir
    Thinking of our Fancy tonight as this a.m. I found that she could not take but a few painful stiff baby steps.
    Back on the Bute and kept out of the pasture. 34 yrs old but still such a will to live.
    Prayers for Fancy pants.
    Auntie Sally B

    • / Reply

      Dear Sally B.,
      Thoughts and prayers for Fancy, bless her. Hope she can feel better soon. Bless you for all the loving care you give her and all others, too.
      Hugs and Love

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,
      She returned to the nest to quickly with her stolen
      fish from daddy. It is so amazing how they are taking the
      whole fish from each other now.
      Love and hugs

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,

      Oh, no, that is so sad. Uggie was brilliant. He stole all the scenes. Such a talented little dog. RIP, indeed. Hugs, Kathy

    • / Reply

      Half of Jean Dujardin’s Best Actor Oscar for The Artist rightfully belonged to Uggie. He was “discovered” in an animal shelter and the rest is movie history. Rest in peace, Sweet Uggie.

      • / Reply

        Dear Deb E.,
        You are certainly correct about that Oscar! They should have awarded Uggie with a special Oscar of his own.
        Thanks for the memories, Uggie. Rest in peace.

        Hugs and Love

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,
      This makes me sad — he was brilliant. I loved “The Artist”, and I also loved him in some of the American Greeting e-cards, also. The Christmas e-card “May all your Christmas dreams come true” in which he sets out cookies and milk for Santa Claus is my favorite — his doghouse is decorated with lights and his stocking is hung; he waits for Santa and finally has to eat a few of the cookies before falling asleep. That’s when Santa comes and leaves him a rawhide bone. It is so sweet (and cute).

      RIP dear Uggie. You made us so very happy.
      Hugs and Love

      • / Reply

        That was a great one for sure Marshall! Wonder if they will show it again this Christmas? RIP Uggie!

  7. / Reply

    August 12 Cherokee Devotional

    In this age of free-thinkers, many a business and political genius has asked, “Who can I join hands with that will do me the most good?”
    Almost any aggressive person can get his feet on the ladder of success. It is keeping them there that gets into artfulness. Because there is a time to think and act independently, a person’s footing may get very shaky and very temporary.
    A law of cause and effect works minute by minute, and that simply says we get only when we give and we reap only what we sow. No one else can do for us what we have to do for ourselves. And no one else can keep us sharp and honest and respectful. It is our job.

    Once I moved about like the wind. Now I surrender to you and that is all.
    Geronimo
    Apache

  8. / Reply

    Dear Kathy.A great devotional.Very sad about Uggie,he died last Friday.He is free of his pain now.We have a remarkably similar dog in the UK called Sykes.He stars in “Midsomer Murders”and is in the thinkbox commercials as “Harvey”.
    There is no love lost between sisters when a fish is involved!!Bobby bach is eating now and I think Merin is eyeing his fish too.We have had weather warnings for thunderstorms tomorrow and Friday.I hope we don’t lose power and the bad news is Yorkshire having about 50mm of rain!The York festival next week.Neither GH or Gleneagles like soft ground.Cirrus is hoping to make his comeback in the Irish champion stakes next month.I have been busy voting for Zoe.I could see your message about Holly and Nikko getting their Lion cuts.I heard there was a dust storm in parts of Arizona yesterday.Ray has certainly lost some friends lately but the ratties are doing so well with their licenses France and Germany now.Sad about Fossey the gorilla died of heart failure.He was on the same drugs as my dad.Such a lot of peeps dislike Zoos.Hope you have a great day.Love and hugs to you,Kisses for Holly,Nikko and Sugar.Sheena.XOXO.Gizmo’s got a calendar coming out only for sale at Equifest so far!

  9. / Reply

    Dear Sheena,
    Looks like Gleneagles is stretching out to a mile and a quarter and Golden Horn is shortening to a mile and a quarter for the Judmonte International. The winner gets a free
    ticket to BC Turf at a mile and a half a good distance for Golden Horn, but not sure Keenland course is a good place for him and it would be too close after the Arc. Would love to see one of these wonderful Euro champions in the US. It is always do exciting for us. Loved seeing the beautiful Fuge here and of course Goldi.
    Love and hugs

  11. / Reply

    Thanks to all who commented on my joke from Hee Haw about George Gobel. I always liked Lonesome George. Sorry I haven’t been on the blog much lately. I was feeling kind of down. I was in Oregon to attend a funeral of the wife of one of my oldest friends and delivered the eulogy. I did the same thing for my friend a few years back and actually used the same joke I used at his, with some help from their son. IT goes like this and I apologize to those who know it. Their son’s name is Barry and he performed his part perfectly. It goes like this. When Barry was in grammar school he had a teacher who wanted to test the class. She brought in different types of meat each day and asked the class to taste and identify it. Everything went well until one day she brought in some venison. No one in the class knew what it was. The teacher then said “It’s what your mother sometimes calls your father.” At this point Barry piped up and said “Don’t eat it. It’s jackass.” I am really going to miss my friend and his wife.

    • / Reply

      TC; just happened to scroll a bit, love your humor as always in the past!!
      So sorry for your loss of a dear friend. Sally B

    • / Reply

      Dear Terry C.,
      Glad to have you back where you belong. Sending you condolences on the loss of your friends. Love the “deer/dear, jackass” joke. I, too, always liked Lonesome George. I really miss those excellent legends of comedy; they had class as well as superb timing and talent. No vulgarity or profanity needed since they were Masters of the art.
      Take care and keep posting.
      Hugs and Love

      • / Reply

        Agree with you Marshall about the great comedians of old. They had no need of vulgarity – they were actually funny! Loved George Gobel and his brown shoes and a tux.

    • / Reply

      Thanks to all who commented. It gave me a lift. Another good clean comedian is Bob Newhart. If you ever get a chance to catch his act in Vegas, do so. Nonstop laughs.

      • / Reply

        Dear TC GP and Z Fans:

        Russ and I saw Bob Newhart at our local theater for the Performing Arts in Providence years ago. Never laughed more; he was wonderful. Always enjoyed his TV sitcoms too. Love and Hugs, JB

        • Back in the old days we bought their albums. Hilarious! We had couple by Bob Newhart and watched both his sitcoms. And Johnny Carson had so many great shows with all those guys! I particularly liked Dean Martin. That guy had everything! Looks, funny and could sing! Oh, my, too much nostalgia time!

        • @Pam-Agree on Dean martin. Always thought he should have been considered the leader of the pack.

        • Probably blasphemy – but I always preferred Dean to Frank Sinatra! Better looking and not so skinny! lol

  14. / Reply

    Dear Tizgood.Oh,gosh it’s everyone for themselves at the Dyfi now!Merin was watching Bobby bach later on eating his dinner.GH and Gleneagles are entered in the Champion Stakes in October so I could never see him visiting the States.They both have plenty of races in Europe to suit them.I just pray the ground doesn’t turn too soft with the expected rain.Hugs Sheena.

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,
      You are right they probably will not come here,
      but we can dream. Too bad our turf courses were
      not more Euro like, but we just don’t don’t have
      the weather (rain) to grow all that beautiful vegitation.
      The Judmonte International sure will be a great clash !!!
      Hope you saw Judy’s lovely photo of that goegeous
      Tapit Galileo colt.
      Love and hugs

      • / Reply

        There is a European style turf course in North America. At a mile and a half, the EP Taylor turf course at Woodbine has the same wide turns as European tracks and the longest back stretch on the continent at 1440 yards. There is no problem with growing the turf. If the rain doesn’t assist the growth, there is state of art irrigation. The turf consists of several varieties of Kentucky Blue grass. Wise Dan owns the track and race record from the 2013 Woodbine Mile. He has beaten every European horse who has appeared against him at that track. Secretariat incidentally ran his last race on the old turf course at Woodbine and also set a record. The crowds were wild for Red. It rained heavily before that race. U.S. horses always excel at Woodbine,

        • Dear Max:

          Always learn something from your informative posts. Thank you for sharing.

          I posted some Race Notes from Saratoga on Page 4 of Beastie. He is well loved by his team. Love and Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Mei Xiang is eating again which can be a bad sign or just Mei wanting a snack. She likes to mess with our heads and have a good time keeping everyone guessing about whether there will be a cub or no cub. It’s nerve wracking when she does this.
      No news on Lun Lun in Atlanta or Bai Yun in San Diego. Cubwatch 2015 continues…

  15. / Reply

    Dear Deb E.Hopefully Mei is fooling us!No news from Edinburgh either.We’ll have to keep everything crossed for our mama pandas.Uggie deserved an Oscar for his role in the “Artist”God rest his soul.Sheena.

    • / Reply

      Wouldn’t it be great if your Tian Tian and our 3 mamas in the U.S. had cubs around the same time? China is having a boom of giant panda twins; I think yesterday I read of two pandas at a giant panda center each had twins within 3 hours of each other!

      Uggie did win the “Paw d’Or” prize for Best Canine Actor at the 2011 Cannes Film festival where The Artist won the Grand Jury Prize. I read it in Uggie’s obituary.

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena:

      Goodnight. Love and Hugs, JB, LM, PC, HT, Cap, Herc, Frank and all the Sweeties

  17. / Reply

    Dear Sheena,
    Just read the racing post about Acapulco, the monster talented 2 year old,
    what an exciting race for WW. She is a gorgeous talented filly. Looking forward
    to that race. Know you are sleeping.
    Love and hugs

  18. / Reply

    Dear Z, COZ, ZI and Montey:

    Goodnight. Happy Dreams. Love all of you so much. Hugs, JB

    Z Princess, Dubai, will always love you.

  19. / Reply

    Hear William Buick is riding Maverick Wave in the Arlington Million. Looking so forward to this race looks like it is going to be a really good race. Sure like this Colt. I have to look this up but does he have Gone West in his pedigree. Have to look it up.

      • / Reply

        Dear Peggy and Z Fans:

        The Million is loaded with talent. There’s a Dynaformer, a Tiznow, two Exceed and Excel, a Stormy Atlantic, to name a few and of course, Kitten’s Joy’s Big Blue Kitten. Your Maverick Wave is by Elusive Quality out of a Stormy Atlantic mare. Should be very exciting race. Love and Hugs, JB

  20. / Reply

    Thank you for praying for Fancy; Judy, Carol and Marshall. Some times one has to vent and share. The bute so far has given mobility to Fancy as I heard. Yeah!! But, this reoccurring beginning of laminitis does worry me. She needs to move and get out and around with her arthritis but then we have to keep her within the paddock area so she does not graze on the grass for now. This is such a learning experience for me.
    hugs to all, Sally B

  21. / Reply

    Goodnight, love you with kisses Zenyatta and your sons too
    loving zprincess and dear Sir always
    Auntie Sally B

  22. / Reply

    Dear Vicki,
    Will definitely keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Stay strong and hang on to positive thoughts — rely on us here with the mighty Queen Z to help bolster your fighting spirit.
    Do stay in touch and keep us posted. Best Wishes always.
    Hugs and Love

  23. / Reply

    HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY to Dottie Shirreffs and Mike Smith!
    Sorry to be late, but hope you both had a lovely day.
    Hugs

  24. / Reply

    To Sandy, Sheena and all who have sent messages about my new dog! First, the little guy has had an adjustment in his name: he is Smudgy now, instead of Smudge — it seemed more “call friendly”.
    I have fallen behind on the blog, but wanted to let everyone know that Smudgy saw the vet on Monday and was given an antibiotic, Baytrol, to take for 10 days. It is a chewable, but he doesn’t like it enough to chew so I put it in his food. This works fine. His breath has improved, I think. His appetite is great, and he loves running fast, chasing after Bailey!
    They are doing just wonderfully well together so far.
    Thanks to all Z’sters for your kind words and concern. You’re the very best!
    Hugs, Love and Woofs

    • / Reply

      Dear Marshall

      So happy to hear Smudgy is doing so well and that he and Bailey have bonded. Glad the med is working out fine in his food. Love and Hugs to all of you, JB

    • / Reply

      Dear Marshall,
      Glad to hear that Smudgy is improving in the breath department and seems to be fitting into his new family very well :-) Sending best wishes for continued improvement. Woofs to both of them and hugs to you.
      Sandy

  25. / Reply

    Dear Sheena,
    The Arlington Million this weekend has two favorites trained by Chad Brown and owned by the Ramsey’s- Big Blue Kitten, entered with with a Rabbit (pacemaker)
    Shining Copper and Slumber. Both have won this year alternating wins. A few Euros are
    also entered. Should be a great race.
    Love and hugs

  26. / Reply

    August 13 Cherokee Devotional

    Grief is one of the most tenacious and persistent emotions of all our feelings. Putting it aside is a temporary act at most, because it waits and moves at subtle times and when we least expect it.
    This deceptive pain can spring from times and times ago-things that have been dealt with and put to rest. But grief is a spirit and loves to spring up as guilt and subtle questioning about what if we had done differently.
    We have a right to happiness, without grief. The fact that we can scold it and have it leave should show us we can be free, even though it takes a time or two to overturn its invitation to hurt.

    Almighty God made me an Indian, but not an agency Indian.
    Geronimo
    Apache
    Circa 1876

  27. / Reply

    Good morning, Zenny and Z fan family. We just watched the meteor shower this morning. Love early morning stars and then early sunrise. Sun’s not up here for awhile yet. Look forward to catching up on last few days’ posts. Love watching Ziconic’s video. Have seen it twice – your ‘boys’ are so handsome, Zenny! Hope everyone has a good day today filled with many blessings. with love, Elizabeth

  28. / Reply

    Dear Kathy.Wonderful devotional.Great news from the Dyfi they won the National Lottery award!woo-hoo.Film crew are there with Michaela Strachen(Springwatch presenter).I am thrilled for them.Lovely pic on their FB Emyr is the tallish guy in the front.Celyn has a hole in her feather after the food fight yesterday but shouldn’t be a problem.The Loch of Lowes female left last Friday I hope Glesni will stay until the storms clear there has been flash floods and lightning strikes in the south of England.It’s very humid here (as in UK humid)!The ratties are going to Begas and you can’t take a camel with you!Ray is with gwampy today and they managed to trap the cat with the horrible head wound.She is called Mimi and is at the vet now.Story on Mr No Ears.Did you see Dolly’s new friend Rio?.I know they get to talk a lot.Beautiful pics of Joey with Dr Bob.Just voted for Zoe she was reading Uggie’s book last night.Have a great day.Love and hugs to you,Kisses for Holly,Nikko and Sugar.SheenaXOXO

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,

      Congratulations, Dyfi! That’s wonderful! I hope Glesni stays until the weather is better, too. I hope the ratties have fun in Begas. Loved the pic of Ray and his gwampy. Best wishes for Mimi! I did see Rio. He’s a nice looking bird. The pics of Joey and Dr. Bob bring tears to the eyes. I sure hope Zoe can win that contest. Loved the pic of her reading Uggie’s book with Mommy. Enjoy your day. Love and hugs from me, kisses from Holly, Nikko and Sugar. Kathy XOXO

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena, Fantastic news for the Dyfi. I watch the “Fish Thief” last night. It was quite comical. I do pray that Glesni waits out the storm. Inevitably, they all must migrate but, I sure hope they would only go as far south as Spain or Portugal. I hope the Loch of Lowes female has a safe trip, maybe she will stow up somewhere until is passes. Someone just flew after a Magpie on the nest, hehehe. Take good care, Mary Margaret

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena:

      Can’t wait to follow The Great Frankel’s babies as they being their racing careers. Love and Hugs, JB

  30. / Reply

    Dear Abigail
    I would like to share the heartfelt piece you wrote about Hale,Hope,Molly the donkey and the other horses you worked so hard to save,and the horrific reality of horse slaughter. Can you tell me where that article exists other than the blog,I was unable to find the full one on The Vault. My small donation will be the first of many. Thank-you for doing all you do for the love of horses with your amazing Vault articles so full of racing history and now your work saving equines.

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