Zenyatta

Queen of Racing

Zenyatta News

Happy 16th Birthday, Z!

Zenyatta, November 2019. Photo by Kyle Acebo

It’s April 1, and that means Zenyatta and Ziconic both have a reason to celebrate!

Queen Z turns 16 today, and she received a special gift from Ziconic, Linda, and George at Templeton Farms.

Ziconic is now seven years old, and we wish him the happiest birthday!


Lane’s End has been hosting live farm tours for fans around the world who are staying safe inside their homes. Zenyatta will make an appearance on today’s tour with Bill Farish at 12:30 pm ET. He’ll start at the stallion barn before visiting the birthday girl. Watch on Facebook Live or visithorsecountry.com.

Update: if you missed the tour, you can watch it here.

See you there!

Reader Interactions

300 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Dear Sweet Judy B,

    Happy Happy Birthday.
    Your meal sounds yummy and with cake and bubbly!!!!
    Love to you and Miss LM.

    Love and hugs to all my Zfriends too. Had to step up my game being the head cook and bottle washer. So tired but blessed to have the job.
    Stay safe!

    • / Reply

      My Dears Shirlee and Ann:

      Thank you so much for the Happy Birthday wishes.

      Shirlee, thank you for your lovely posts and for your sweet friendship. Z’s Blog is and always has been so special to us. Now, more than ever.

      Love and Hugs to you and the Kitties, JB and LM

      Ann, make sure you get some rest too. Hello to your wonderful crew, RL and the fur babies.

      Love and Hugs to all of you, JB and LM

  2. / Reply

    Dear Z, COZ, ZI, ZEL and DC:

    Enjoy your day and have a comfy and cozy night. Happy Dreams. Love You. Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Beautiful.
      First race I have watched in awhile and so glad I did.
      Needed a good charge and these ladies are all lovely race horses. What heart.
      Thanks! Congrats CeCe.

  5. / Reply

    Happy Happy Birthday Judy!!!
    Thanks for all the wonderful posts and hope you had a good day.
    Love and hugs,Debbie

    • / Reply

      MY Dear Debbie:

      Thank you so much for the Happy Birthday wishes and your sweet comment. Love and Hugs, JB

  6. / Reply

    Dear Friends,

    Here is the link for Race 10 today at Oaklawn. American Pharoah’s filly, Merneith, out of Flattermewithroses(by Flatter) broke her maiden today in the style of her daddy. She does resemble her sire, too.

    https://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/239718/merneith-blows-away-oaklawn-field-in-maiden-win

    The 3 yr. old filly (ridden by Martin Garcia) won the 6 furlong race by 10 1/4 lengths in the mud. She is trained by Bob Baffert.

    Congrats to her and all connections!

    Hugs and Love

    • / Reply

      Oops, sorry there is no replay with this link — just the article. Maybe someone more adept can find the video link?

      Thanks!

      Hugs and Love

  8. / Reply

    Hope all of you all got to watch the Mill Ridge video. It was fun and very informative. There tours are the best by far. They are casual like having a cup of coffee and talking with old friends. Bless them for the peace and joy they bring to us.

    Yeah Marshall, I saw Mernith’s race. What a show. I was watching on NBC Sports and they weren’t expecting something like her especially on that sloppy track. She does look like dad. He was not a very showy looking horse, just could run like the wind and had a sweet personality.

    Blessings and good health and a good day to all of you.

      • / Reply

        Dear Judy,

        Thanks for the Mill Ridge link! I agree with Shirlee that their tours are so much fun and informative at the same time! It really is like a visit with friends.

        Thanks for the abbreviated replay of Merneith’s win, too. I like this little girl of American Pharoah’s!

        Hope everyone has a good healthy week!

        Hugs and Love

  9. / Reply

    Dear Z, COZ, ZI, ZEL and DC:

    Hope all of you are comfy and cozy in your stalls. Happy Dreams. Love all of you so much. Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Dear Judy,

      Thanks for the above links! The Fantasy Derby sounds very interesting.
      Boy, Code of Honor and Performer are beautiful members of the Chestnut Club!

      Hugs and Love

      • / Reply

        Dear Marshall and Shirlee:

        Yes, but like Shirlee, my heart’ is with Big Red.

        Two gorgeous Chestnuts. Love and Hugs, JB

  13. / Reply

    Dear Kathy,

    ? ? ? HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!! ? ? ?
    Sure hope you are enjoying your special day, my friend, and Best Wishes for many more!
    I know Steve will do a great job with the steaks (I can almost smell them cooking!!) and the baked potato along with the salad sounds just perfect.

    Hope you managed to find some cake, too! ? ? ? ? ?

    Hugs and Love ❤️

    • / Reply

      Dear Marshall,

      I had as good a day as I could. Dinner turned out great, and yes, there was even chocolate cake and ice cream!

      Love and hugs,
      Kathy

    • / Reply

      Dear Judy,

      I was thinking of Sheena today. I agree she would be so excited about this Zarkava-Frankel baby. She is very cute and looks quite well formed, too. Zarkava looks great, the dapples are shining!

      For Sheena, I send HAPPY BIRTHDAY wishes to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on the occasion of her 94th birthday! May she continue in good health and happiness.

      Yes, Judy, I would be in the Secretariat camp for the Fantasy Derby, too! ❤️

      Hugs and Love

  15. / Reply

    Marshall,
    I know Sheena would be so thrilled with the Frankel baby. I think all of her posts. I would not know anything about racing in England and Ireland if not for her. Hope her family is doing well.

    Happy Birthday to the First Lady of the world, Queen Elizabeth. Isn’t it remarkable that England has had two magnificent queens name Elizabeth.

    Getting ready to watch the Mill Ridge Video.

    • / Reply

      Dear Shirlee,

      I have learned so much from Sheena, too. She gave us such a gift by sharing her racing knowledge and love of racing (flat and jumps/hurdles) with us. She may not have realized what a difference she made in our lives, but I think she is smiling now.

      I like that title, First Lady of the world, Queen Elizabeth! There is none more deserving than she.

      Keep calm and carry on. I am going to watch the Mill Ridge tour now!
      Hugs and Love

  16. / Reply

    Dear Kathy, Marshall, Sheena and Z Fans:

    Sheena knew so much about European racing and Euro horses, past and present. She taught me a lot about racing there that I had never known. Sheena and her posts were a huge contribution to Z’s Blog and we all feel the loss deeply. We will always treasure her memory. Love and Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Dear Shirlee:

      The post above was meant for you, Kathy and Marshall. I typed Sheena. Been thinking of her. Love and Hugs, JB

  18. / Reply

    Dear Zenyatta and family,

    Hope you had a beautiful Earth Day! The weather was lovely here today — pristine blue sky and nice temps (coolish, but warm in the sun). Thursday will not be so pleasant according to the forecast, rainy and possible storms. Stay safe dear Z and all the family.

    Hugs and Love

  19. / Reply

    Judy,
    Just means that Sheena’s spirit is here with us.

    Rainy and windy here in Indy. Like Marshall in NC (by the way my daughter lives in Charlotte) we had a beautiful day yesterday. It seems to be that way. One day sun and warm the next day or two wind and rain.

    Happy Earth Day to all of you. Gotta go give the cat a pill and some other meds. Wish me luck.

    • / Reply

      Dear Z Fans:

      The past performances I posted above are for the Fantasy Derby to be run on May 2nd on HRRN.com.

      The televised Derby on May 2nd is for Triple Crown Winners only. Going with Big Red, Pharoah, Citation and War Admiral.

      Here are the thirteen TC winners.

      In the history of the Triple Crown, 13 horses have won all three races: Sir Barton (1919), Gallant Fox (1930), Omaha (1935), War Admiral (1937), Whirlaway (1941), Count Fleet (1943), Assault (1946), Citation (1948), Secretariat (1973), Seattle Slew (1977), Affirmed (1978), American Pharoah (2015), and Justify (2018).

      Love and Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Dear Judy,

      I am a bit confused. Oh, I think I got it now!
      I was trying to figure out why The Bid, Sunday Silence, FunnyCide, Mine that Bird and others who were not TC winners were listed. Now I see the reason for your first two statements — the Fantasy Derby (HRRN) is different from the televised Derby. Duh!

      I like your picks of Secretariat, A.Pharoah, Citation, but I am a bit conflicted on fourth — maybe Whirlaway? War Admiral is a very good pick however.

      Thanks for posting the links! Wonder why HRRN didn’t have Smarty Jones on the list.

      Hugs and Love

      • / Reply

        Assault was outstanding, too. Just finished reading an article about him.
        I like Whirlaway’s nickname, Mr. Longtail — apparently, his trainer thought he was a real problem child, but Eddie Arcaro seemed to understand him, as did trainer Jones who figured the one-eyed blinker would keep him from bolting out to the right in the stretch. It worked well.

        Hugs and Love

      • / Reply

        Dear Marshall:

        Sorry I confused you. I didn’t realize that there were two Virtual Derbys going on May 2nd.

        I think it is very difficult to choose a winner from either of these fields. All Champions; all magnificent. Love and Hugs, JB

        • Dear Judy,

          You didn’t confuse me — I did that myself! You know sometimes you read something, and it doesn’t really click. It dawned on me while I was typing my reply that HRRN.com was satellite radio Fantasy Derby of Derby winners as explained in your very first posted link. Totally separate from the NBC broadcast of former TC winners in their virtual Derby.

          Please excuse my slow pace! ?

          Hugs and Love

        • Dear Marshall:

          When I first read the Bloodhorse headline, I really did think that the Derby being televised on NBC was in fact the same one being aired by HRRN. So I did cause the confusion. I figured it out when I realized the TV Derby was TC winners entrants only Sorry about that. Love and Hugs, JB

      • / Reply

        Dear Janet and Marshall:

        I join you in praying all of these innocents are safe, including DC. Love and Hugs, JB

  24. / Reply

    Happy Friday everyone
    Sorry this is a bit late – it’s Shirley’s fault for getting me hooked on these virtual farm tours (just kidding, of course). So . . . . Hovey is still providing advice to his fellow equines on how to deal with humans during the continued confinement period and has devised a rating system so that said equine can determine the current state of his or her human. Hopefully we are all still in the Code Green phase.

    https://www.horseandhound.co.uk/blog/hovis-friday-diary-call-me-on-0800-hovishelps-713151

    I was confused about the fantasy Derby races as well. Just now figuring out that there are two. Thanks to Judy for posting the past performances of the one – not sure yet how we will figure out the other. Given my brief history in this game (compared with many of you), my hear will certainly be with American Pharoah. Should be interesting to say the least. Hope everyone has a good weekend. Not exactly warming up yet here in Ohio (sigh).

  25. / Reply

    Catching up on some of the earlier posts, I saw the joke about not knowing what day it is. One of our local TV stations has a special segment on the AM news – “What Day is It?” with Todd (one of the anchors). Todd stands next to this little square like on a page a day calendar and says “it’s Monday!” or whatever it is). They have special music for it too. As Z would say – too funny! :-)

  26. / Reply

    Dear Sandy and Z Fans:

    Sandy, thanks for Hovis.

    Yes, the Fantasy Derbys should be interesting. Don’t forget to vote starting April 30th for your favorite horse to win the HRRN Derby on Horse Racing Radio Network .com.

    Sandy, I could use one of those stand on a square page a day calendars. ???

    Love and Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      Photo finishes. Too many noses hittin’ the wire at same time.
      Thanks to them for keeping us entertained!

      Our calendar says, Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and still in Twilight!
      Stay safe.

        • Dear Ann and Judy,

          Oh crum! I forgot about Trackside on NBCSN again!!

          You would think I could remember this since there isn’t anything else that I am doing. Guess I need a keeper!

          Sorry I missed the dead heats. I will try to do better tomorrow.

          Stay well!
          Hugs and Love

  28. / Reply

    Dear Sandy,

    Thanks again for our weekly Hovis account! He is always so entertaining — great giver of laughs. Hope the hole in his hoof continues to heal and will close completely.

    Hang in there; it will soon be hot.

    Hugs and Love

  30. / Reply

    Sandy,
    Thanks for Hovis. Thing I am Amber closing in on Red.

    So glad we have racing on TV. I enjoyed it and I do like Tom Amoss and Gary Stephens on Fox Sports. Good going by Mia Mischief!

    Hope all are well and holding up. It is rainy and windy AGAIN in Indy.

    See y’all tomorrow on the Mill Ridge video.

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