Zenyatta

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Happy Valentine’s Day!

Zenyatta and her valentines. Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane's End
Zenyatta and her valentines. Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane’s End

Happy Friday!

We wish all Zenyatta fans a happy Valentine’s Day, and we’re sending extra love to those of you who put a valentine in the mail for Z. She enjoyed each and every one—particularly the peppermints!

What’s better than to celebrate with some new photos of 13Z in the snow and an up close and personal view of Zenyatta eating her peppermints? Thanks Alys!

Enjoy!
-Team Z

13Z and the boys. Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane's End.
13Z and the boys. Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane’s End.


Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane's End
Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane’s End


Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane's End.
Photo courtesy of Alys Emson/Lane’s End.

Reader Interactions

1,289 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Good afternoon zsters :-)

    Bible:
    Our soul waiteth for the Lord. He is our help and our shield. (Psalms 33:20)

    @Abigail- praying for your mom
    Thx for the MOW link :-)
    @Marshall- good news :-) Glad ur ok
    @Sue noel -i love hearing stories of Barnaby and traveller.
    Glad u weren’t injured in the fall

    @Max -I just love hovis. He cracks me up.

    May God bless you all and have a good weekend
    Luv and prayers, vamp

  2. / Reply

    Dear Max Diolch Yn Calon. Ah ,the “yellow perils” are all out ready for St David’s Day tomorrow,they are always a sign spring has arrived,can’t understand why Hovis doesn’t like them!You may know that they and the Leek are the national emblems of Wales.We use leeks in “cawl” our version of “scotch broth”! I do hope Hovis gets that phone call he looked magnificent in the pic.Hope NNN does well on the dirt am looking forward to him coming back to RA.He is such a beautiful creature.Hugs Sheena

    • / Reply

      This is probably a dumb question Sheena, but what flowers are “yellow perils” ? Daffodils? Dandelions?

    • / Reply

      Sheena. 3N is listed as a bay, but Wesley Ward says that he’s “pitch black.” I’d actually like to see him stay home and run in the Triple Crown. I like his mask aka blinkers. He seems to be running in Coolmore colors since France. Javier is riding this weekend.
      I know that the daff is the Welsh flower. The daffs here are still under tons of snow. Winter is not letting up. Snow, I think, tomorrow. It’s also nasty cold and no sign of letup in the near future. It’s getting to be a bore. We’ve also lost the distraction of the Olympics but March Madness at least is on the horizon.
      Hovis told us some time ago that he has his own phone. As far as I’m concerned, any team would be lucky to get him. What has become of Foxy? Free the Moose! Neigh!

  6. / Reply

    Zenyatta, there has been so much interesting postings that I must catch up!
    All this has happened because of you sweet Z and I am thinking about you all the time.
    You will be a wonderful mama again real soon. God bless you, stay warm, and comfortable! Will you have a princess this time? We will all be pacing, pacing!

    love, hugs, and kisses on your soft nose, and to your baby in the bump, Coz and 13z
    Auntie, Sally B

    • / Reply

      Tiz Herself-Thanks so much for posting this. I remember these races, both the Free House-Silver Charm contest and the Vigors SA Handicap, as if they were yesterday. Darrell McHargue became a steward later on after he quite riding. It was good to hear the voice of Dave Johnson calling the Vigors race.

    • / Reply

      Dear Tiz Herself:

      Great to see this race again. Beautiful gray. Thanks. Love and Hugs, JB

      • / Reply

        Dear Barb W, Ann and Z Family:

        I join in wishing everyone in the path of storms to stay safe. Love and Hugs, JB

    • / Reply

      ♥ Barb,
      Personally, I’m safe. Horrible mud slides. The storm doesn’t end until tomorrow night. We’re suppose to have T-storms today :-( What a mess!!! Peeps might think what’s wrong with rain?? Well, when areas have fires this makes for dangerous mud slides when it rains heavy like it has been.
      JAG

    • / Reply

      Glad to know that JAG was OK as of this morning? Has anyone had news of any of our other friends? The mudslides and evacuations seemed to be just east of Arcadia (the location of Santa Anita). Those beautiful mountains in the distance – hard to think of mud pouring down!

  9. / Reply

    Having fun cruisng the 2014 Barretts March select two year old sale!!

    Bernardini x Mining my Business, by Mining colt. This guy’s dam is 1/2 to Kentucky Derby and Preakness winner Real Quiet.

    Malibu Moon x Necessary Evil, by Harlan’s Holiday filly. HUGE fan of Necessary Evil as a race mare – she sat a track record of :56.68 at Hollywood Park in her five furlong debut and she beat the boys in the Hollywood Juvenile Championship as a two year old, second in the Sorrento Stakes. It was unfortunate that injury cut her career short – cannot wait to see her Malibu Moon filly race!

    Artie Schiller x Sookloozy, by Avenue of Flags colt. Sookloozy’s 2004 colt by Red Bullet sold for $2.5+ million to Darley Stable at the Barretts sale in 2006, ran one furlong in :9.60 seconds which was a sale record.

    Galileo (IRE) x Adoration, by Honor Grades filly. Really nice parents on this girl, Adoration was a Breeders Cup Classic winner of $2 million + and Galileo is of course a legend, sire of Frankel, etc.

    Street Cry (IRE) x Careless Jewel, by Tapit colt – Loved Careless Jewel and of course I love Street Cry!

    Am still going through this… love this stuff!

  11. / Reply

    Dear Max. Have heard there are more winter storms heading your way, March is coming in like a lion in your part of the world and it’s raining in California!!! Is a little colder here but much quieter. maybe Coolmore prefer NNN to run more in Europe I think he may go for the St James Palace stakes.Moose’s friend Marty is running this weekend.Yes ,free the Moose!Hugs Sheena

    • / Reply

      Sheena. Winning a US Triple Crown would be an incredible victory for Coolmore. 3N might be the horse. As you know, the reigning English Triple Crown winner, Nijinsky, is a Canadian bred, US owned and Irish trained horse. I always get a smile out of those facts.

      • / Reply

        Dear Max:

        I’ll bet they’re thinking they may have a chance with Z’s little brother. Wouldn’t that be something! Love and Hugs, JB

        • JudyB. Yes indeed. They are very quiet about him and V’s new baby, whatever is going on there. Lots to look forward to in this foaling season.

  13. / Reply

    Dear Mama Z, COZ, Little Big Red and Baby Z:

    Stay warm and cozy. Sweet Baby Dreams. Love all of you so much. Hugs, JB

  14. / Reply

    Dear Z’sters,
    Thank all of you for the good wishes!
    I am very happy that it is all done and over with.

    Have a great weekend, one and all!
    Marshall

  16. / Reply

    March 1 Cherokee Devotional

    MARCH Unu “la hee” Windy Month

    We the great mass of the people think only of the love we have for our land, for we do love the land where we were brought up.
    Chief John Ross

    We thought they would last forever-those old ones who taught us, bent us, sweetened our lives. We thought our questions would always go to them, and answers would return in familiar voices. Too many times we did not appreciate their humor, their words that chided us with lessons. Our differences were great, we thought. Our eyes wandered to other things, our voices mingled with strange ones. And suddenly, like the vapor mists that lift and fade on sun-struck mountain tops, they were gone. We did not see them go. They slipped past the boundaries to joy and rest without limit. Now the questions hang in mid-air without voices to answer. And the differences fade like the mists but memory persists with genuine humor, genuine love, and we, in turn, convince our young to, “Hear me now, my children…”

    I have dreamed that he shall live to count many coups and be old.
    Grandfather of Plenty-Coups
    1848

  17. / Reply

    Dear Sheena,

    Audrey looked better than I thought she would yesterday. Still needs lots of prayer and lots of peace and quiet.

    Hugs, Kathy

  18. / Reply

    Carol, Are they racing at Oaklawn today? We have a winter storm forecast for late tonight and all day Sunday but I didn’t know if it was coming in from the south. If you do go to the track have a successful day!

    • / Reply

      Racing at Oaklawn is on…..storm coming in later today….semi-cloudy and sixty today…
      will race tomorrow in rain also….not too cold…
      ….
      town landmark here….the 124yr old Majestic Hotel burned Thurs & fri ….demolition crews now razing remains….blocks of downtown closed off…merchants not happy…hotel had been closed since 2006…
      …..
      PACE…PACE….PACE…

  20. / Reply

    Dear Kathy.Thank you for your Happy St David’s Day wish. Delighted to hear about Audrey,you are a good friend.We all love soup when we are ill. We have the Marie Curie care nurses over here and doctors still make home visits.
    I hear you are having some british weather in California even Marty stayed in bed with his yogie!Ray looked so snug on Gwampy’s lap last night.Heard Fubu(momma’s little lover boy)isn’t very well, he was diagnosed with stomatitis and cancerous mouth ulcers last December and he hasn’t been able to keep his food down this week.His mom is going crazy, there’s only the 2 of them and they can’t operate because of his asthma I have checked and he kept down some kitty gravy last night.So sad. Did you see the lovely story of the little boy who gave the $20 he found to a soldier, seems he never knew his dad who died in Iraq.I was in tears as usual. Have a great day.Hugs to You Kisses for the Puppy Pack.Sheena

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,

      Yes, it’s very damp here right now. We’re very thankful for this moisture, still a long way to go, however, to be out of the drought. Sorry to hear about Fubu’s illness. Prayers going up for him. My heart goes out to his mom. Hadn’t read the story of the little boy. Will look for it. Thanks. All the furbabies are looking good. Love them all! Happy weekend! Hugs from me, kisses from The Pack. Kathy

  21. / Reply

    Dear Kathy. Had hoped the march winds would dry the land over here in time for Cheltenham but doesn’t look like it.Has gone very quiet here since the storms.Will be keeping Audrey in my prayers.Hugs Sheena

    • / Reply

      Dear Sheena,

      It’s always miserable when the ground is sloppy. I hope everyone stays safe. Thank you for your prayers for Audrey.

      Hugs, Kathy

    • / Reply

      Got to see a few seconds of it Vicki (which is a few seconds more than MOST of the HRTV videos which simply refuse to work on my computer) :-( Couldn’t believe the goat was in the stall with the horse!

      • / Reply

        Sandy, that is really a shame. Some internet providers apparently “throttle” bandwidth so videos from some sources don’t stream well. But other videos, you seem to get just fine. When service providers & content providers are at odds over money (no surprise), IF that’s the problem in your area, then customers suffer the consequences — sometimes just to be manipulated into paying more for “better” service, that they should have received in the first place.

      • / Reply

        Sandy, the owner interviewed said the goat travels everywhere with the horse, wandering around while he’s out training, but when the horse returns to his stall, he whinnies for the goat, who comes a running back. They sleep together, sometimes right next to each other. The goat is always walking or standing under the horse (a smaller goat type), but the horse knows how to avoid stepping on his buddy and hurting him. The owner said this goat was with another horse at first, then was moved to this one, who has always been nervous. It calmed the horse down so much, that even after the first horse returned, he has left these two together. The owner agreed it seems like the goat is “in charge”.

  23. / Reply

    I was at Zenyatta’s 2nd retirement party in 2010 at Hollywood Park, but I had not seen her 1st retirement party at HP in 2009, until Abigail posted the link on Facebook. I found the full link of all the festivities including all of Team Z, in case you’re interested again:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umXg_HZ53Pg

    • / Reply

      The main thing I remember about the 2009 ceremony is the reception the governor of California received when he started to make a speech. A deserved reaction, I might add.

      • / Reply

        Arnold certainly has his faults, for which he has been and is suffering some consequences. But the Mosses greeted him like an old friend, regardless of his “popularity” with the crowd.

    • / Reply

      Thanks Vicki – that was awesome. SO nice to see all of Zenny’s connections – the Mosses, Dottie, Mario and Carmen with their kids, Steve Willard, and a much too brief glimpse of John. I’m also pretty sure that I saw our Karen Gogue along the rail right at the beginning of the clip. So nice for those of us who, at that point, hadn’t even heard of Zenyatta to be able to go back and “live” this experience.

  24. / Reply

    Hope all on West Coast are safe and sound and that the rain will do some good to so many drought-stricken areas.

    I don’t know if this has been posted here before…please excuse if a repeat.

    I happened across a DRF article that quoted confirmation of her being in foal 37 days to War Front as of June 14, 2013. Counting backwards 37 days, that puts her breed date at May 8, 2013. Her first two foals were born almost to the day at 340 days from being bred (which is the “average gestation” for mares given at most sites), which would put her estimated foaling date at Sunday, April 13, 2014. So, if Z sticks to her prior schedule, we are about 44 days from Z14 being born, from today, March 1. http://www.drf.com/news/zenyatta-foal-war-front

    • / Reply

      There was a post here on June 21st that said she was confirmed 60 days in foal to War Front. Hard to know which is accurate, but this one would suggest a much earlier foaling date.

      • / Reply

        Thanks, Laura. I tend to think the May 8 date is likely the accurate one. Using the June 21 – 60-day number would calculate to a March 28 foal date (average), which would not be likely since her 2013 foal was born on her birthday of April 1, making a 2014 foaling date several weeks past that date more logical.

        More important for me is I’m so grateful that Zenyatta has proven to be a natural mother, she dotes on her foals and they on her. About the only thing I worry about is when she is given a year off, that she will miss not having a foal at her feet the year following weaning of her foal. No doubt she will be a good “auntie” to her paddock buddies with their babies. John said it best: There’s not one thing about Zenny that isn’t exceptional… not one. She continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Hope it’s a filly this time!

    • / Reply

      Dear BGG:

      Thank you for posting this replay; I hadn’t seen it. What a finish. Looks like quite a rivalry forming between Samraat and Uncle Sigh. Uncle Sigh was also second to Samraat in the Withers Stakes by a length. Love and Hugs, JB

      • / Reply

        Dear Max:

        Congrats to Spot. I think it was No Nay Never’s first race on dirt. He did well. Love and Hugs, JB

  28. / Reply

    Hi there my Zenny family,

    I have put off writing here because sharing this news makes it more real, somehow, something that every fibre in me wants to avoid. My mother died on February 8 and even though she was 94 and had not sustained a lengthy illness, all I feel is that I’ve lost my mum. I’m at that stage where several times a day I think “I must call Mum….” and then I realize she’s gone.

    So I’ve been kind of drifting through my life. But I did start an article I’ve wanted to write for a long time and that was a good thing to do. I published it today:

    http://thevaulthorseracing.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/equipoise-made-music-in-the-heart/

    Love & hugs to so many precious friends here, peppermint kisses to my Big Girl and her boys.

    • / Reply

      Abigail…..so very sorry to hear of your loss…know that she is always with you….
      Prayers and Hugs

    • / Reply

      Abigail, I had wondered how she was, thanks for letting us know. We all only ever have one mum, who was there at our beginning, and losing her means so much. Something you might want to try, now or later, is to write “to her”, saying whatever you feel like saying, or maybe wish you might have said, and just feel whatever you feel thereby. Or else similarly talking to people about it. All that can be healing, even if it takes time, and courage.

      My mom died at 94, four years ago, and I still sometimes find myself “talking to” her, or “hearing her voice” about something, although it has happened gradually less over time. Luckily my friends would ask me about how I was doing, or what I was feeling, so I had opportunities to talk about it, and I still do.

    • / Reply

      I’m so sorry to hear about your mother Abigail and also that we didn’t know earlier. However, support doesn’t have an expiration date, and I know that you will feel many hugs from your Zenny family. Take care as you go through this difficult time.

    • / Reply

      Dear Abigail,
      So sorry to hear about the loss of your mother — you are in our thoughts and prayers.
      Thank you for this post about Equipoise. Another wonderfully well-written article. I enjoyed learning about this remarkable horse.
      Lots of Love and Hugs

      • / Reply

        Thank you so much Marshall for your thoughts and prayers — deeply appreciated. And so glad you enjoyed the piece on Equipoise. He was truly one of the greatest ever. HUGS

    • / Reply

      Abigail, So sorry for the loss of your mom. I hope you can very soon just remember the happy times you had together and all the wonderful years you had her with you.

  29. / Reply

    Dear Abigail.I am so very sorry to hear the sad news about your dear mother.It doesn’t matter what age they are we never want to lose our parents.I know I never did and think of them constantly,they live in my heart and in my thoughts just as your mum will with you .Take comfort from the fact she is at peace now now and you will see her again one day.Keeping you in my thoughts Love and hugs Sheena

  30. / Reply

    Dear Max. Think NNN relishes the European turf, he even loved the soft turf at Deauville last year. Have you voted for Kauto to be on the anniversary cover of H &H ,someone said they had to because Mad Moose wasn’t an option!!. My head said Frankel but the ole’ heart had to go with the humble legend.Hugs Sheena

    • / Reply

      Thanks for pointing this out. I voted for Kauto too. 16 grade 1 wins is a huge achievement, and Kauto likes the recognition.
      Would like to see the race video for the Swale before commenting about 3N. I have to say that I do enjoy seeing a gray win. Spot is an interesting name for a horse, although there have been many horses with that name.
      Happy national day to you. Hope that you have daffs.
      Free the Moose. Neigh.

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