Zenyatta

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New Z Print Additions

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     13Z, April 2012 / Photo by Tyler Matson

Happy Friday!

Today we are expanding our selection of exclusive Zenyatta.com photographic prints! Add Zenyatta family photos to your collection while supporting an important cause.

Proceeds from the Zenyatta Shop will fund the ongoing maintenance of Zenyatta.com as well as charities that benefit retired and rescued thoroughbreds.

The new prints can be ordered today, and they will begin shipping June 12th.

Enjoy!
-Team Z

Photo by Tyler Matson
     Zenyatta & Cozmic One, April 2012 / Photo by Tyler Matson

Reader Interactions

445 Comments

  1. / Reply

    Zen looks so wonderful. Both colts are absolutely beautiful. And will be wonder full additions to the race world. Are there plans to breed her again or give her dome down time. She really seems to love being a mom. Congradulations to all .

  3. / Reply

    Ahhhh, both colts are beautiful and expectations are so high for both. I hope they have a wonderful , healthy , winning life without injury. I cannot see how the Mosses would ever sell one of Zenyatta’s foals, she is just too special and loved so much by them. I hope she has a long life ahead of her and is given a chance to rest from mother hood . It s very hard being a good mother with patience. She is so good at it though. Sending much love , hugs and kisses to all.

  4. / Reply

    Thank you so much for the continuous pictures and updates of Zenyatta, CoZmic One and baby Z13. She sure seems so comfortable being a mom. Her west coast fans and horse racing tracks miss her. We all look forward to seeing the baby’s run. Lots of love from your Las Vegas fans!!

  5. / Reply

    This picture of CoZmic One with mamma Z is so very special. Love it. Also 13Z as well. XOXOXO’s to all :)

  6. / Reply

    http://www.bloodhorse.com/horse-racing/articles/78598/champ-royal-delta-confirmed-for-fleur-de-lis

    Repost in case everyone shifts over here to this post.

    Mr.Besilu will start on the same day with his famous stablemate Royal Delta, different races of course. I knew he was close to a start. He was working way to well to not start soon. I have to be extra vigilant so that I can see the races. I wonder what he looks like now? Filled in and shiny? I’m so excited!

  7. / Reply

    Dear Team Z:

    Thank you. Love these photos. Both of Z’s boys just beautiful. Hugs, JB

  10. / Reply

    just sayin the colts of zenyatta look fantastic! lots of hope in them. cant wait to watch them run. zenyatta needs a daughter

  11. / Reply

    It is so hard to decide….wish I could afford them all! Appreciate so much the extra time and effort it takes to maintain Zenny’s public presence and allowing us to remain a part of her life and her, ours. I never cease being grateful for your generosity at including us in the “Zenyatta family”. Thank you, thank you, thank you! Hugs to all.

  12. / Reply

    Love these prints ! Can’t wait for news on who Z’s going to be bred to. Hugs to Zenyatta, Coz, and 13Z. :)

  13. / Reply

    Thank you team and the Mosses. Zen’s boys are just beautiful. Hope to see soon more pics of CoZ he must be huge now. It’s wonderful of the Mosses to donate part of these funds to charity as well a running this website. Thank you all Hugs

  16. / Reply

    Oh, Thank You for adding more! I am waiting for the picture of Z & 13Z running in the paddock to be framed. The first frame is now discontinued so had to pick another….I love the added ones at the Shop!! HAPPY FRIDAY AND HUGS TO ALL

  19. / Reply

    dear judy have a blessed night sweet dreams God bless aren’t the prints gorgeous. our derby tomorrow wonder if new approach can sire another top race winner!poor hovis was sad today such a touching poem for Sidney love and hugs sheenaX

    • / Reply

      Sheena. I was taken aback today by Hovis. He’s a special horse.
      Lots of British horsey news on Twitter. Twitter is the best.
      Looks like Meg/Molly has now connected with Kauto. I wonder how Tilly will react? Kauto’s put a picture of Meg on his Twitter page. Super Steve is giving him a hard time. Moosie is busy establishing his official twitter account against the pretenders. He tweeted that there is something planned for his next move, if he decides to go along with it.
      Let us know if that grand ole chestnut wins the Derby. Hope that your good weather continues.

  20. / Reply

    I just love all the photos but I have to make a decision that may take a day or two. Thank you Team Z for offering them to us.
    Love, hugs and good night kisses to Zenyatta, Coz and red prince on their soft noses!

    • / Reply

      Yes, she will!

      http://www.drf.com/news/belmont-park-fever-kept-eblouissante-out-ogden-phipps
      When John Shirreffs shipped Eblouissante from Southern California to New York last month, he was hoping to have Zenyatta’s younger half-sister ready for Monday’s Grade 1 Ogden Phipps Handicap.
      But Eblouissante developed a temperature shortly after her arrival, Shirreffs said Thursday, which is why she didn’t make it back to the work tab until Wednesday.
      “She got real dehydrated when she first got here,” Shirreffs said. “She got a temperature about two days after she got here.”
      Shirreffs said Eblouissante missed about five days of training. After missing the Phipps, Shirreffs said he doesn’t have “any specific plans” for the filly, though the Shuvee Handicap at Saratoga on July 20 could be a target.

  22. / Reply

    I Love them both. I have to tell everyone that a ittle boy in my class made me a poster with Zenyatta and Cozmic One. He copied the picture of Cozmic One jumping up on Zenyatta. He wrote on the poster This horse Wants Food and I Love Horses. i got such a kick out of how he saw Cozmic One and Zenyatta. He told me that Cozmic One was asking his mom for food. That to me was so precious. Thank You Lane’s End for sharing. Love, Shari XXXOOO

  24. / Reply

    okay, i have found Queen Z a new boyfriend with whom we will have more beautiful colts. His name is Hat Trick and is only $15K stud fee. And the colt could be named TrickZ. What do ya think, group?

    • / Reply

      I think it’s a wonderful idea!! We have often discussed him on the forum side and we think he would be perfect for Zenyatta. Would dearly love some of that Sunday Silence blood here!

  25. / Reply

    Eagerly awaiting news of plans for Zenyatta’s “3rd edition”. If it’s in her best interest (and I know that’s what the decision will be based on), I’m hoping for a Z14… :)

  29. / Reply

    A Poem for John Shirreffs on His 68th Birthday
    (Revised for June 1, 2013)

    Out of the East
    To California came
    A young ex-Marine,
    John Shirreffs by name,
    Who more
    Than enough
    Of war
    Had seen.
    He wanted a life
    Without such strife
    And did search
    For his own path of peace
    On this earth.
    He was Hawai’i bound
    Since he aspired
    A professional surfer to be,
    But he stopped in NorCal
    To visit a friend,
    And in that locale
    His westward trek would end,
    For the Fates divinely conspired
    Him down a different career path to send,
    And he himself found
    Connecting once again
    To his childhood roots
    In equine pursuits.
    Indeed, the events that led to John’s being hired
    Apparently just by good chance
    At famed Loma Rica Ranch
    Now seem by Destiny inspired.
    This ranch, you see,
    Set in NorCal’s Grass Valley,
    With hundreds
    Of rolling green acres
    Crossed by white fences, like lace,
    Was a place
    Where noble Thoroughbreds
    Were bred
    And trained to race.
    There John’s spirits did rally,
    And the rest, as they say, is history,
    Of which we still are taking the tally.
    Here’s how it came to be…
    Upon arrival
    In NorCal,
    John sought a job just for survival,
    And cattleman Mathews had for him an offer:
    This rancher’s proffer
    Was room and board and five dollars a week;
    For that Mathews did seek
    Someone who could teach
    His Appaloosa to jump.
    John, in the saddle first rate
    Since his childhood days
    In the Granite State
    Where his family horses had raised,
    No more did ask
    And accepted the task
    With nary a grump.
    Then occurred the incident
    Which in retrospect seems heaven sent.
    John was blithely out riding
    To a neighboring farm,
    Not warily eyeing
    The state of the ground,
    Nor in the least thinking
    That he and his beast
    Could come to harm,
    When he of a sudden found
    That into deep mud
    He had ridden,
    Its depth being from him hidden.
    ’Twas land,
    But much like quicksand,
    And his horse was sinking.
    I imagine his heart did thud
    As his horse ever deeper sank in the mud,
    Up to his knees and his hocks.
    John, after initial shock,
    Quickly took stock
    And calmly began to guide
    His mount out of the muck
    In which it was stuck.
    As Fate did have it, also out for a ride
    Was a stranger
    Who of their distress
    Became aware
    And from a distance
    With growing interest
    At them did stare
    As John tried his best
    To rescue his horse from that mess,
    In the end achieving success.
    The stranger
    Did admire
    John’s compassion
    And the fashion
    In which John did extricate
    His horse from danger.
    The stranger thought it a good test
    Did make
    Of John’s competence,
    And then he,
    Who just happened to be
    The renowned Henry Freitas,
    Did on the spot
    John hire
    The Loma Rica yearlings to break.
    John later did confess
    That Henry most likely
    Did NOT see
    How John had ridden
    INTO the mire
    And himself caused that mishap,
    Which could’ve been dire;
    Or, in the alternative,
    John did opine,
    Perhap’
    ’Twas Henry’s whim
    To prefer his hired hands a little dim
    And to find it just fine
    If they were not so very smart!
    At any rate,
    It was John’s fortunate fate
    That Henry Freitas
    Him hired
    The Thoroughbred yearlings to start
    And then to work in the breeding shed
    And in the stallion barn
    Where resided the champion Noor,
    He of shining fame,
    As his very name
    Does forever proclaim,
    And who, though from racing long retired,
    Still at Loma Rica did reign
    As the “Senior Senator.”
    Adding to Noor’s renown
    (And he’s the FIRST horse this ever to do)
    Was the fact that he did defeat
    Not one but TWO
    Champions of the Triple Crown:
    Assault and the great Citation.
    Assault he bested twice,
    And he did Citation beat,
    To the latter’s consternation,
    First once and then thrice more,
    For a grand total of four,
    A feat which for itself speaks.
    Nor will fans of racing lore
    Ever forget
    How ’twas in that same year,1950,
    When Noor was in his prime
    And feeling flat out nifty,
    That he time after time
    Made world and track records fall:
    In three consecutive weeks,
    He three world records set,
    Thrilling jubilant throngs
    At nine, ten and fourteen furlongs,
    Concluding that year with his own coronation
    As best older horse overall
    In the nation.
    He at stud first stood
    At Ridgewood,
    The ranch of his owner, Charles Howard,
    Where, before Noor,
    Seabiscuit too once had towered.
    Later Noor was to Moorpark sent,
    But his final decade
    He spent
    ’Midst Loma Rica’s leafy glades.
    In time,
    John would be one of the final two
    To sit astride Noor
    And him to ride the green fields through.
    Then came the sad day
    In 1974,
    When Noor,
    Aged twenty-nine,
    Passed away,
    And the world bid adieu
    To this Thoroughbred crowned in glory…

    Returning to the thread of John’s story,
    He also mucked the stalls,
    As did the workers all,
    But John alone lived in quarters there above.
    In Henry he gained a treasured mentor
    From whom he much learned
    Of the horse-training art
    And whose regard and even love
    He in turn soon earned.
    To the Freitases, he became like a son,
    And when each day’s work was done,
    John was invited to partake
    Of the delectable dinner
    That Edith Freitas daily did make.
    Before retiring for the night,
    A friendly game of Hearts
    Just might
    Also be in store,
    Fun for all, whoever was the winner.
    Henry Freitas was most genial
    And to visitors amenable—
    The gate was always open.
    Should those visitors be hopin’
    The great Noor
    To see,
    Henry personally
    Would bring him out.
    Now doesn’t that hospitality
    Remind you of John with Z
    And what Barn 55 was all about?
    And what’s more,
    John to this day still trains
    In accordance with Henry’s refrains
    Which John’ll quote, chapter and verse:
    “Put the horse first.”
    “Take your time, don’t rush.”
    And precisely such
    Was the tender care
    That John Shirreffs took
    To fully prepare
    His “Zenya,” the world’s greatest mare,
    For her racing career.
    John had no hesitation nor fear
    To wait for the eve of Z’s fourth year
    Till he her first race did book.
    He was ever patient, going slow,
    Allowing Zenyatta time to grow.
    He was consistently gentle and kind,
    Helping Zenyatta find
    Her own balance and gears,
    Building her stamina,
    Nurturing her anima,
    So she continued loving to run.
    John Shirreffs showed all how training is properly done
    When he crafted his star, who won and won and won
    And always found racing—and people—fun.
    Today John remains
    A soft-spoken man
    Who believes in the carrot, not the stick,
    Be it with horse or human.
    His smile is easy and quick,
    And you will spy
    A twinkle in his eye.
    He’s a quiet guy,
    Not really shy,
    And certainly not a loner,
    Yet happiest out of the limelight.
    When his entry
    In victory
    To the winner’s circle does go,
    He just might
    From the apron take in that show,
    For what makes his heart sing
    Is witnessing
    The delight
    Those victories do bring
    To each proud owner
    And to the many fans
    Sitting in the stands.
    Dear Mr. Shirreffs,
    Since at the end of this year,
    The track
    At Hollywood Park
    Will go forever dark,
    You’ve now circled back
    To your native East
    To pursue your stellar career.
    Now the Big Sandy
    Will be your host.
    For eastern Z-sters
    ’Twill be most dandy
    To have you so handy,
    And from coast to coast,
    We all are happy to hear
    That you,
    And Ebby too,
    Whom we also hold dear,
    Are settling happily in.
    We’re hoping you two
    Will on that huge oval, and up Saratoga way,
    Get many a win!
    But SoCal Z-sters also pray
    That at the very least
    You’ll be back some day
    Sweet victories to repeat
    At SoCal’s Santa Anit’!
    In closing, let me say
    From East to West
    Z-sters today
    Wish you continued success
    And every happiness!
    Mr. Shirreffs, you’re simply the best!

    Happy birthday, Mr. Shirreffs, and many, many more! Thank you for giving us the great Zenyatta, Horse of Our Lifetime!

    • / Reply

      Trina, this is truly EPIC!! What a wonderful biography of “our John.” He is one amazing man, and you have really outdone yourself this time.

      Happy Birthday to John and very best wishes for a great day and a wonderful year. Wishing you great success in your cross-country training efforts as well as good health and great happiness. Meeting you at the BC was a treat beyond words.

      • / Reply

        Trina. A tour de force from you in this poem. I learned a lot about John and his interesting history. He is a kind trainer, the best sort. Happy birthday to him, and all of the best to you. These poems are always special.

      • / Reply

        Thank you, Sandy and Pati! “Hoof stamp of approval”–too cute, Pati! High hoof!

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