Wonder what Sheriffs was thinking?

[Dana666]

Have to wonder what Sheriffs and the Zenyatta team were thinking after today\'s race? If they would have ever had a chance, today would have been the perfect day. Instead, Rachel ran one for the ages, and no matter if the great Z does go undefeated, people will always say, \"she was great, but she was no Rachel Alexandra!\" I would now think the chances of them ever facing each other are slim to none. We can only wonder what might have been.

[imallin]

Zenyatta camp is going to try and spin this and say that they\'re going to the Breeders Cup and if Rachel doesn\'t show up that\'s not their fault.

The reason that the entire racing community needs to come down hard on these connections is because Zenyatta has had GOLDEN opportunities to race against males and never once took the shot. Also, another kicker is that Zenyatta\'s style being a one move closer makes her less vulnerable to get destroyed by males and have her heart ripped out and never be the same. Its much easier to \'protect\' a filly/mare who\'s a closer than one who\'s a pace presser like Rachel. You just sit in the back, make your run and you either get there or you don\'t.

I was very disappointed that Z didn\'t try the Classic last year on her hometown track. I was PRAYING she was going to go in that race. I was set to make my biggest lifetime bet on her in there at what, 4-1 or higher?

Her stablemate Tiago got 3rd and he isnt half the horse.

I\'m a huge fan of Zenyatta, but these connections make it really hard to root for her.

[Dana666]

Even if she does try the Classic this year, which is by no means a given, she needed to face Rachel when they were both at the top of their game; there\'s no other way, and yesterday would have been the perfect opportunity. A great, storied racetrack, a holiday weekend, huge crowds, the eyes of the world on that race. You can\'t tell me detention barns in NY were such a great obstacle. Maybe NYRA would have even waved that requirement. Who knows? Raised the purse to 1.5 million - gone out of their way to make it happen. But Z\'s connections, to my knowledge, didn\'t even try.

I will always respect Sheriffs and Jerry and Ann Moss for what they have accomplished in racing; you can\'t take that away. I understand in my limited capacity that having an undefeated champion is so rare, and they have tried to protect her record and manage every minute detail of her career, but there is a whole lot to be said for sportsmanship and adjusting mapped out campaigns to take advantage of rare opportunities.

I mean you look at Jackson and company and they have a bold spirit, almost a throwback type of mentality. They went after Rachel and then, rightly, must have thought, \'look at these males, we can beat them\'. OK, they chose races in which Rachel had excellent chances of beating the males but that only gives them more credibility in my mind. Life is short, in most things we all do, we fail more than we succeed. Brilliant horses are only brilliant for a brief, fleeting moment in time. Even though we have a mentality in America that when you win everything is perfect, and if you lose you\'re a loser forever, if Z would have tried and failed, I don\'t think people would have thought less of her, but now they do.

Maybe is it just as simple as they know they couldn\'t ever beat Rachel as many of you on this forum suggest. Maybe I\'m somehow making this much more complicated than it is. Could it be that simple?

[jimbo66]

I don\'t want to start another war on the board, so I will tread somewhat lightly, but see the link http://hovdeyblog.drf.com/hovdeyblog/

Shirreffs is quoted in there.  He would consider the Beldame, but only if the surface at Santa Anita is not right.  What\'s good for racing, what\'s good for his own horse\'s legacy, none of that matters.  

He really comes across as clueless on this topic every time he is asked about it.  

The funny thing is that unless yesterday\'s figure comes back a lot stronger than I suspect it will, you could make an argument that the campaign is finally getting to Rachel and she would be somewhat vulnerable in the Beldame, at least as vulnerable as a great horse can be.  Getting an 8 pound pull from Macho Again and winning by a desperate head was great for racing, but Macho Again is not a great horse.  Granted, she cut out fast fractions, put the other speeds away, and still held on.  I am not denigrating her performance, she is great.  But yesterday was probably not the negative 4 type race which would crush Zenyatta.  If she just ran a \"mortal\" type negative 1 or 0, then Zenyatta is in the game IMO,

But unless the track at Santa Anita is not to Shireffs liking, this is all irrelevant.  

CAn somebody please hire a PR firm for Shireffs and coach him on ridiculous he sounds?.......

(OK, I guess that last sentence is not treading lightly....)  Sorry Smalltimer and P-Dub...  But I have to believe that even you guys are tired of the excuses and want to see the matchup!

Jim

[basket777]

why does she have face RA?  sitting here trying to figure it out.   as a owner of horses i want to do what\'s best for my horse long term   oh and me.  i put out the money  so winning and then later in the breeding shed is what counts.  i have not seen one good reson why  z should not stay on her own schedule  none

[Dana666]

Just read your link, thanks! Honestly, there\'s no way Sheriffs could possibly be that clueless. No possibility. He\'s just messing with everyone. It\'s not about the money either, as Hovdey says??? Yeah, right! I think it is about the money b/c the BC Fillies and Mare Classic is 2 million dollars, and it\'s an easy win for Zenyatta. That\'s at least part of the puzzle right there. The other part as I say is maybe they don\'t think they can beat Rachel. Z will show up in the Beldame when they dig out the synthetic track at Santa Anita and replace it with dirt!

How do we even know Rachel\'s going in the Beldame? There was some talk around the track yesterday that she might be done for the year? She deserves a long rest in any event, and she\'s already got horse of the year wrapped up. Is there any reason to expect she will race again this year??? I\'m not so sure.

[miff]

Jim,

Beyer gave Rachel 109. You may know that when a horses with her up front style go fast early, under pressure they rarely finish up big and don\'t get a big fig. Class would tell you about pace, I\'ll just say the race dynamics did not lend themselves to her running a big neg TG fig (only dirt route on card, I\'ll call it neg TG -2ish)

Macho Again may get best fig but tough to believe that MA \"outran\" Rachel in any true racing sense. I agree with you that yesterday was a gut wrencher that may take more out of her than her run off big negative fig races under hammerlocks.I doubt she\'ll run again this year but Jess Jackson is a gamer!

Rachels two slower TG races, yesterday and the Preakness were her two best/toughest races but will get her worst figs because of fast pressured early paces.

NYRA was not encourged about a Z/Rachel matchup at Belmont. I\'m kinda neutral re the argument about Jerry Moss but he\'s an ex-New Yorker and most peope who know him, I don\'t, say he\'s a good guy, a sport and wants the race with Rachel.

Good Luck,
Mike

[jimbo66]

Mike,

We will have to agree to disagree on which great race of the filly\'s great races is her best!!

I hear you on pace, but to me, chasing a hot pace set by Munnings and pressed by Summer Bird, while very wide, is much more impressive than pressing a pace set by the worst triple crown winner in the last 25 years, D\'Tara.  

BTW, what is Zito doing with that horse?  D\'Tara is downright awful.  Didn\'t show up at all last time, ran 1/2 mile yesterday.  

Jim

[smalltimer]

Jimbo,
Can\'t speak for P-Dub, but I would have loved and still would love to see the matchup.  
Honestly, Rachel is spectacular, just as Paul and I have said for quite a while now.  But is she terribly vulnerable right now?  Despite her greatness, she is absolutely vunerable in her next out.  Her campaign, topped off by a really grueling race yesterday makes her very beatable in the Beldame.  Without the weight concession yesterday, she does get beat.  Just my opinion.
I would just hope that Shireffs would enter Z.  
I\'ve said from the get-go, that I really believe Z can beat Rachel, and nothing has changed my opinion. Rachel, despite her greatness, will never be more vulnerable than if she and Zenyatta hook up in the Beldame.  If Z were to fire her best shot, and I happen to think her career best race is on tap, then I think Rachel gets beat.
As ridiculous as this sounds, I do have a hunch that we \"could\" see Rachel in the BC Distaff or Classic.  The reason I say that is what Jackson said in the DRF about placing another hurdle in front of Rachel.  What else could he mean?  Other than a matchup in the Beldame with Z or a later date at Churchill with Z, I don\'t know there\'s anything out there left for Rachel THIS year. She met every challenge they\'ve placed in front of her, so the next step is the perceived \"impossible?\"  
Despite Jackson\'s insistence that Rachel won\'t try the synthetics, he may have partially made the decision (above Asmussen\'s objections) that Rachel is so special she may be able to beat them anyway.  Just a ridiculous hunch, but Jackson is not getting any younger and he may have decided if Zenyatta won\'t come east to challenge Rachel, then he\'ll force the matchup.
I don\'t think we\'re gonna see another -4 from Rachel for awhile.  That race yesterday requiring her to run her eyeballs out simply knocks out 99.9% of the animals.  Maybe she\'s the immortal type.  She\'s plenty good, but she\'s plenty tired.
Good luck

[miff]

Jim,

I should have said \"fast/dry\" track efforts. I always put wet track performances in a separate category and her Monmouth race was gigantic.


Mike

[P-Dub]

Jimbo,

Have wanted to see the matchup for quite sometime. Hearing why it can\'t/won\'t/maybe happen gets a bit old.

Everybody is entitled to their opinion, but all of these people trying to get inside Shireffs\' head are really sounding ridiculous. This line of reasoning that Shireffs doesn\'t think Z is good enough is really out there. And all of these pronouncements stating Z can\'t beat R are just opinions, not facts.  You guys don\'t know that, nobody does, until/if they race.

Hopefully it happens.  I gotta believe that yesterday\'s race took a lot out of RA, on top of the other monster efforts. I don\'t care what figure she gets.

Does anyone think that the Beldame may be too soon for RA to race again,  considering her campaign??

[rezlegal]

If you take Jackson at his word that RA will not run in the BC my view is he should say that\'s it for this year. RA came into the Woodward with a negative 4 off the Haskell--yesterday one of  2 things happened both of which suggest that sound management is to give her a break until next year. If she paired up (hard to believe she moved forward) thats 2 humongous efforts  which cry out for a respite; if she took a small backwards move (can you say o2x coming) that also suggests vacation. She has nothing to gain running in the one of the F & M Belmont stakes in October and not sure she has anything to gain by trying a 1 1/4 in the Jockey Club. If Jackson is fantasizing BC next year (on dirt) its a perfect time to give her a good vacation. I hope he does-it would be heartbreaking to risk her any more this year.