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Here is news about Zenyatta. In racing, a resounding ‘No’ is a general ‘Yes.’ Zenyatta, after winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November, has been working on a regular basis at Hollywood Park. Zenyatta’s connections were repeatedly asked if the champion mare will run again. The subject is closed was the answer.
Owners Ann and Jerry Moss have been watching their mare work. On Saturday, Jerry Moss made the announcement. He said, “after consulting with John Shirreffs (the trainer), we have decided that Zenyatta will compete in 2010. She looks radiant and she looks fantastic. We are in this business to have fun,”
The six year-old Street Cry mare is unbeaten in 14 outings. She beat the boys in the BC Classic. No targets have been set. It is very likely that Zenyatta will race outside of California. Owner Moss explained, “there is no specific comeback race. That’s up to John (Shirreffs) and he will pick the races that are the best for us. We will run against anybody.”
Let us switch to the matter of retirement. There is one equine retirement and one human retirement. Einstein is being sent to the breeding shed. The Spend A Buck seven year-old won five Grade I events. The Brazilian-bred horse suffered a soft tissue injury while training at Gulfstream Park for a tilt at the Gulfstream Park Handicap. Trained by Helen Pitts, Einstein won 11 races from 30 starts for earnings of $2,945,230.
In 2009, Einstein won the Santa Anita Handicap and Churchill’s Woodford Reserve Turf Classic. Trainer Pitts was emotional. “He has been wonderful to me. He is a very special animal. I hope his breeding career will be just as successful as his race career.”
Einstein won the Woodford Reserve twice. He won on the grass and won on the pro-ride surface. His last career race was in the Breeders’ Cup.
Now we will have a thought or two about Gary Stevens. The Hall of Famer is giving up training. As a jockey, Stevens, who has won races in Europe and who had a successful career in the US, had a 14-horse stable. He has a television analyst’s job. He will work for NBC this year when the Triple Crown races are run. He will also anchor a racing-oriented show on HBO. Stevens has one winner as a trainer.
Stevens retired some years ago as a rider. He came back. He retired a second time. As a trainer, he has retired once. We have to see if he will come out of retirement and retrain. Stevens won the Kentucky Derby with Winning Colors, a filly. “It’s all too much. The TV work and a new baby daughter. I have new priorities,” Stevens commented.
Here are two items from Hong Kong. Super Satin, by Danehill Dancer, won the Peninsula Golden Jubilee Challenge (1800 metres) on Saturday at Sha Tin and established himself as a serious contender for the prestigious Hong Kong Derby. Super Satin was one of four winners for Doug Whyte, nine-time Hong Kong champion jockey. Caspar Fownes trains Super Satin. I do not know of he is related to the Fownes clan that trained in India.
Trainer Fownes has nominated the Derby Trial, four weeks from now, as the next race for his trainee. “The Trial will be a race at level weights against the best of those looking for a Derby slot. We will get a better look from there, but we are happy with the way things are turning out,” he explained.
The other Hong Kong item concerns jockey Brett Prebble. He is seeking his first riding title and is well on his way to achieving that distinction. He rode a triple at Happy Valley Racecourse on Wednesday. His tally is 42 and that puts him 14 ahead of Doug Whyte and Matthew Chadwick. Jockey Prebble has been one of the Hong Kong riding heavyweights in recent years.
Papa Clem won the Arkansas Derby at Oaklawn Park and was one of the fancied runners in the 2009 Kentucky Derby. The Smart Strike colt ran fourth in the Run for the Roses. He was fourth again in Monmouth’s Haskell on a sloppy track.
On December 26, Papa Clem made an appearance in the Malibu Stakes at Santa Anita. He salvaged third. On Saturday, Papa Clem, Tyler Baze up, was the 3-2 favourite in the eight-horse field that went postward in the $150,000 Grade II San Fernando Handicap over 1700 metres. Trainer Gary Stute expressed concern because he does not like his horses being favorites.
“It is a lot more pressure. You better win. He was starting to get the reputation as a horse who did not want to win. I am relieved that the perception has changed,” Stute said. Papa Clem did everything right in the San Fernando to give Stute the comfort he needed.
As Smart Bid made the running, Papa Clem stalked the pacesetter. Papa Clem led soon on entering the homestretch and ran on to win by one half length in 1 42.64 seconds. Stute earmarked the $200,000 Strub Stakes on February 6 as Papa Clem’s next race. In The San Fernando, Papa Clem was carrying the public purse only for the second time in his career. In the Strub, Papa Clem is bound to get a great deal of support. A visit to Dubai for the World Cup has not been ruled out.”
There is a new race in the Dubai World Cup card. It is the million-dollar Turf Sprint over 1200 metres. It will be run on a straight course at the new Meydan track. It will be called the Al Quoz Sprint and will be a Grade III race.
The Golden Shaheen, with a two million-dollar purse, wil also be over 1200 metres. It will be run on the inner Tapeta all-weather surface and will be around a bend. The World Cup will be on March 27.
Aidan O’Brien is the Pesi Shroff of Ireland. His horses run all over the world. Ballydoyle is the appellation for the O’Brien stable. St Nicholas Abbey and Jan Vermeer, the two top juveniles in Europe, are in O’Brien’s barn. St Nicholas Abbey, runaway winner of Doncaster’s Racing Post Trophy, is the 7-2 favourite for Newmarket’s English 2000 Guineas. Jan Vermeer won Saint Cloud’s Criterium International making it all on a rain-softened course. Colm O’Donoghue was aboard Jan Vermeer.
“It is a case of so far so good with all the horses, and at this stage, we have not made any decisions on objectives. We got as much snow as anybody else and it was not a help. They’re all on the easy list.”
England is going through a deep freeze. Snow, ice, freezing rain and what have you, jumps action and the extremely limited Flat action, are taking a big hit. After a 13-day hiatus, Kempton staged a jumps card on Saturday. The conditions were bad. Anak, a 5-1 chance, trained by Jim Best and ridden by Tom Scudamore, won the opener. The track was rain-sodden. Anak, a son of Derby and Arc-winning Sinndar, won a maiden on the flat when in the care of John Oxx. Now, a jumper, Anak is proving his mettle in his new avocation
