If Zenyatta Loses in Classic, This Horse Might Be to 'Blame'

Filed under: Horse Racing

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Zenyatta could lose, you know.

"Well, yeah, I think she is beatable. We're here to win the race, and we think she is beatable,'' said Al Stall Jr., the trainer of the second betting choice in Saturday's Breeders' Cup Classic, Blame, earlier this week. "There are a lot of other horses and trainers here who think she's beatable, or else why would they be here?''

It's the only reasonable answer to give, with the caliber of competition Zenyatta faces in the 12-horse field, universally accepted as the toughest test she's gotten in her 20 starts, the first 19 of which she has won.

Four of those other 11, for instance, started in one of this year's Triple Crown races, including Preakness winner Lookin At Lucky. Also in the field is by far the best horse in Japan, Espoir City, who had won six in a row there before coming in second in his final prep race last month. As impressive as the competition was a year ago when Zenyatta won the Classic at Santa Anita, this is considered to be better.

This worries Zenyatta trainer John Shirreffs not a bit. On Thursday, he seemed to bristle more at the idea of being asked about losing, or about this race establishing her legacy, than about the actual idea of losing. "She's already beaten the boys,'' he said. "She's the first filly ever to win the Breeders' Cup Classic, and that's history in itself.''

Still, none of her challengers Saturday appear willing to just be footnotes to the next bit of history on the horizon, finishing her career (if she, in fact, is retired afterward) with a perfect record.

That includes Stall and Blame. They're not a narrow second choice in the Classic for nothing, 9-2 to Zenyatta's 8-5. (Quality Road, who was scratched at the gate at last year's Classic but has four wins and one place this year, is at 5-1, and Lookin At Lucky is 6-1. Their trainers are, respectively, Todd Pletcher and Bob Baffert). The 4-year-old has had a great year, with the one disappointment being a second-place finish as a heavy favorite at the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont last month.
The horse who beat him, Haynesfield, is also in the Classic field.

New Jersey Devils Nicklas Lidstrom Michael Jorden Tiger woods David Beckham