The Breeder’s Cup Classic is the year-end championship for thoroughbred racing, attracting the best horses from both North America and Europe to compete in the final event of the Breeder’s Cup World Championships. with a $5 million dollar purse.
The morning after at Churchill Downs explained it all. Blame, the winner of the previous day’s Breeder’s Cup Classic and $5 million purse, stood in his stall eating his breakfast accompanied only by his trainer and the purple victor’s blanket given to him. Save the subtle munching of hay, Blame’s barn was silent, but not far down the dirt road one could hear the faint hint of flashbulbs going off. Even in defeat, the legend of Zenyatta continued to grow.
Zenyatta had lost the last and most important race of her career by three inches. It was hoped she would win the Breeder’s Classic for the second year in a row and finish a record 20-0. She traveled across the country for the first time to race against much stronger colts and as the gates broke it seemed as though Zenyatta’s legacy had finally caught up to her. Zenyatta started so slow that she fell to dead last, an estimated twenty lengths behind the lead horse. It was not until the final stretch that she emerged out of the dirt that was kicked up in front of her, weaving through horses and sprinting to the outside before finishing less than a head behind Blame.
Zenyatta’s jockey, Mike Smith, could barely carry his saddle back to the barn after the race. He could not stop apologizing, believing that he had left Zenyatta too much work to do after falling behind so early. But in the end there was no reason to apologize.
The morning following her first and only defeat, trainer John Shirreffs opened the barn doors to let Zenyatta’s fans be with her one last time. “I think the big thing the sport needs to do is let the fans get a little bit closer to the horses,” Shirreffs told the Washington Post. “As a trainer, I’d like people to come up and see them, see them up close and get a feel for them instead of just seeing it in a picture.”
Zenyatta’s career provides a model for what horse racing can be both on and off the racetrack. The filly brought the attention of millions to a sport whose attempt at a year-round fan base continues to be plagued by the quick careers of prized horses. That is what makes Zenyatta so special. Her career lasted an unprecedented four years, with each of her victories more stunning than before. Year after year, Zenyatta’s owners Jerry and Ann Moss decided to keep her racing instead of putting her in retirement, allowing her fans the opportunity to stay part of her magical run.
Two years younger and eight races fewer, Blame could use his victory to continue the growth of the sport, just as Zenyatta had done. His owners see otherwise, however, as he will stop racing and begin his lucrative career as a stallion.
Perhaps fans knew this as they decided which to visit at the historic Churchill barns on Sunday morning. Or perhaps they knew something greater. As Steve Haskin, senior commentator for “The Blood-Horse” who’s covered the sport for 40 years wrote, “She’s the greatest filly I’ve ever seen. She may be the greatest of all time.”