Good Morning,
Look who is peeking out of her stall at BARN 55! It is my dear baby sister, EBLOUISSANTE! We have the same MOM, Vertigineaux, but our sires are different. My DAD is STREET CRY and her’s is BERNARDINI.
John keeps teasing that he would know those EARS anywhere! The first time he saw “E” at Winter Quarter Farm last year, she was in a field with several other yearlings. He got out of the car, looked around for literally one short moment, and said…”there she is, Zenny’s sister”. He felt her body carriage and fabulous EARS were definitely a huge clue. Those qualities truly reminded him of ME!
Per John, Eblouissante is also very, very inquisitive. (Sound familiar???) She wants to always check everything out that is going on in the barn and she pays close attention to all that is happening around her. (If I say so myself, I THINK SHE IS PRETTY SMART too!)
As you can see, she does not have any white on her. Per the Jockey Club, she is considered to be dark bay-brown / black in color. “E” is also a good-sized girl, I know that feeling, with a great shoulder and hip! Our MOM had a great deal of size and presence….so I’m sure some of this we inherited from HER! Lucky Us!
From all reports, “E” is adapting very well to her new environment and really catching on well to the training routines at Barn 55!
John said he’d keep us ALL posted on how she is doing! As her BIG SISTER, I hope I can offer some great advice to her as we go along! Dottie has mentioned to ME that is something big sisters often do!
In reality, that is what is so much fun right now for ME…I can also help to TEACH things to my family and friends drawing upon my wide range of challenges, life-experiences, and accomplishments!
Have a fabulous Tuesday!
With Love,
Hugs to All~(Especially my dear baby sister, Eblouissante!)
Z
Zenyen
@Snoprinz,
V was Broodmare of the Year in 2008.
Sue Noel
Good Morning,Precious Z!! Hope you are having a wonderful day!!
@ Judy B and Terry Crow-Don’t know if you saw my post a couple of weeks ago about that same trip.It was a surprise for me–my family was on the way to a big New York Life Insurance Company convention and he took us to Lexington and Louisville just so that I could visit racing farms and Churchill Downs. I had heard Jet Pilot win the Derby on the radio and to be able to be in his stall and pet him a few years later was unbelieveable!! I had first fallen in love with Man O War ( I still treasure the little painted lead figurine I carried everywhere as a child–in 65 years,a couple of his delicate legs have been broken and almost all of the paint is worn off!)and I got to pet his son War Admiral too!!
After the trip,my big ambition was to exercise ride for Greentree!! It was a good dream!!
I hope to go back one day–it would be wonderful to be able to see our Queen–and maybe have a Zenyatta poster convention or something. Would someday love to put faces to the names in our Z family!!
LauraJ
@Dorothy Hopper and @Sara, if any of the horse farms is ever affected by severe weather, it will be reported in DRF, Thoroughbred Times, and/or Blood Horse. They are on-line and easy to check if you are ever concerned.
Marilu V
Have Zeny! Have been watching the news of possible severe weather conditions in your area. Praying for all the victims in OK and MO and for your safety.
Are you all OK? Please let us know!
Take care. Hugs, Marilu
Hernan Tovar
@ Ken Johnson, I agree with you, they should have a race in Zenyatta’s name, she deserve this and much more, but why change Lady’s Secret Stakes, they should have a new race a Zenyatta’s Stakes… Wow! Sound so great! Ingrid from SoBe.
Susan in TN
Zenny-hope you are having a wonderful day! Love you. Hi to The Girls!
@ Sue Noel:Loved hearing about your surprise trip! What do you remember about War Admiral? I like your idea of a “Z fan get-together.” I read on Old Friends FB page recently that there is a group of ten friends from all over the country who gather annually at Old Friends’ “Homecoming” to see the horses and each other and the other sites in the Lexington area. So, who knows?!
@Laura J: Poor Nate-ouch! But I loved your story. It is amazing what horses do to look out for each other. We have 3 horses. One has metabolic syndrome and is on special feed, medicine,etc. but still has problems with laminitis flare-ups. The other two will not leave him alone when he is sore-that is often the first sign to us that he is having a problem. If I look out and both are hanging around (our 27-year-old has a daily routine that he is VERY fond of and that does not include staying around the shelter!), then I know I better go check things out. But if he is not sore(which he usually isn’t, thank God), he might stay in the shelter alone,anyway, while the other two do what they want. I don’t know if I explained this very well, but it is very touching to see-especially since Haiku(the one with MS) can really irritate the tar out of the others! Also, how is Step since his race?
@ ANYONE who knows: Sometimes on pre-race shows, there will be a brief shot of a pretty large room with rows and rows of jockey silks-all different, of course. How does that work? Do owners provide silks at every track they race at that just stay there and get pulled when needed? I know that’s a little thing-it just surprised me! I don’t know how I thought the silks got to the jockeys…
On a much more serious note, my thoughts and prayers go out to even more tornado victims this morning.
Sharon Call
@Susan in Tn. I’m so glad the pears worked and the horse loved them.
@Ensign. I’m going to try again. How do you find the pictures you find? Referring to the new filly bought by Mathis Stables and in training with John. Pretty, please???? Come on, Ensign, give it up!
judy berube
Dear Z,
Happy Tuesday. Hope you are well and safe from the storms.
Love you and love to all of you. Judy and Russ
To Hernan Tovar:
Dear Ingrid, I bought the Breyer Model of Z and I love it. Not as grand as Nina’s bronze, but it is beautiful. Check it out.
To Sue Noel:
How terrific that you got to see those special horses. We never saw any of the great ones in person, but we did see Easy Goer and Summer Squall at Saratoga.
To Snoprinz:
You’re welcome. Someone else posted V was Broodmare of the Year in 2008.
To Laura J:
Loved your story about Nate and his buddy. Thank you.
To Trina N.:
Yor’re welcome. Yes, they are super great.
To Susan from Tn.:
Thank you for your sweet story about the “Seeing Eye Horse”. God Bless you for the work you are doing.
Terry Crow
@Sue Noel-Jet Pilot, Wow. His story is one of the most unusual ever. He was trained by Tom Smith of Seabiscuit fame. The owner was a woman who had a cosmetics company but the name escapes me at this time. Smith had a lot of trouble with racing officials and Jet Pilot was his redemption.@Susan in TN-each track has a person who is responsible for matching the silks with the riders before each race. The silks are laid out so when the jocks come back from a race the new “outfit” is ready for them to put on. After all, there isn’t that much time between races. Gary Moulton would probably know more than I about this. @Gary Moulton or Ensign–Any thoughts you might have on Life at Ten’s race in the last breeder’s cup would be interesting, not only for me but for the posters. A most unusual situation.
judy berube
Dear Z:
That was a Senior Moment; Happy Wendsday.
Gary Moulton
Just to elaborate a little more on the “Zenyatta Stakes”, now this is a far fetched pipe dream but what I would like to see is a 4 race series kinda like the Triple Crown with the exception being there will be more time between races. Maybe 8 to 10 weeks or a little more so horses could have prep races and rest. The series will be increasing distances up to 1 ¼ miles, then the last leg would cut back to a mile and 3/16th’s like from the Derby to the Preakness. There would be two races on polly and two on dirt. The individual races would have a purse of $250,000 to start. Eventually the individual races would gain Graded Status and the purses would increase. A 10 million dollar bonus to any filly or mare that could sweep the Z Series would keep them coming back. Of course the dates would have to be figured carefully and Horsemen/Horsewomen would have to decide if they were going to run their big girls in the Z Series or the other big Filly/Mare races, or work around both once it is clear that no one could sweep it. I think it would draw a few horses from other parts of the world too. It would be the Iron Man competition for Women. Any filly or mare that could sweep the series would be worthy and deserving to stand next to the Great Zenyatta. If over the years, and if any way possible, if someone would sweep, they would try to bring Z to the last leg and stand in the winner’s circle with the winner and have a rare picture taken with both horses. If not then the winning connections of the horse that sweeps could bring her to Zen for the photos if they wish. You could have a big trophy with four horses on it for any horse that sweeps and four little ones with one horse on them for each of the individual races. Also if any filly or mare sweeps the series they will have the distinction as and be known for beating the Four Horsemen, or should I say surviving the Four Horsemen. I figure anything where women are beating men is good for the game.
.
Leg One – Hollywood Park “Zenyatta Stakes” Spring West – 1 1/16th polly
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Leg Two – Arlington Park ”Zenyatta Stakes” Summer North – 1 1/8th polly
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Leg Three – Belmont Park “Zenyatta Stakes” Fall East – 1 ¼ dirt
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Last Leg – Gulfstream Park “Zenyatta Stakes” Winter South – 1 3/16th dirt.
Well that’s my crazy idea but a lot of horse people follow the horses in these seasons and places anyway and the trees are so pretty in New York in the Fall and all the races are in a Park. If it would help the racing industry in any way that would be OK too. Just takes like minded people, good communication, and money to make it happen.
.
.
Now a little more about “The Very One”. People read things into names and other coincidences that they relate to. For me and everybody on this site and many more people around the world “Zenyatta” is the very one. She is our very one, the only one. I forgot to mention that “The Very One” stills holds the track record at Penn National for a mile on the grass set in 1979. I think but I’m not sure, I don’t think any other filly or mare has two Stakes named after her but I might be wrong on that one but there can’t be many. But the biggest coincidence with ”The Very One” and “Zenyatta” is her foaling date. That’s right, you guess it, “The Very One” was born on April 1st 1975.
.
.
My conscious won’t leave me alone so I must confess I have been cheating on you with Black. Only 13 times and we have a date on June 11th. The Bookmakers are taking bets on whether “Black Caviar” can match the 19 straight wins by retired US champ “Zenyatta”. They are offering a price of $3.50 to 1 that Black will do it and $1.30 to 1 that she won’t. Of course I bet on you. Look, you are not even racing and I’m live with a bet on you and I got it at a $1.50. I have bet on you every race since Mike got on board and man I sure miss those regular pay checks. The only way I can morally justify my cheating is to break you girls into two categories, racing and non-racing. I know one thing for sure, if Black gets to 18, on her 19th race I’m going to bet her to place in your honor. Peter Moody, Black’s trainer was talking about stretching her out a little. I don’t like the idea, why change what has been working? But if they are bent on doing it, my other pipe dream is to see Black race “Goldikova” at a mile or maybe 7 bars. Over here, over there, over anywhere. Like that will ever happen. Oh my God, now I’m in a love triangle, LOL
.
No, believe me Z you are the ultimate, above all, the best, top of the heap, dazzling, elegant, magnificent, superb, surpassing beauty you are something that nothing is better than. Darn it, there just is not enough superlatives in the dictionary to describe how luxuriously fine you are and you will always be my uber horse.
J Smith
Gary, get back to work!!!
Kimberly Potter
My Beautiful Zenyatta~ I pray for your safety from the devastating storms, as I do for all those who are in harms way.
Susan in TN~ Thanks so much for sharing your progress with the precious horses at the rescue. I love hearing your stories and am so glad to hear that Chester loved the peeled pears.
@Sharon Call~ Peeled pears was a great suggestion for Chester. I will have to remember that when I am old and have no teeth. :)
@Terry Crow~ You are a wealth of information! Thank you for everything you share with us.
@Judy Berube~ Thanks for the heartwarming link. I remember reading about “Sissy” and her entourage last February when they arrived at Deer Haven Ranch here in Montana. It is a wonderful read. :) I love the quote at the end of the story…”why can’t people do that?”
Zenyatta’s #1 fan in Montana!
Terry Crow
@Gary Moulton-Don’t go back to work, just keep cranking out these great ideas. Your group of races could be called the queen quadruple. However, it looks more and more like Hollywood Park will not be around long enough for the initial leg to be held there for an extended period of time. Would Santa Anita do?
Sue Noel
@ Susan in TN—Because I did not get to get into the stall with War Admiral,it was a brief encounter. He seemed to be fine with being petted and I was so in awe of who he was that I was pretty overcome .I have pictures,but I need to take them to my local photography shop to see if they can restore and lighten them.I have already talked to them about ita d they will look at them and do what they can. Black and white pictures from 1950 can darken with age and these have. I am in the middle of some small remodeling and the pics are a bit buried now,but as soon as I can get at them I will try to get them restored and then try to get someone to help me scan them and post a link to them. Someone might get a kick out of them.
Sharon Call
@Kimberly Potter. I still have my teeth and not as young as I used to be. When/if the day comes when the teeth go, then at least I’ll have something else to eat besides oatmeal.
@Susan in Tn. Speaking of peeled pears, what is Chester given to eat besides peeled pears? Does he get bran mashes?
Maryyette
Zenny, hope you and all of the horses and stable staff and people in Kentucky stay safe during these severe storms! Love you, sweet girl –
Barb France
With watching the weather channel regarding all the potential AND actual tornados hitting the midwest, my thoughts and prayers are going out to ALL of you that are in harms way (and all the animals). Stay safe out there…I don’t think I can ever complain again about all the rain we get up here in the Pacific Northwest. You stay safe, Zenny and all your friends too!
Kathryn Cogswell
Terry Crow: Think Elizabeth Arden trusted Tom Smith after stewards benched him for some false drugging charges . .. she made him use her lotions & other of her products on her horses, but they trusted and respected one another, if I`m remembering that part of Laura Hillenbrand`s follow-up on Seabiscuit`s principals correctly.
Sue Noel
@ Terry Crow–Thanks for the info on Jet Pilot! I wonder if the owner might have been Helena Rubenstein or Elizabeth Arden–both famous about that time
@ Judy Berube–I was so lucky to have that experience! In my post a few weeks ago,I mentioned that my dad had also taken me to see Seabiscuit in his retirement home. Have pics of that too!!
I went to high school in Monrovia CA,right near Santa Anita. Every morning I would read the “racing form” column in the local paper & make imaginary bets on the races,then listen to the replays in the early evening on a half-hour radio program they had then to see how I did—wish I could have made real bets–some days I did really well!! I was about 15 then!! A friend’s dad took us to Santa Anita to see the races once. That time,and the time I went to Longacres,near Seattle,to see Seattle Slew,when he was exhibited after winning the Triple Crown,are the only times I have been able to see races in person!! Isn’t that strange??
Strangely enough, in the “small world” department,I see Slew’s owner,Karen Taylor,every now and then as she has a home here in Sun Valley!! She is SO nice and it’s fun to talk about racing with her.
Signofthetimes
@Snowprinz
“V” ; Z’s mom was Broodmare of the year
In 2011 also.
@Trina
Thanks for sharing the link with Mike across the
Pond. He made one very good point that is sooo
Hard. Wait for the horse. They may have to struggle
And repeat over and over to get it right to move on.
It is just so UNBELIEVABLE that she did what she did;
Broke poorly , on the wrong lead, dirt in her face
From all those speedy colts and she lost by a nose.
JV had a similar trip with AK but he did not recover
As well. Zenny has a huge huge racing and emotional
Heart. Thanks to the Mosses for sharing her with
Us!!!!!
Dear Zenny
Have a quiet evening looking out your window and
Eating your healthy snacks.
XXXXOOOO
Kathryn Cogswell
Sue Noel: You are are right — it WAS Helena Rubenstein, not Eliz. A. — thank you.
ENSIGN
@ Signofthetimes,
.
Broodmare of the year for 2011 won’t be announced until 2012…
.
Liable (Blame’s dam) was named 2010 Broodmare of the year.
.
@ Sharon Call,
.
Eisaman Equine consigned the Street Sense filly that is going to John to be trained :-)
Janet Cutting
Hi All: @ENSIGN–thats funny–I was thinking the same thought about the “new one”- but,you can’t be fooled. @Judy Berube– I appreciate the link on the blind horse–my 23 year old cat(Tiger Lil) just lost her vision 2 weeks ago–and this is new for me– so I have been learning alot about blindness with animals. I do have another male cat that stays close by her and she does great getting around inside and outside in the backyard!!!! Hey, that little sister of Zenyatta’s is too cute!!! I hope that she get a lot of love and attention like the whole gang gave Z–I wonder if Mrs Moss will visit her too. My best to those trying to survive the storms and rebuild their lives– stay strong.
judy berube
To Janet Cutting:
Tiger Lil must have a very good life (23 years old). You’re a special Pet Mom. It’s amazing how animals help each other and bond like we humans do. Hugs, Judy B.
Zenyen
@Sign of the Times.
Liable, Blame’s dam was 2010 Broodmare of the year.
http://www.drf.com/news/liable-named-broodmare-year
Cynthia H.
Many people missed the opportunity to follow Zenyatta from the very start of her career, so it will be super to watch this filly evolve into the unique and special “person” which she will ultimately become, thanks to the kind tutelage and patient handling of John Shirreffs and the Barn 55 crew. Vertigineaux certainly does have a penchant for dropping foals with PERSONALITY—just like the great broodmare Toussaud. Of course, there is and only can be one Zenyatta, but just to have such a beautiful filly about to begin her career with such similar bloodlines, is a joyful thing. Best of luck to this inquisitive sweetheart, who needs a nickname. Maybe the barn has one already. “Ebbielou?” Ideas?
Diana_NV
Gotta love those EARS! No cotton in them yet. Some of the greatest race mares have had EARS, so I love them.
Vicki B.
@Ensign, @LauraJ, @Janet Cutting – When I saw that “new one” last night, I started shaking my head, and wondered how soon you would see it, Ensign. Laura, good one — too cute, indeed!
Vicki B.
@Terry Crow & @Gary Moulton – Thanks for the informative stuff / discussion / ideas for Zenyatta Stakes.