Dramaticlast-gasp strike for Zenyatta at Del Mar
Report: USA, Sunday
Del Mar: Clement L Hirsch Stakes (Grade 1) 1m½f, AW, 3yo+ f/m
THE sensational Zenyatta (John Shirreffs/Mike Smith) made her legions of fans sweat on Sunday when she took her unbeaten record to 12 with a dramatic last-gasp victory at Del Mar.
Only a thrilling late, late charge at the line got the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic winner home by a head from Anabaa's Creation in a spell-binding Clement L Hirsch Stakes.
Sent off 1-5 favourite in front of a crowd of 20,335, Zenyatta ambled along in her customary position at the rear of the seven-runner field, fully 13 lengths off the pace in the $300,000 on the Del Mar Polytrack.
Mike Smith asked her to improve her position at the far turn where she moved up, although she was still last at the three-quarter pole.
The five-year-old daughter of Street Cry started to pass horses but was forced four wide into the stretch and still had plenty of ground to make up before she really started to lengthen in the final furlong and a half.
Never has Zenyatta so needed her trademark late rally, and she ground down the outside indetermined fashion.
But although her huge stride is the most potent of weapons once they get on the level, the Del Mar stretch is relatively short even by US standards and Anabaa's Creation was a stubborn rival.
Zenyatta was absolutely flying at the wire, but her fans may well have settled for a dead-heat as she flashed past the wire alongside her rival.
A photo finish revealed that the champ had just got home, with Lethal Heat three-quarters ofa length back in third.
"It was very, very close down there," said trainer John Shirreffs. "All the way down the stretch I'm hollering, 'Get 'em, get 'em'.
"But what I really liked about her race is that she had a lot of ground to make up and she put her head down and kept making it up.
"She kept reaching out and running for the wire - that's Zenyatta."
According to calculations released by Del Mar officials, Zenyatta ran her last quarter-mile in 22.49s, reaching an astonishing speed of 40mph at the wire. The final time was 1m43.24s.
Jockey Mike Smith claimed he thought he had won the race. "Wasn't that something?" he said.
"I thought I had it, but I've got to admit I underestimated the company we were keeping.
"They made her run," he added. "She really was running easy - her ears were pricking back and forth and she was just loping.
"I never hit her but I showed her the stick - I knew we had to get busy at the finish. When we hit the wire she hit another gear - then when we crossed and I stood up she hit another gear!
"This mile and sixteenth is a funny distance - I tell you, she wants to run further. When we pulled up, she was hardly blowing at all - she wouldn't have blown out a match."
The runner-up'srider Tyler Baze admitted he thought he had thwarted Zenyatta on Anabaa's Creation.
"She ran her fanny off," he said. 'We got beat by a champion. I didn't know where she was but I knew she was coming. She came and got us."
The next target for Zenyatta, whose popularity on the west coast matches superfilly Rachel Alexandra in the east, is to match the great Personal Ensign's career record of 13 unbeaten starts.
A clash with Rachel Alexandra, the race all America is aching to see, remains unlikely to happen.
Zenyatta is on course for a return visit to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita, while Rachel Alexandra's connections have stated they will not run her on the all-weather.
Also on Sunday
Saratoga: Vanderbilt Hcap (Grade 2) 6f, dirt, 3yo+
Top weight Fabulous Strike (Todd Beattie/Ramon Dominguez) wore down outsider Go Go Shoot inside the final furlong to beat an all-star cast of dirt sprinters in a race that was a Grade 1 in all but name.
Having been outpaced for the lead, the even-money favourite had to dig deep to get past the obstinate front-runner in the $250,000 event, where sprint champ Benny The Bull could finish only fourth.
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