Zenyatta deserves a crack at Breeders' Cup Classic
WORLD CLASS: an analysis of the best performances of last week according to Racing Post Ratings
TOP OF THE CLASS: Gitano Hernando 122
Trainer: Marco Botti (GB)
Goodwood Stakes, Santa Anita, 1m1f, October 10
ZENYATTA has been beating up the West Coast fillies all year, but now she deserves a crack at something better.
The unbeaten daughter of Street Cry has proved herself again and again over the older distaff performers in the States, but she is yet to come up against the best horses in the country.
In 13 starts, she has only ever run against fillies and mares and, while she has dominated them every time and racked-up seven Grade 1 wins, there is still a gap in her cv for a career-defining win against the colts.
In some ways, she has become a victim of her own success, as the main objective for connections now seems to be to protect her unbeaten record.
Trainer John Shirreffs has refused to commit her to the Breeders' Cup Classic until he knows the intended line-up, but perhaps if she had been beaten somewhere along the line, he would let her take her place at Santa Anita even if Sea The Starsturned-up.
This is a mare of immense talent; a colossal beast, with a mighty engine and a dependable turn-of-foot, who always scores with something up her sleeve.
But, while she continues to run in small-field races against her own sex, she will provide nothing more than a sub-plot to the story of 2009, which has been defined by the incredible exploits of Sea The Stars and Rachel Alexandra.
If she does take on the boys in the Classic, and wins, she would join that pair in being remembered as a great horse in an exceptional year, but if she sticks to the mares' races, we may never know how high she could fly.
Saturday's Lady's Secret Stakes provided her fourth win of the year and, though it was one of her easiest to date, she didn't face a realistic threat.
Indeed, she has actually had it fairly easy all year, with only one opponent from her last four starts managing to score in Graded company this term – that being her stable-mate Life Is Sweet.
Zenyatta was fully entitled to win as she did on the weekend, as she had beaten the same fillies in handicap company earlier in the year and consequently looked a good-thing off level-weights.
She scored by a very easy length and a quarter from Lethal Heat (111), but she was rated for closer to four lengths with an RPR of 120+.
If she keeps running against the same group of gal pals, there is a good chance she could extend her record to 20 unbeaten starts, or even more, but that would surely be a waste of her talents.
It would tell us nothing more than what we already know – she is much better than the current crop of older distaffers.
Judged on her peak RPR of 124+,she would be one of the leading American hopes for the Classic, and the impressive style by which she continues to win indicates there could be a bit more to come if she was really tested.
Zenyatta wasn't the only Classic hope in action on Saturday night, as many of the top west-coast colts were looking to lay down a marker for next month's feature in the Goodwood Stakes, won last year by Dubai World Cup hero Well Armed.
There were five Grade 1 winners in the line-up, but British raider Gitano Hernando (122) was the surprise package, posting the highest RPR of the week for his neck success over Colonel John (121).
This was a big step up from the winner, who has registered improved RPRs on every career start, but a mark of 122 still leaves him below the level required of a Breeders' Cup Classic winner.
The lowest rated winner in recent years was Saint Liam, who posted a 127 in 2005, but the winning mark often breaks the 130-barrier.
On the figures, the leading American colts for this year's Classic are Summer Bird, Quality Road and Macho Again, who all contested the Jockey Club Gold Cup at Belmont last week.
Summer Bird won there and confirmed his status as theleading three-year-old colt with an RPR of 127.
Quality Road (125+) was only narrowly beaten in second on a muddy surface which did not play to his strengths, but this was a return to form nonetheless.
He showed an awful lot of promise early in the year and still looks capable of a big win on a sounder surface.
Macho Again couldn't land a blow from well off the slow pace in a race where the 1-2-3 were in those positions throughout and is worth another chance at Santa Anita on his Woodward Stakes RPR of 127+.
But if she turnsup, the leading American hope has to be the unbeaten Zenyatta, the Ferrari in the garage, just itching to show what she can do on the big stage.
TOP DIRT/AW PERFORMERS 1. Rachel Alexandra (US) Haskell/Mother Goose 129
2. Well Armed (US) Dubai World Cup
128
3. Macho Again (US) Woodward Stakes 127
Summer Bird (US)
Travers/JC Gold Cup 127
5. Quality Road (US)
Amsterdam/JC Gold Cup 125
Rail Trip (US) Hollywood Gold Cup 125
Zensational (US)
Pat O'Brien Stakes 125
8. Big City Man (KSA) Golden Shaheen 124
Bullsbay (US) Whitney/Woodward 124
Zenyatta (US) Vanity Handicap 124
TOP TURF PERFORMERS 1. Sea The Stars (IRE) Irish Champion 138
2. Rip Van Winkle (IRE)
Eclipse 132
3. Fame And Glory (IRE) Irish Champion 131
Goldikova (FR)
Jacques le Marois 131
5. Gladiatorus (UAE)
Dubai Duty Free 129
Mastercraftsman (IRE)
International Stakes 129
7. Conduit (GB)
King George VI 127
Racing To Win (AUS) Theo Marks Stakes 127
Scenic Blast (AUS) King's Stand 127
10. Paco Boy (GB)
Queen Anne/Sussex
126
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