Tag Archives: Zenyatta

Hollywood, The Derby and Minnesota

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Gary Stevens

Retired jockey Gary Stevens will once again be appearing on the Kentucky Derby pre-show this year. Although many may not have heard of his three-time Derby winning career, a lot of people still recognize him from his starring stint in the movie Seabiscuit. Stevens played George “Iceman” Woolfe, aka, the guy who takes over for Red Pollard (Tobey McGuire) in the match race scene after Pollard/McGuire gets hurt.

What even fewer people know, is that Stevens is the younger brother to Scott Ste

vens, jockey at Minnesota’s Canterbury Park. It’s a fun Hollywood tie I like to let others in on.

Scott Stevens is just as accomplished, and still riding. He holds the Canterbury record for most starts (5,710), and is just seven wins behind Derek Bell, the all-time winningest jockey there.

Stevens is an incredible jockey, and an all-around nice guy. He was my favorite to watch and every once in awhile, will still ride a Quarter Horse. In fact, he has ridden some of our horses. Both Scott and Gary learned to ride on the

Scott Stevens

Quarter Horses and eventually moved to Thoroughbreds.

Last July, the then 49-year-old Scott, was airlifted from the track to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale, Minn. after suffering multiple injuries during a ride in the sixth race. Although he was initially listed as in critical condition, Scott rallied was eventually released.

Although he has batted around the idea of retirement in the media, all on the backside of Canterbury are hoping he returns this year, once again.

Zenyatta: Still a win

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I was hoping for a bit of a miracle on Saturday and even though it seemed to be missed by a nose, I think in the end, I got what I was looking for.

No mint juleps, but  a good margarita and a big TV that could show the race with a Bison game going on at the same time are what I found to watch Zenyatta in the Breeder’s Cup.  

For the better part of an hour, no one else was watching our TV; instead all were focused on football.  But soon, I noticed a slight shift the closer it got to post time. I started looking around,  at first seeing just a flicker of interest catching  one or two’s eye, but as the countdown to post time clicked down, interest perked up.

Watching the race from a horsemen’s perspective, or one with experience in the industry, I know what a feat it truly was for Zenyatta despite the second place finish.

The odds just piled up and from the start when she was pinched off at the break. True to her style, it wouldn’t have been a big deal but it set her farther back than she has ever been, at one point 20 lengths (a length is about the length of a horse) from the front runner. Then, not only does she have to run faster and harder for most of the race, when she went to make her move, she was boxed out of finding a hole to move on the rail and jockey Mike Smith (beautifully by the way) had to take her to the outside of the pack to get through which means she also had to make a wider turn, once again covering more ground than the inside horses.

As I saw the wall of horses come around the last turn and Zenyatta find her hole to push forward,  I heard my voice turn from a subconscious whisper  of “Go! Go! GO!” turning into full screams.  

 I stopped myself and instinctively looked around expecting to see the football fans looking at me like I had had one too many. Instead, it seemed like the whole place had somehow gathered around our table – which was front and center – when I wasn’t looking. No one heard me yelling because they were too busy rooting for Zenyatta themselves.

She picked off the other horses one by one and was about to do it to Blame when the wire hit. Even at the end, it was evident Mike still had horse left. Having “horse left” means she still had the stamina to pull ahead of Blame had she had the distance.  

It was heartbreaking.

But, it was also heartwarming. I witnessed a large group of strangers get so involved in a race not part of the Triple Crown, and one they likely knew little about. They cheered her on like a Bison running back about to score an overtime touchdown and appeared as disappointed in the second place finish as if they’d known her all the while.

For me, the reason I love this crazy world of horse racing is because it is somewhat of a reflection of the human spirit. To succeed, it takes a little bit of luck, some talent, much work and most of all, a lot of heart.

No one showed more heart than Zenyatta on Saturday. For that, I couldn’t be happier.

No Ordinary Girl

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By 5 p.m. today, I plan to have my dress on, stilettos strapped and some ridiculously ugly hat on … and I’ll likely have no place to go.

I will, however, be ready for horse racing  history to be made.

Zenyatta, the first and only filly or mare (female horses) to win the $5 million Breeders’ Cup will be running her last race before retirement. (Yes that means a horse won more in 2 minutes than most pro-ballers make in a year.) 

Not only her last race will happen on Saturday, but her last win if all goes correctly. Her record currently stands at 19-0.

So, if you’re not a fan of horses or horse racing why should you care?
Well, you really don’t have to. But why does anyone care about any sport, anyway?

For one, competitions are fun to watch. We root for someone to win (more often than not the underdog) and it makes us feel good when they do. But in Zenyatta’s race, as a girl, I particularly root for her to win.

See, she has routinely beaten not only the other horses in every race she’s won but she’s beaten the boys. Even in the Kentucky Derby ­– the most well-known of all horse races although not the richest – only a handful of girls have won.

Zenyatta is the story of a fellow girl (albeit one with four legs) who has gone up against the boys and beaten the pants off ‘em every time, even when the odds are stacked against her.

Physically and mentally, the male (studs or geldings) horses tend to tower over the fillies in racing. But, Zenyatta’s record isn’t the only thing that stands out about her.
At 17-hands, Zenyatta’s grace and beauty is incomparable. She towers over her competition and her sheer size rivals that of Secretariat.

Speaking of Secretariat and getting back to why this Saturday’s race is important: Zenyatta is somewhat the Secretariat of my generation. Even the most non-involved person with horse racing knows who Secretariat is and is aware (if not only subtly) of the reverberations that went out around the world the day he won the third leg of the Triple Crown. Think, of the cry, “He’s a tremendous maaaccchhinnneee…..” or the Time Magazine cover of the big beautiful “Red.”

Well, if, er…I mean whenZenyatta wins her second back-to-back Breeder’s Cup and sets a career record of 20-0, she will likely do it in true Zenyatta style: Coming from the back to pull out a win in the nick of time, and although she likely has the speed and endurance left to do so, not pulling out too far ahead. She doesn’t like to hurt “the other horses’ feelings,” as her owners suspect. 

So when her nose hits that wire first, it will likely reverberate around the world once again. A moment in time that will live on for the next  how-many-years to be relived in books, magazine covers and the like until even those who never knew what a Zenyatta was—does.

It might not be a banner wave for the underdog (she is favored to win), but it will be a coup for the girls and it is something I would much rather watch live than hear about it after the fact. 

And so, I will be there too, in true horse racing style, donning  my best dress, girliest threads and highest heels (because horse racing is not a “cowboy” thing)  with a slightly disgusting mint julep in my hand.

 Now, I just need to find a place in Fargo that knows how to make mint juleps….