ARCADIA, Calif. — They call her the “Zen Master.” Zenyatta, the darling of California racing fans, is a towering Amazon who achieved immortality by winning her first 13 races without a defeat, equaling the mark of the great Personal Ensign.
Today at Santa Anita, the 5-year-old mare can build on her legacy when she faces male horses for the first time in the $5 million Breeders’ Cup Classic (post time 6:45 p.m. Eastern).
The mile-and-a-quarter Classic, which boasts an astonishing 10 Grade 1 winners in its field of 13, is the feature of the two-day Breeders’ Cup World Championships consisting of 14 stakes worth $25.5 million in purses. Eight of those races will be run today (first post 1:45 p.m.).
Zenyatta is the 5-2 favorite, and according to Santa Anita track announcer Trevor Denman, who will call the races for ABC and ESPN, she will justify that backing.
“Categorically, she can beat the boys,” Denman said. “She’s strong. She’s almost like a male. Is she exceptional? Oh, yes.”
Here are the questions Zenyatta and other Classic contenders must answer today:
* Most of Zenyatta’s races have been at a mile-and-a-sixteenth, with three at a mile-and-an-eighth. Will she have the same powerful stretch kick stretching out to 10 furlongs, especially because she figures to be fanned wide turning for home? Trainer John Shirreffs says yes.
* After European turf horses ran 1-2 in last year’s Classic trying Santa Anita’s synthetic Pro-Ride track for the first time, Ireland’s Rip Van Winkle will be heavily bet. (Twice Over, the other Euro-invader in the Classic, is a price.)
Rip Van Winkle nearly beat superstar Sea The Stars in England’s Group 1 Eclipse Stakes, but he has been dealing with problem feet all year in a hard campaign. Does he have a bullet left to fire? No way to know until he runs, trainer Aidan O’Brien said.
* Summer Bird is the first colt to win the Belmont Stakes, Travers and Jockey Club Gold Cup since Easy Goer 20 years ago. But all his races have been on dirt.
Can he and Quality Road, another dirt horse, handle the synthetic? Last year, the mighty Curlin ran fourth at odds-on in the Classic trying Pro-Ride for the first time.
* Mine That Bird goes a mile-and-a-quarter for the first time since he won the Kentucky Derby. But he didn’t kick in over the Pro-Ride last out, finishing sixth in the Goodwood, his first race in 10 weeks. Can he improve? Trainer Chip Woolley says he needed that race.
* Einstein won the Santa Anita Handicap over this track and distance in March, and last out missed by a neck in the Pacific Classic. At 12-1, could he be the best value bet of the day?
* Regal Ransom, the speed of the race, has blossomed since winning the Super Derby. Can jockey Rich Migliore get him to relax on the lead and slow down the pace? Or will Girolamo (his stablemate), Quality Road and Summer Bird push him to go too fast, too soon?