Posts tagged John Shirreffs
End of the line for Zenyatta
Nov 18th
Zenyatta has been officially retired from racing – and this time it is for good. A year ago there was the remarkable turnaround when Zenyatta was supposedly at the end of her racing days after her victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. There were retirement parties and the full works; and then [...]
No decision made yet on the future of Zenyatta
Nov 10th
People may have been calling it a fairytale without the happy ending, but the career of Zenyatta may not be over just yet. Her trainer John Shirreffs has revealed that discussions are ongoing in regards to her future, with the prospect of another year in training looking increasingly possible. Read more at; http://blogs.bettor.com/No-decision-made-yet-on-the-future-of-Zenyatta-a40123
Mike Smith takes blame for Zenyatta defeat
Nov 7th
Mike Smith has been in the game long enough to think he had seen it all. Then two minutes redrew the boundaries. The winners, the losers, the crunching falls that have come as the part of the journey that took a teenager from New Mexico with dreams of being jockey to the Hall of Fame. [...]
I’d give up everything to win on Zenyatta
Nov 4th
Mike Smith needs just two more winners at the Breeders’ Cup to tie with Jerry Bailey on the all-time list. He could add them to a career total that is close to 5,000 winners now. And there is quality to go with the quantity – Smith completed his Triple Crown collection when Drosselmeyer won this [...]
Zenyatta ‘training very forwardly’
Nov 3rd
When Zenyatta lost out to Rachel Alexandra in the vote for the 2009 Horse of the Year title one of the reasons that was put forward was that her record was built on races run on synthetic tracks rather than the traditional dirt tracks on which America bases its racing heritage. Her trainer, John Shirreffs, [...]
Zenyatta working well at Hollywood
Oct 29th
The theory about strength in numbers does not always work out. Todd Pletcher leads the field most of the time in terms of success in America but, when it comes to the Breeders’ Cup, he is neck-and-neck with John Shirreffs in the most important statistic of all. In the last 10 years Pletcher has saddled [...]
Why does Zenyatta keep winning?
Oct 28th
The rest of us have watched in awe, including those trying to beat her, as Zenyatta has galloped herself into the record books and her rivals into submission. The inside track, not the path closest to the rail, but the information from those closest to a horse is always a prized knowledge so if any [...]
Zenyatta good in latest workout
Oct 23rd
Zenyatta is good. No, Zenyatta may be one of the best we have seen. John Shirreffs knows it and his worry is that the mare who goes to Churchill Downs in a fortnight to defend her unbeaten record knows it too. They say you cannot rush genius but when that genius is an athlete, human [...]
Zenyatta ready for the Breeders’ Cup Classic
Oct 17th
While Zenyatta was taking a gentle canter around her home track of Hollywood Park her trainer, John Shirreffs, was in Keeneland to saddle Harmonious in the Grade One Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup, which she won. The filly, already the winner of the American Oaks, would be a star in most other barns but there [...]
Zenyatta wins Lady’s Secret Stakes
Oct 3rd
Zenyatta took her wining career record to 19 with victory in the Lady’s Secret Stakes at Hollywood Park. In the week when that other queen of American racing, Rachel Alexandra, was retired to the breeding paddocks, Zenyatta remained the towering presence who will stand over this year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs next month. [...]
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