Zenyatta Gives Birth to a Colt

The prince has arrived.

On March 8th, at 10:00 PM, in the gentle stillness of a quiet birthing stall, a dark bay colt pushed his way out into the world.
This colt is learning ordinary things; what thousands of foals have learnt before him.
The soft touch of human skin, the gentle nickering of his dam.
The sweet taste of momma's milk, the proper way to walk ... and later, run.

He is in many ways, a perfectly normal foal.
The 130 pound colt has no way of knowing that while he stumbles around and learns how to live, the rest of the world is perched on the edge of their seats, intently observing him with hope & adoration.
He is completely oblivious that the dark bay mare who looks so much like him is the near-undefeated, 2010 Horse of the Year, Zenyatta. That his sire is Bernardini, winner of the Preakness Stakes.

He is a superstar at birth.

While most horses go by unnoticed til they hit the races, Zenyatta's unnamed colt will be surrounded by hype through every step of his "childhood". Fans of the Racing Queen will be keeping their fingers crossed til the day he runs his maiden.
With such a royal pedigree, you can't really blame them.

To make things even more interesting, there's Rachel Alexandra's colt, born back in January. As Rachel was Zenyatta's off-the-track rival (they never met in a race), and equally as impressive as a racehorse, many are speculating whether there may be a rivalry between the two's offspring. While the notion's certainly bazaar, it very well may happen, as both colts could end up stabled at Santa Anita Park.

Will they live up to expectations? The odds say no, as producing a champion racehorse is much more complicated than adding up good sire + champion mare.
But that won't keep any of us from hoping and praying for Z's colt to run like the wind.
Horse racing's a game of chances.

For all we know, he might just fly.

Unbridled's Way Debuts at Gulfstream

After a weekend of thrilling, top class races, this one may seem like a much quieter performance.


Unbridled's Way, a full brother to the late Eight Belles, had his debut today at Gulfstream.
It was a maiden special weight event, run at 6 furlongs on the dirt. The purse was $57,600.

Unbridled's Way, ridden by Rajiv Maragh, saved ground off the pace while the leaders ran fractions of 23.52, 47.18, and 59.15. He was eased out down the stretch, where he pulled away to gain second. Flashy Dresser was first, 6 1/2 lengths away from the field, while Broome Street settled for third.
You can view the complete chart here.

While not a winning performance, one cannot argue that it was a very convincing maiden for this son of Unbridled's Song. Despite being unable to catch the leader, he proved himself a sufficient closer & hopefully, learned something from the experience. Hopefully we'll be seeing great things from this 3 year old sometime in the near future.

His big sister would've been proud.

                               Eight Belles winning Honey Bee (G3) with ease.

The Gotham Stakes: Can Hansen Steal It?

    He's lean, sleek & white as snow.
3 for 4 in his nearly undefeated career; reigning 2 Year Old Champion.
His only loss was an unfortunate second, in which he struggled with an off track and a stumble at the gate.
He's coming back off fast works, rearing to go in his next start - the $400,000 Gotham Stakes (March 3rd).
What's not to love?

Hansen romping home to win the Kentucky Cup Juvenile

by a sensational 13 lengths.

Plenty of things, according to the 13 horse field - a record total for the 1 1/16 mile Derby prep.
In spite of his phenomenal 2 year old season, Hansen's scaring away no one.
Questions have arose surrounding the Tapit colt's 3 year old debut. Hansen stumbled at the gate before rushing off at sharp fractions to head the field by several lengths - a gap that was quickly eaten by Algorithms (now off the Derby trail due to an injured right foreleg), who soared past Hansen to win it by 5.
Although Hansen supporters may blame it on the off track & his unfortunate plunge at the start, others are pointing to the grey colt as a prime example of a precocious 2 year old whose peers have finally caught up to in the trying metamorphosis from front-running colt to Derby contender.

In absence of Algorithms, Hansen will be faced by My Adonis - the horse who rallied from 20 lengths behind in the Holy Bull to finish a half length behind Hansen. My Adonis will go down as the second favorite to Hansen in the Gotham Stakes.

And then there's Dan and Sheila & Raconteur, the two entrees from trainer Todd Pletcher. Should they preform well, they'll will be off on their quest for the Kentucky Derby. A notable long shot would be Maan - going off at odds of 15-1, the colt from Cloverleaf Farms is undefeated in 2 career starts. He's never ran farther than 6 1/2 furlongs, so the question will be if he can stretch out - especially when accompanied by stakes quality 3 year olds.

Hansen will have to run hard to prove himself - not only against the favorites, but by several up-and-coming long shots. Trainer Mike Maker hopes that by taking his blinkers off, Hansen will run more relaxed than in previous races.

"I feel like he was extra sharp in the Holy Bull," says jockey Ramon Dominguez. "He (Maker) said all along, although he would have liked to win that race, it wasn't the ultimate goal. I'm pretty optimistic that with that race under him, he will be a little more settled."

And settled he must be, to overcome not only the large field, but an unlucky position in gate 12.
But it could be worse.
At least he's not in gate 13.