Zenyatta improves to 12-0 with victory in Clement Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar

Zenyatta stays perfect with Del Mar victory

DEL MAR, Calif. —Zenyatta stayed perfect, but just barely.

The sensational mare improved her record to 12-0 with a narrow victory in Sunday’s Clement L. Hirsch Stakes at Del Mar.

Zenyatta dropped back to last in her usual fashion, then ran four horses wide into the stretch and rallied to win by a head under strong urging from Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith.

“Wasn’t that something!” he said.

Zenyatta covered 1 1-16 miles in 1:43.24 and paid $2.40, $2.20 and $2.10 as the 1-5 wagering favorite. Heavy betting on her by the crowd of 20,335 created a minus show pool of $95,010.

Anabaa’s Creation returned $7.60 and $5.80, while Lethal Heat was another three-quarters of a length back in third and paid $5.20 to show. Three horses were scratched, leaving Zenyatta to face six rivals in the Grade 1 race on the synthetic surface.

“I thought I won it,” said Tyler Baze, who rode Anabaa’s Creation. “She ran her fanny off. We got beat by a champion. I didn’t know where she (Zenyatta) was, but I knew she was coming. She came and just got us.”

Smith said he underestimated the competition.

“They made her run. She really was running easy. Her ears were pricking back and forth and she was just loping,” he said. “I never hit her, but I showed her the stick. I knew we had to get busy at the finish. When we got right near the wire she hit another gear. Then when we crossed and I stood up she hit another gear. On the gallop out she was drawing away.”

Zenyatta is just one win shy of matching Personal Ensign’s perfect 13-race career.

“It was very, very close down there,” winning trainer John Shirreffs said. “All the way down the stretch I’m hollering, ‘Get ‘em, Get ‘em.’ What I really liked about her race is that she had a lot of ground to make up and she put her head down and kept making it up. She never picked her head up. She kept reaching out and running for the wire. That’s Zenyatta.”

Zenyatta carried co-high weight of 123 pounds, spotting five other horses 4 pounds each. She won the Hirsch by a length a year ago, covering the distance in a track record of 1:41.48.

The 5-year-old mare is 3-0 this year, with her other victories in the Vanity and Milady handicaps at Hollywood Park, her home track.

Zenyatta finished 2008 with a victory in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic and could be headed for a repeat attempt in November, although it’s unlikely she’ll face Preakness winner Rachel Alexandra, whose owner doesn’t want his filly to run on Santa Anita’s Pro-Ride surface.

The victory, worth $180,000, increased Zenyatta’s career earnings to more than $2.5 million.

In the other feature, Lookin at Lucky defeated Make Music For Me by three-quarters of a length to win the $150,000 Best Pal Stakes for 2-year-olds.

Ridden by Garrett Gomez, Lookin at Lucky covered 6½ furlongs in 1:16.06 and paid $4.80 to win as the 7-5 favorite.

“This is what dreams are made of. There’s nothing like good 2-year-olds in the barn,” winning trainer Bob Baffert said. “The good ones get ready on their own. When you have good ones, they take care of the bad ones. I’ve thought he had a lot of talent.”

Lookin at Lucky earned $90,000 with his second win in as many starts for co-owner Mike Pegram.