Zenyatta, queen of Arkansas: Unbeaten mare arrives at Oaklawn Park to a regal welcome

With no sign of Rachel, Zenyatta rules at Oaklawn

HOT SPRINGS, Ark. — Zenyatta arrived at Oaklawn Park on Tuesday, cheered at the airport and honored with a two-car police escort to the track where she’ll try to run her record to 16-0.

The 6-year-old mare who created a sensation by beating the boys in last year’s Breeders’ Cup Classic flew on a charter plane in a rare foray from her home base in Southern California.

“She got a little excited landing, but other than that she was real good,” said Frank Lael, who accompanied her as the assistant to trainer John Shirreffs.

She was greeted by about 100 cheering fans at the airport in former President Bill Clinton’s childhood hometown. They held signs reading, “Marry Me Zenyatta,” ”Go Girl,” and “Rachel Who,” a reference to racing’s other female superstar whose owner declined an invitation to run against Zenyatta in Friday’s Apple Blossom Invitational.

Jess Jackson said his 2009 Horse of the Year wasn’t in top form after losing her season debut last month.

As a result, the Apple Blossom will be worth $500,000 instead of the $5 million that had been promised if both horses ran. Still, Oaklawn spokesman Terry Wallace said the track expects 100,000 people over Friday and Saturday, when the Arkansas Derby is run.

Zenyatta will try to equal the record of 16 consecutive victories shared by Cigar and Citation.

“I think she can do it. She’s got it all right here,” Lael said, tapping his head.

She won the Apple Blossom in 2008, her first race on dirt. She won her season debut last month on Santa Anita’s synthetic surface.

She’s set to run against four others this time, her perfect record deterring serious competition. One of the entrants, War Echo, is trained by Steve Asmussen, who trains Rachel Alexandra. Hall of Fame trainer D. Wayne Lukas saddles Be Fair, who has four wins in 14 career starts.

“I feel like Butler going against Duke,” he said. “I have no grandiose ideas of beating her, obviously, and I don’t think anybody else in there does, whoever the other three are.”

Trucks from four Little Rock television stations followed the silver semitrailer carrying Zenyatta and several other horses on its short drive to the track. About 50 people gathered to watch her walk off the truck and into the barn, with several applauding.

“The biggest thing going in Hot Springs on a Tuesday is a bingo game,” one observer said, noting the excitement her presence created.

She whinnied as she came in, prompting the heads of four other horses to pop out of their stalls to check her out. They answered her with whinnies, too.

Zenyatta did several laps around the barn, pausing regally to appease photographers, her ears pricked at the sound of their clicking cameras.

“She really loves people,” Lael said.

That was evident by the parade of track workers gathered to watch Zenyatta munch grass for more than an hour behind her barn. Grooms done with their work for the day looked on while a parade of camera-toting folks took turns posing with her, some joking it would be their Christmas card.

She willingly accepted their pats on the head, at times interrupting her snacking to strike a pose, her head held high.

Trainer Cindy Jones, the wife of trainer Larry Jones, massaged Zenyatta’s back, prompting the mare to paw the ground in delight. At one point, she lifted her right front leg high, balancing her big body on three feet.

After a bath, Lael led her into Stall 27 piled high with a bedding of fresh straw and a view of the parking lot. He hung a bale of hay outside the door for her to snack on.

She won’t lounge around for long. Zenyatta is expected to work out Wednesday.