Zenyatta stays perfect with record 17th consecutive victory in Vanity ‘Cap

Zenyatta runs record to 17-0 at Hollywood Park

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Zenyatta did what she’s always done — fall back to last place, make a late move in the stretch and then win. This time, she made history.

Zenyatta won her 17th consecutive race on Sunday, giving her the longest winning streak by a modern day thoroughbred in unrestricted races.

The 6-year-old mare won the $200,000 Vanity Handicap by a half-length at Hollywood Park, rallying with her usual last place move to overtake St Trinians approaching the wire.

“She’s sort of in a class by herself, which we always thought, of course, she was anyway,” said Jerry Moss, who owns Zenyatta with his wife Ann. “Eleven Grade 1s, that’s quite an accomplishment. It’s an awesome gift to have a horse like this.”

With the victory, Zenyatta surpassed the 16-race winning streaks of Cigar, 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, and Mister Frisky.

That trio all lost in their 17th races. Cigar was stopped at Del Mar in 1996; Citation was beaten at Santa Anita in 1950; and Mister Frisky lost in the 1990 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs.

“She’s achieved this and we’ll set it aside and relive it later,” said trainer John Shirreffs, who took a microphone and thanked the crowd for coming out.

Ridden by Hall of Famer Mike Smith, Zenyatta ran 1 1-8 miles on the synthetic Cushion Track of her home track in 1:49.01 and paid $3 and $2.10 as the overwhelming 1-5 favorite on the day her bobblehead was given away.

Zenyatta trailed the field much of the way — falling 12 lengths behind on the backstretch — before Smith swung her five-wide into the stretch. Running in the middle of the track, she responded to his whip and wore down St Trinians in the closing strides.

“I’m going to be watching that (replay) 30 or 40 times,” Moss said. “I thought she was going to get there somehow. I didn’t get too panicked.”

Shirreffs was carefully watching the distance between Zenyatta and St Trinians, knowing that his mare had yet to unleash her patented closing kick. But he came into the Vanity slightly uneasy since Zenyatta’s recent workouts had been on the slow side.

“We were kind of concerned about that,” Shirreffs said. “When it’s done perfectly, you say, ‘OK, that’s done and we go on to something else,’ but when you can’t completely close the book it leaves some uncertainty.”

In the end, though, Zenyatta answered all the questions.

She was cheered mightily as she returned to the winner’s circle, with Smith pumping his left fist and then patting Zenyatta on her neck. But she likely didn’t hear the noise because Shirreffs has been stuffing cotton in her ears for three years.

“Horses are sensitive to noise and this muffles it,” he said.

Under the race’s handicap conditions, Zenyatta carried high weight of 129 pounds — nine to 17 more than her five rivals — because of her stellar record.

“We’re carrying a lot of weight and I just wanted to get that weight moving forward,” Smiths said, “so I tried to tip out as we came off the turn and use that momentum to kind of slingshot me even though I was a little wide, to get her at least running.”

It was Zenyatta’s record third straight win in the Vanity. She won by 2½ lengths carrying 129 pounds last year, and by a half-length under 124 pounds in 2008. She paid $2.60 — tied for the smallest win payoff in the race’s 69-year history — the previous two years.

St Trinians returned $2.20.

“I wanted to be a little farther in front of her turning for home because I know the kick that Zenyatta’s got,” said Mike Mitchell, who trains St Trinians. “My mare has a big kick, too. She just got outrun.”

Zardana, who upset Rachel Alexandra in March and is trained by Shirreffs, was another six lengths back in third. Will O Way was fourth, followed by Miss Silver Brook and Cherryblossommiss.

“Zenyatta is just an unbelievable horse to ride against,” said Victor Espinoza, who was on Zardana. “Everything was good during the race, but to stay with her, it’s impossible.”

There was no show wagering because the track wanted to avoid a huge minus show pool, knowing that the heavily favored Zenyatta would have attracted several hundred thousand dollars in bets.

Fans lined up five-deep around the paddock and hung over a balcony above it as the horses were saddled under cool, overcast conditions. Some held up signs reading, “Go Zenyatta” while others waved photos of the dark brown mare. Cell phone and video cameras recorded her every trademark goosestep.

Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert came out even though he didn’t have any horses running Sunday, along with Bo Derek and composer Burt Bacharach.

“People love the stars,” Baffert said. “I haven’t seen this many people since she ran the last time.”

Her presence, along with the giveaway, helped attract a crowd of 12,232, significantly higher than the average of 4,204 over the three previous Sundays, but not the largest of the meet.

It was Zenyatta’s third start of the year, having won the Santa Margarita by 1¼ lengths at Santa Anita on March 13, and the Apple Blossom by 4¼ lengths at Oaklawn Park on April 9.

Zenyatta won a day after racing’s other female superstar won for the first time in three starts this year.

Reigning Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra romped to a 10½-length victory on Saturday in the Fleur De Lis Handicap at Churchill Downs. She ran 1 1-8 miles in 1:48.78 on a hot, humid day.