THE SATURDAY POST

In November, The Saturday Post started an annual fan poll to allow racing enthusiasts to cast their picks for their favorite champions in various categories during the 2010 racing season. The votes are in. Take a look at our fan favorites!

Horse of the Year – Zenyatta.

By an overwhelming 97 percent of fan votes, Zenyatta commanded a solid victory for “Horse of the Year” in our racing poll.

During her career, the great mare commanded rock star power through claiming victory after victory in nineteen consecutive outings. She is the highest female earning racehorse of all time in North America. She won the most consecutive Grade I victories in the sport. She pulled three “three-peats” in the Clement Hirsch, Lady’s Secret and Vanity. Finally, Zenyatta made history through becoming the first female to ever beat the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in 2009.

Beyond the record books, Zenyatta brought many intangibles to the sport. She delighted fans with her dizzying ‘dance routines’ in the paddock, video footage of her guzzling a Guinness in her stable and invited everyone to take a “virtual ride” on her back through a helmet camera she used during a workout.

She also brought the sport into the national limelight. Zenyatta was featured as one of the most powerful women of 2010 in Oprah’s magazine, as well as a figure in the “Society” section of W fashion magazine. She claimed ownership of Los Angeles in her billboard entitled, “This Is My Town,” as part of a marketing campaign for the L.A. Dodgers Baseball Team. Finally, Zenyatta’s segment on 60 Minutes served as the first time the show had ever filmed a piece on a racehorse.

Simply put, Zenyatta delivered a show that was unimaginable before she began her racing career. She made people wonder. She made people cry. She made people marvel at her beauty. And, in the process, she added excitement to the sport for both long-time enthusiasts and newcomers.

Best Older Male Horse – Blame. With 65 percent of votes in his favor, Blame won the fan poll for Best Older Male Horse. During his career, Blame won nine races in thirteen career starts and retired with career earnings of $4,368,214. In 2010, he won three Grade I victories, including the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Best Older Female Horse – Zenyatta. Aside from “Horse of the Year,” 86 percent of fans also voted for Zenyatta as the “Best Older Female Horse.” Goldikova served as the second choice in the fan poll for this category.

Best Three-Year-Old Male Horse – Lookin’ at Lucky. Preakness-winner Lookin’ at Lucky won best “Three-Year-Old Male Horse,” capturing 74 percent of the votes in our racing poll.

Best Three-Year-Old Filly – Blind Luck. With five Grade I wins, Blind Luck won “Best Three-Year-Old Filly” with 85 percent of fans voting in her favor.

Best Two-Year-Old Male Horse – Uncle Mo. With an undefeated record in three starts as a two-year-old, including his victory in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile, Uncle Mo has won “Best Two-Year-Old Male Horse” in our fan poll with 80 percent of the votes.

Best Two-Year-Old Female Horse – Awesome Feather. With a six-race undefeated record, Awesome Feather has won the fan vote for “Best Two-Year-Old Female Horse,” with 78 percent of votes in her favor.

After tearful goodbyes and long last gazes, racing has bid its’ final farewell to one great mare. Zenyatta touched the very soul of her fans in a way that few believe they have seen in their lifetime.

And, for those who love Zenyatta, they may wish that she could have raced forever if such a dream were possible in reality. I certainly wish it was.

So, should we just close our racing programs now and stand outside her stall?

Not in my view.

You see, this isn’t the first saddening goodbye ever spoken or written about in the world. And, when I think of one of the most beautiful farewells in literature, The Grapes of Wrath comes to mind in the moment where Tom Joad has to leave his mother. In the famous passage, he conquers the finality of a farewell.

It is the moment where he marvels at the idea that human beings may not simply hold one solitary soul, but rather, they are all part of a larger soul that includes everyone. He realizes that if this is true, there really is no finality in a farewell. She would see him again. Although it may not be in the flesh, his “ghost” would appear in nearly every human act that embodied a part of his spirit.

I view racing in the same way.

The soul of racing isn’t defined in one single horse, although it may seem like it when you are in the presence of a great one. In my mind, every horse is part of the soul of this sport. The ones that get beaten in a race are as necessary as the ones that deliver the dream. There is no victory without a defeat.

And, if every racehorse embodies the soul of the sport, you’ll see a flash of Zenyatta in plenty of races in the future. There is no finality in her farewell.

You can see a flash of Zenyatta in Awesome Feather, an undefeated two-year-old filly with six career starts, including a win in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies.

And, the spirit of Zenyatta appears when you see Turbulent Descent being hand-ridden toward her third victory at Hollywood Park in her perfect two-year-old season.

You can see a glimpse of Zenyatta when two-year-old Cathy’s Crunches wins three consecutive stakes races in a row, including an outing against male horses.

And, you can see Zenyatta in Uncle Mo, who is stirring attention across the racing world as we wonder exactly what dreams he may behold.

Finally, you’ll see Zenyatta in stories throughout the ages. It would be nearly impossible to talk about the Belmont at length without reminiscing about Secretariat’s otherworldly performance. I don’t think you could talk about finding a fairy tale at auction without mentioning Seattle Slew. And similarly, you’ll see the spirit of Zenyatta when the next filly steps into the gates at the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

There is no finality in her farewell so long as fans look to the future of racing. She is part of the soul of this sport. And, a “Flash of Zenyatta” could appear in any race.

In my view, the greatest honor to give Zenyatta is to watch for those fleeting moments. Because, in the heart of those moments, you’re seeing part of her spirit as well.

I can’t wait to see her again, even if it is in the flash of a moment.

And, I’m looking toward the future to find that moment.

Note: As a new year approaches in racing, The Saturday Post will begin a regular segment. The site will feature compilation videos of standout horses that are making their journey on the trail toward the 2011 Kentucky Derby.

I would personally like to invite the friends and readers of The Saturday Post to email me directly with any of your picks for Triple Crown hopefuls that you feel should be featured in the coming months. You can email me at jenniferjwirth@yahoo.com.

I would also like to extend my gratitude to everyone who has read this site, shared a link, provided an interview or posted a comment throughout the year. In a single year of writing this blog, I have met some of the kindest people in the world and had some of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Thank you to everyone. I look forward to hearing from you in 2011! - Jennifer Wirth

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Click Photo for Video

Today, Zenyatta will take her final bow before her adoring fans at Hollywood Park. In celebration of her astounding racing career, I am posting a video with quotes about this fairy-tale mare from trainers, writers and other media sources.

In my mind, Zenyatta has become virtually indescribable in words alone.

She is more than a champion race horse. She is more than a media maven. She more than a dancing diva. And, if she wins “Horse of the Year,” she is even more than that award.

Zenyatta is like falling in love. You can’t describe it to someone who has never felt it. Yet, for those who love Zenyatta, we endlessly try to sum her up through describing her personality, one-of-a-kind dance routines and exceptional racing record.

However, in the end, just like love, it really is the sum of everything that she is, along with her indescribable intangible qualities, that can’t be grasped unless you simply know it with you own eyes and heart.

For those who fell in love with this great mare, she isn’t vanishing in a simple farewell. Zenyatta is a flame that will remain in the hearts and memories of her fans for eternity and beyond.

And, she will remain a story. It may not be told in daily media articles, but instead, in homes across the world.

Somewhere in the future, there may be a moment where you tell her story to someone brand-new to racing. And, when they ask, “Did you get see her with your own eyes?” You’ll be able to say, “Yes, I did. I saw the greatest mare that ever set foot on a track in my lifetime.”

Last spring, I was at the Kentucky Derby with a friend who was new to racing. My friend asked, “Why aren’t there any white horses in the race?” I laughed and replied, “There is no such thing as white Thoroughbreds.”

In my mind, my friend was dreaming of unicorn-like creatures that could fly past their rivals and charm the crowd with their fairy-tale mystique. I agreed that it would be nice if the racing world had such gems, but there are no “unicorns” in the real world or on the race track.

Then, a few weeks ago, a white Thoroughbred showed up.

In a Lexington Herald-Leader article, Amy Wilson featured a white Thoroughbred in Kentucky. The horse wasn’t a “unicorn” in the fairy-tale sense, but he was still a majestic find.

“Chief White Fox,” is the six-month-old white colt that proved me wrong. He was born to a brown mare named “Diamonds and Lace” at Elmhurst Farm. The colt’s father, “The White Fox,” was also a white Thoroughbred from a mare named “Patchen Beauty.”

Soon after, I learned that Patchen Beauty is part of a flurry of white Thoroughbreds foaled at Patchen Wilkes Farm.

I decided to visit Patchen Wilkes Farm, the home of the founding line of white Thoroughbreds in Kentucky.

The story behind these magnificent horses is nothing short of magic. In 1963, Patchen Wilkes Farm registered the first white Thoroughbred in North America with The Jockey Club. Her name was “White Beauty” and she seemed to simply “appear” from a union between two ordinary brown horses.

Barry Ezrine, Farm Manager at Patchen Wilkes, explained that the rare coloring of White Beauty was a mutation at the time of her birth. The mutation evolved into a recessive gene, which is apparent from the lineage of White Beauty.

In the foyer at Patchen Wilkes, a large painted portrait of White Beauty hangs alone in remembrance of the founding matriarch of the white Thoroughbred line at the farm.

The legacy of White Beauty takes shape in a patchwork of photos on the adjacent walls. There are pictures of white Thoroughbreds racing, playing in the fields and posing on the front page of the newspapers. It is as if you have entered the gates of a fairy-tale castle.

In the fields, a few white Thoroughbreds graze among their brown counterparts. These white wonders have left their own mark in the world of racing.

Patchen Beauty won two races during her career and has delivered five white foals. Today, she resides at the farm along with her snow-white daughter, “Spot of Beauty.” They are both currently pregnant.

Patchen Beauty’s son, “Patchen Prince,” stands guard in the front paddock of the farm. During his career, he won two races, placed twice and showed in three of his thirteen outings. The stark-white gelding is a gentle presence at the farm, greeting guests, accepting kisses and posing for photos.

Yet, the white Thoroughbreds are more than simple figures of beauty.

They are racehorses.

And, they continue to strive to prove their worth in the racing world. “White Prince,” the son of Patchen Beauty, is currently attempting to break his maiden as a two-year-old at Turfway Park. He is anticipated to make his next start on December 3rd.

When I marveled at the idea of a white Thoroughbred winning a major race, Ezrine didn’t count out the possibility of fairy-tale ending. “There’s always Seattle Slew,” he remarked with a playful smile.

The six-month-old Chief White Fox is pointing toward a racing career as well, according to his owner, Paul Brown. During my interview with Brown, he remarked that white Thoroughbreds would make a great holiday story.

In the spirit of his remark, I joked with Brown as his white colt swirled around the paddock, “Who do you think could pull a sleigh faster between a reindeer and your horse?” He glanced at his spirited colt and answered with a twinkle in his eye, “Chief White Fox.”

I hope he’s right.

Yet, I’ve learned not to doubt white Thoroughbreds.

They certainly exist. I simply failed to imagine that possibility.

Now that I have seen them, I imagine the possibilities they behold.

Want to see the White Throughbreds with your own eyes? Click here to view our holiday video. To view Patchen Prince in his maiden race last year, click here to view the video.

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