Zenyatta’s stirring victory becomes an instant classic
Without a doubt this year’s Breeders’ Cup was the most memorable ever because of one horse, Zenyatta. Her riveting win over 11 males in the Classic has to move into everyone’s top five races of all time.
Did Zenyatta do enough to pass Rachel Alexandra in the race for Horse of the Year? That’ll be debated ad nauseam over the next month. Meanwhile, other goings-on from the Breeders’ Cup deserve mention:
• I have yet to come across anyone who could make heads or tails of the quirky camera angles used in the race coverage on ABC and ESPN. What were they thinking?
After watching the first Breeders’ Cup race Friday, the Marathon, I thought for sure the network had hired the director of “The Blair Witch Project.” Why so many camera cuts and oddball angles? If not for the magnificent work of track announcer Trevor Denman, I would not have known the running positions of any of the horses.
• The two-day attendance at Santa Anita increased from 86,588 to 96,496. The reason was simple: lower ticket prices. I suspect the $10 general admission boosted the late walk-up traffic by thousands.
• Last year, all 14 Breeders’ Cup winners prepped on turf or synthetic surfaces, none on dirt. That trend nearly repeated itself in 2009. Only Tapitsfly (Juvenile Fillies Turf) prepped on dirt, and that was because of a surface switch of the grassy Miss Grillo to dirt at Belmont Park.
• The Euros won six races, one more than last year. Expect that number to drop next year at Churchill Downs, which has a dirt main track. In the same vein, expect Eastern-based horses to do a lot better in Louisville. Historically, Eastern-based horses have trouble out West.
• At last there was positive news with the race handle in Nevada.
According to Vinny Magliulo, vice president of the Las Vegas Dissemination Company, the Breeders’ Cup handle in Nevada grew from $6.735 million to $6.875 million. And the overall handle grew from $10.105 million to $10.182 million.
The gains don’t seem like much. But in a year of double-digit declines in gross gaming revenues, a tiny uptick is good news.
• LOCAL CONTEST — The South Point is starting its new South Point Six handicapping contest from Wednesdays through Fridays. A different breed will be featured each day: greyhounds on Wednesdays, thoroughbreds on Thursdays and harness on Fridays.
At a time when race books are cutting back on perks for players, it’s nice to see marketing dollars invested on the locales in town.
Richard Eng’s horse racing column is published in the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Friday. He can be reached at rich_eng@hotmail.com.