Zenyatta News

[KatieK101]

Gorgeous, both of them! I'm loving all of the pictures.

I agree that it would be nice to see her revisit War Front -- that filly looked like something special. But I do love how they've sent her to so many different stallions, rather than just the same ol' Tapit or Meg every year.

(Think we'll see Littleprincessemma visit anybody else anytime soon?)

[Diver52]

Over at zenyatta.com the calls for her never to be bred again are deafening.

I haven't seen any; they're talking about who to send her to next.

Delamont, I corrected myself--the comments I saw were from a Facebook share of the post. Most of the followers on zenyatta.com seem to adore her but aren't bizarrely predisposed to think she's being abused!

[Delamont]

Over at zenyatta.com the calls for her never to be bred again are deafening.

I haven't seen any; they're talking about who to send her to next.

Delamont, I corrected myself--the comments I saw were from a Facebook share of the post. Most of the followers on zenyatta.com seem to adore her but aren't bizarrely predisposed to think she's being abused!

I saw that just now...

[firehorse]

I loved the War Front filly, she really looked like something special - but I can't imagine them going back after 2 tradegies (3rd times a charm? but don't recall a breeding being redone after something like that). I do think the Candy RIde looks, seems, to take after Z herself.... Zellda seems a MDO to me, while Cozmic One had her coloring and maybe size the Candy Ride looks like it got her head and maybe most importantly that beautiful shoulder - time will tell but I'd be happy if they went back to Candy Ride, would assume if they skip a year they'll wait and see how the 2020 looks in a few months. If they were gonna get adventurous, I loved Twirling Candy but doubt they'd go that route.

[Flanders]

I loved the War Front filly, she really looked like something special - but I can't imagine them going back after 2 tradegies (3rd times a charm? but don't recall a breeding being redone after something like that). I do think the Candy RIde looks, seems, to take after Z herself.... Zellda seems a MDO to me, while Cozmic One had her coloring and maybe size the Candy Ride looks like it got her head and maybe most importantly that beautiful shoulder - time will tell but I'd be happy if they went back to Candy Ride, would assume if they skip a year they'll wait and see how the 2020 looks in a few months. If they were gonna get adventurous, I loved Twirling Candy but doubt they'd go that route.

The 2 War Fronts were just bad luck and had nothing to do with who the sire was. I'd like if they sent her to More Than Ready, Ghostzapper or really outside the box Yoshida.

[BaroqueAgain1]

Declaration of War would be intriguing; stays with the War Front line and the young stallion already has some good runners, IIRC.
Oh wait....he was sold to Japan.

[Squeaky]

I’d like to see her go back to Into Mischief and try again, or back to Candy Ride.

[BorntoWin2]

Zenyatta and her new filly are beautiful. So strong. I read that it was an easy delivery and it looks like they were outside quickly. Loved the dawn photos.

[Northport]

I loved the War Front filly, she really looked like something special - but I can't imagine them going back after 2 tradegies (3rd times a charm? but don't recall a breeding being redone after something like that). I do think the Candy RIde looks, seems, to take after Z herself.... Zellda seems a MDO to me, while Cozmic One had her coloring and maybe size the Candy Ride looks like it got her head and maybe most importantly that beautiful shoulder - time will tell but I'd be happy if they went back to Candy Ride, would assume if they skip a year they'll wait and see how the 2020 looks in a few months. If they were gonna get adventurous, I loved Twirling Candy but doubt they'd go that route.

The 2 War Fronts were just bad luck and had nothing to do with who the sire was. I'd like if they sent her to More Than Ready, Ghostzapper or really outside the box Yoshida.

I'd love to see her go to Ghostzapper. Though I'm not sure if it is a pro or a con that his best progeny usually debut Spring of their 3 year old year and hit their stride as older horses, as Zenyatta's previous covers have been by stallions that have more of a reputation for early runners. On the other hand, you know the connections are about as patient as they come and there's been zero rush in the past to get any of her progeny to the track before their 3 year old year.

[Flanders]

I loved the War Front filly, she really looked like something special - but I can't imagine them going back after 2 tradegies (3rd times a charm? but don't recall a breeding being redone after something like that). I do think the Candy RIde looks, seems, to take after Z herself.... Zellda seems a MDO to me, while Cozmic One had her coloring and maybe size the Candy Ride looks like it got her head and maybe most importantly that beautiful shoulder - time will tell but I'd be happy if they went back to Candy Ride, would assume if they skip a year they'll wait and see how the 2020 looks in a few months. If they were gonna get adventurous, I loved Twirling Candy but doubt they'd go that route.

The 2 War Fronts were just bad luck and had nothing to do with who the sire was. I'd like if they sent her to More Than Ready, Ghostzapper or really outside the box Yoshida.

I'd love to see her go to Ghostzapper. Though I'm not sure if it is a pro or a con that his best progeny usually debut Spring of their 3 year old year and hit their stride as older horses, as Zenyatta's previous covers have been by stallions that have more of a reputation for early runners. On the other hand, you know the connections are about as patient as they come and there's been zero rush in the past to get any of her progeny to the track before their 3 year old year.

Yeah the foal wouldn't mature until age 5. Or something crazy happens and its a precocious 2yo. XD

[carole]

Maybe they will cancel each other out

[Missbeholder]

Firstly, many of you have forgotten more about breeding Thoroughbreds than I'll ever remember. Secondly, Zenyatta is a bit of a lightning rod when musing about breeding prospects or projections.

So, that said, I'm jumping in with a few thoughts that have been swirling around in my mind for these last few days since Zenyatta's Candy Ride filly was born.

Zenyatta has been in foal 7 times. She gave birth to 6, and aborted 1. She's had only 2 foals to make it to the races. Those two were her first two, and neither of them, with the exception of 1 or 2 board finishes from Ziconic, showed any interest in racing. I realize that it's a small sample size, and it's even more compromised by none of her subsequent offspring yet making it to the gate. However, there's probably not going to be a rush to breed her again to another A P Indy-line stallion. I've seen some suggestion out there for Honor Code, from the last crop of A P Indy. I might be wrong, but no one should hold their breath.

Zenyatta's other matches before this new filly by Candy Ride have all been with the Northern Dancer line. The two tragic star-crossed babies were Northern Dancer through Danzg/War Front, and the aborted foal was by Into Mischief, with the Great One some 5 generations back. The War Front filly was visually spectacular, and you'd think they would want to get some more of that, but I understand the reluctance. I get that this is a business, but superstition plays a lot in this game. The bad luck that happened with Zenyatta's two War Front offspring will.make anyone think twice about repeating. It's superstitious with all that, but I have to say that I don't blame them

Now we come to this new Candy Ride filly.. She's the first time they've gone to the Mr. Prospector line. Mr. Prospector is also Zenyatta's sireline. I've never been a fan of crossing sirelines, but Mr. P is pretty far back on Candy Ride's pedigree, so it doesn't create a problem for me.

We haven't seen enough of this Candy Ride filly to make an evaluation, but I'm thinking that the Mr. Prospector line is the way to go. I would have loved to see Zenyatta bred to Gone West. We obviously weren't going to see that, but I think his class-laden son Speightstown is a huge option!

[ThreeMustangs]

Great post. I think Speightstown would also provide some much-needed speed.

An Honor Code baby would be gorgeous, but might take forever to mature.

[Private Thoughts]

I think a change of trainer for the offspring would be a game changer.

I would have liked to see Zellda go to Steve Asmussen.

[Calypso]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see her go to Hard Spun. Just my two cents.

[Missbeholder]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see her go to Hard Spun. Just my two cents.

I don't know why Hard Spun would be a crazy idea when War Front is clearly not. They are both sons of Danzig. Hard Spun is older, and he doesn't have the current cache that War Front has, and he's certainly not as commercially successful. He's still a very classy specimen, though, and between the two of them, he's a bargain at the price!

In re-reading my post from before, I realized that in running down Zenyatta's babies, I forgot to mention the one other offspring that she has (besides the new filly) that is still alive and well! Zellda is another Northern Dancer-line youngster through Sadler's Wells/El Prado, and she will hopefully make it to the starting gate in the afternoon sometime before the end of the year.

By the way, does anyone know what the ownership status is for Zenyatta? I've seen entries in the Racing Form over the last year or so where the breeder of record is Mr. & Mrs. Jerome Moss, but Jerry is listed as the sole owner. I'm just wondering who actually owns Zenyatta since the divorce, who is making the breeding decisions for her, and who controls her offspring going forward. I suppose it's probably not all that important, but I'm just curious.

[swale1984]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see her go to Hard Spun. Just my two cents.

I said the same thing.

[mariasmon]

Hard Spun is too tall.

[Calypso]

Call me crazy but I'd like to see her go to Hard Spun. Just my two cents.

I said the same thing.

Whoops, I totally missed that. Glad it's not just me, though! I also think a pairing with Uncle Mo or Mendelssohn could be pretty cool (apologies in advance if someone beat me to it!)

[mariasmon]

Uncle Mo is waaay too tall.