Zenyatta

   The youngest progeny from Hall of Fame superstar Zenyatta recently arrived at John Shirreffs's barn at Santa Anita. The 2-year-old chestnut filly by Candy Ride (Arg) named Zilkha is already well on her way to making her debut this year. Zilkha's big personality became abundantly clear during my interview with Shirreffs. The juvenile was front and center, peering over Shirreffs's shoulder as she was hamming for the camera, and at one point put her nose right in it. Perhaps she is more like Zenyatta than we know? When I...

In this continuing series, we take a look ahead at US-bred and/or conceived runners entered for the upcoming weekend at the tracks on the Japan Racing Association circuit, with a focus on pedigree and/or performance in the sales ring. Here are the horses of interest for this Sunday running at Tokyo Racecourse, where the featured event is the second leg of the Japanese Filly Triple Crown, the G1 Yushun Himba over 2400 meters: Sunday, May 22, 2022 2nd-TOK, ¥9,900,000 ($77k), Maiden, 3yo, 1600m CHAMP DE MARS (JPN) (c, 3, Arrogate--Pressurizing,...

There was history being made this past week and there is history yet to be made. Break out your encyclopedias, your preferred tomes of ancient references, any long-dusty papers from years past, and enjoy the show. Who run the world? Girls. Letruska joined elite, and truly rarified air with her successful defense of her GI Apple Blossom title over another Apple Blossom winner in Ce Ce. Only three other mares have accomplished the feat of multiple wins in Oaklawn's signature event for dirt distaffers dating back to 1973, and their...

Lane's End Farm and Team Zenyatta will hold the Annual Zenyatta Celebration beginning Friday, Apr. 1, after being postponed from last November. A limited edition celebration sticker featuring Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}) will be available beginning Friday, the date of Zenyatta's birth in 2004. The vinyl stickers will be available for two weeks in the Lane's End gift shop. Each purchase of a sticker will include an automatic entry into a raffle to meet Zenyatta in person, with 10 individuals winning a visit. The winners will be drawn live on...

Cozmic One (Bernardini), the first foal out of Horse of the Year Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), has joined the TAKE2 Thoroughbred League and is slated to compete in the TAKE2 Thoroughbred Jumper Division at the Kentucky National Horse Show Sept. 22-26. The classes for his division will be held in the Walnut Ring at the Kentucky Horse Park near Lexington. Cozmic One could earn a wild card berth in the $20,000 TAKE2 Hunter and Jumper Finals Sept. 26 if he finishes in the top five in the division. Now a...

Great expectations don't necessarily begin with lofty intent. Most new licensees start out hungry for that one lionheart of any stripe to announce their arrival. Those trainers who are routinely sent the big weekend warriors learn to acquire a more refined palate, to remodulate their ambitions accordingly. But scant few are fortunate enough to have harnessed the sort of thunderbolt that doesn't just electrify a trainer's career but leaves a patch of scorched earth for posterity. And really, how many ever expect to? In part one, we deconstructed some of...

In a new TDN series, we curry lessons and wise counsel from veteran Californian figures who, like gold nuggets panned from the Tuolomne River in the High Sierras, have unearthed career riches on arguably the toughest circuit in the States. We begin this series with John Shirreffs. Born at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Shirreffs was raised around horses on his family farm, and was deployed to Vietnam with the Marine Corps before embarking on a career in racing, using a 10-year stint at the Loma Rica Horse Ranch in Northern California...

Hall of famer Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}--Vertigineux, by Kris S.) has lost her 2021 foal, a Candy Ride (Arg) filly. The news was reported on Zenyatta's official website Tuesday. "We at Team Zenyatta and Lane's End Farm are deeply saddened to share that Zenyatta lost her 2021 foal early this year," the website read. "She had been carrying a second Candy Ride filly, and we grieve the loss of this precious life. Thankfully, Zenyatta remains in excellent health and is doing very well." Zenyatta's first two foals, the 9-year-old Cozmic...

It was a record-breaking year for video production at the TDN, and for video views, with over 3.8 million TDN videos and advertisers' commercials shown on our platforms. We took a look to see what you were watching the most. Here are our top 10 videos of the year, as watched on the TDN's YouTube Channel and the TDN site combined. Click on the red links below to watch. Zenyatta and Her Candy Ride Filly at Lane's End. 108,960 views. She may be the fan-favorite of all time. Meet the...

While putting off a final decision regarding which Breeders' Cup race GI Preakness S. winner Swiss Skydiver (Daredevil) will run in, trainer Ken McPeek said Sunday morning that he prefers running his filly at a mile-and-a-quarter, the distance of the GI Breeders' Cup Classic. His other option is the GI Breeders' Cup Distaff, which is run at a mile-and-an-eighth. "It's a little early and we don't have to make a decision right now but I do like her at the mile-and-a-quarter," he said. "The further, the better. She gets to...

Whether you choose to believe them or not, people always said that she knew where the finish line was. And there was never any denying the intelligence of four-time Eclipse champion and Horse of the Year Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}). She was quirky and a bit high-strung, and she made a hobby out of throwing exercise riders in the mornings. Her dance when she hit the track during warmup, whether it was to toy with her fans or to release adrenaline, and her ability to switch gears as she weaved...

It's not every year that John Shirreffs, a patient trainer with a small stable of mostly older horses, has a GI Kentucky Derby contender. In fact, the last time most remember him being in the spotlight was with a certain mare named Zenyatta (Street Cry {Ire}), four-time champion and arguably the most popular horse of the 21st century. But with newly-minted Grade I winner Honor A. P. (Honor Code) looking like a leading challenger for the Run for the Roses, Shirreffs joined the TDN Writers' Room presented by Keeneland Wednesday...