After foaling War Front filly, Zenyatta is pensioned

After foaling a War Front filly Friday evening, the broodmare career of legendary racehorse Zenyatta has come to an end.

Zenyatta, 19, delivered the filly at Lane’s End Farm in central Kentucky at 9:18 p.m. EDT. According to the web site Zenyatta.com, those in attendance for the foaling included Zenyatta’s co-owner Ann Holbrook (Moss).

“The foaling was filled with ease and elegance and both mom and baby are in excellent health and exude happiness,” said a post on the site. “Zeny’s new filly has legs for days and sports a blaze to match her mother’s.”

The post added, “This will be Zenyatta’s last foal as she is being retired as a broodmare.”

Zenyatta won 19 of 20 starts from 2007 to 2010 while based at Santa Anita with trainer John Shirreffs. Campaigned by Holbrook and her former husband Jerry Moss, Zenyatta’s career-defining moment came in 2009 when beating males in the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. She retired after being beaten just a head by Blame in the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs with more than $7.3 million in earnings.

In the breeding shed, things didn’t go nearly as well for Zenyatta. She has only four registered foals. Her first two foals, Cozmic One (2012, Bernardini) and Ziconic (2013, Tapit) both started for Shirreffs but never won. Her other two registered foals, a filly, Zellda (2017, Medaglia d’Oro) and another filly, Zikha (2020, Candy Ride), never raced.

Zenyatta also lost two offspring foaled in 2014 and 2016 by War Front and in 2018 aborted a filly by Into Mischief. She was not bred in 2015 or 2022.

The 2014 War Front filly suffered a paddock accident as a weanling and had to be euthanized. The 2016 colt by War Front was alive for seven days before dying from meconium aspiration syndrome. The syndrome, which also effects humans, results in respiratory distress in a newborn.

Zenyatta was three-time champion female and the 2010 horse of the year.