Zenyatta Faces Five in Clement Hirsch
Undefeated champion mare Zenyatta -- a perfect 17-for-17 in a stellar career thus far -- Wednesday was entered to race at Del Mar in the Grade I, $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes on Saturday.
Mr.-Mrs. Jerome Moss' strapping 6-year-old daughter of Street Cry not only will be going after her 18th straight victory in the Hirsch, but also her third in a row in the mile and one-sixteenth contest on the main track that she won by a length in 2008, then by only a head in a thrilling finish last season.
Trainer John Shirreffs, who has guided the big mare's perfect run to this point, appears set to send his charge out Saturday against five rivals in her next step en route to defending her title in the Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs on Saturday, November 6.
In 2009 Zenyatta capped off a five-for-five championship season with a powerful one-length tally in the Classic, beating 11 of the best male horses in the world with her crowd-stirring late run in an outcome that has been called the best Breeders' Cup race ever, as well as one of the greatest performances in the history of the sport.
Saturday's headliner will be the highlight of a 10-race card that Del Mar designated Zenyatta Day, feauring a special pint-glass set giveaway with likenesses of the mare and her regular rider, Hall of Famer Mike Smith.
Zenyatta, who shipped to Del Mar early Wednesday and galloped later in the morning on the main track, drew Post 5 in the six-horse field. She'll carry 123 pounds under the conditions of the race, most of it made up by her regular partner Smith.
The Hirsch field, from the rail out with riders and weights, is as follows:
Dr. Ronan Lambe's Princess Taylor, 119 pounds, Victor Espinoza the rider; L-Bo Racing & Lamb's Made for Magic, 121, Omar Berrio; Mmes. Cecil or Reddam's Spring Style, 119, Patrick Valenzuela; Olympia Star, Inc.'s Dance To My Tune, 119, David Flores; Zenyatta, and Jerry Jamgotchian's Rinterval, 119, Rafael Bejarano.
The Hirsch will be the ninth of 10 races with a post time of approximately 6:15 p.m. It carries a winner's share of $180,000.