Zenyatta Statue Proves Popular With Fans

Captured to perfection in her signature post-race curtsy, head bowed and right hoof pawing the ground, the mighty Zenyatta was unveiled in magnificent bronze Saturday at noon before an enthusiastic coterie of fans in the south quadrant of Santa Anita’s Kingsbury Memorial Fountain area, directly across from a replica of another turf legend, John Henry.

Enduring uncharacteristically hot weather, the crowd roared its approval when the life-sized sculpture by Nina Kaiser was uncovered, a full 1200 pounds and 17.2 hands high, conforming with Zenyatta’s physical measurements.

“Fantastic” is one of the adjectives used by Jerry Moss, who owns the 2010 Horse of the Year with his wife, Ann. “It’s absolutely beautiful. We’re knocked out.”

Zenyatta won 19 straight races to start her career before losing her final race in the Breeders’ Cup Classic that year. Among her heart-pounding, come-from-behind triumphs was the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita, in which she became the first female to defeat males in the championship event.

Retired as a broodmare at Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky, Zenyatta, now eight years old, currently is in foal to Tapit. In March, she delivered her first foal, a colt by Bernardini.

“We don’t know who her next boyfriend will be,” Moss told the throng. “We’re so grateful to everyone I can’t express it in words.” Added Ann of the likeness: “She looks fantastic.”

Well after Saturday’s last race, as darkness enveloped the statue, fans were still there, touching it and posing for pictures with the Zenyatta that will be their eternal shrine.