Zenyatta beats the boys in the Breeders' Cup Classic

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivpAzFvodVc

An all-time great performance and she retires a perfect 14 for 14. The fact that her and Rachel Alexandra raced in the same season is pretty remarkable.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRbF1kZQLjA

never realized that there was such a disparity b/w the sexes in horse racing

in Europe they run fillies and mares against males a lot more often ... in the U.S. it's relatively rare

only three fillies have ever won the Kentucky Derby. Zenyatta is the first female BC Classic winner (although that race hasn't been around as long, only 26 years)

Rachel beating *older* males in the Woodward as a 3yo filly is also pretty much unprecedented

how big is the draft effect in horse racing? seems like hanging off the back at 40mph would cost you a lot of needless extra energy.

what do you mean exactly by hanging off the back? coming out wide instead of staying in behind to reduce wind resistance? I guess wind matters some but I think most people think about trips in terms of stick to the rail (shortest route but more potential for traffic trouble) vs. sweep wide (less chance to get blocked but you run a longer race)

yeah, i didnt mean when she went wide in her final run, but for the first half of the race where she was gapped, sitting in the wind by herself 2-3 lengths behind the lead group of horses. in cycling, where youre operating on maybe one horsepower for your sprint, sitting out in the wind like that is a killer. you never want a gap. this apparently is not how it works with massive quadrupeds.

yeah stalking a front-runner's flank one or two paths off the rail (not directly behind) is usually considered the ideal trip for a horse who likes a target. the wind probably is a factor but there is also the issue of kickback / dirt in the face. a lot of horses don't like it.

I was just doing a little googling and apparently the idea of "having cover" or drafting is bigger in harness racing where they have a bulky contraption to pull and more wind resistance. I don't hear it discussed much in Thoroughbred strategy

An all-time great performance and she retires a perfect 14 for 14.

And then she un-retired and is now going for a perfect 20 for 20 this Saturday, again facing males in the Breeders' Cup Classic (this time on dirt at Churchill Downs)

if anyone cares

yeah didn't think so. lol

imna watch

this girl has style

jockeys turn into boxers after brief bout

http://sports.yahoo.com/video/player/news/Belo_Stations_Sports/22865098

the commercials during this are a trip

STREET BOSS: HIS WEANLINGS ARE SELLING NOW

STREET BOSS: HIS WEANLINGS ARE SELLING NOW

new board description

that race was insane

wth was this on cable ;_:

espn

watched with my dad, made a few bets, paid for my bus ticket back home.
SHAME my brother.

awesome race. one for the ages.

replay here

http://www.drf.com/news/breeders-cup-saturday-video-replays-and-recaps

scroll down to the bottom

jockeys turn into boxers after brief bout

this shit was bonkers! lol that it was calvin borel too

SHAME my brother.

it's BLAME btw? if you're talking the winning horse. sort of poetic. echoes of UPSET beating Man o' War (which is how "upset" became a sports term ... before that it just meant being pissed off or w/e)