Odd Prerace cost Zenyatta

outoftheclouds

She might have looked great but the fact was she was OFF.About 90 min before the race they showed her in her stall she looked alert and ready.The next thing you know the groom took her for a GRAZE she never look alert after that.Even her strange prancing she did at a dead walk not on her toes like usual.I own racehorses their all different one horse i had you could tell after a couple laps in the walking ring if he was going to run or not.The start of the race is where an OFF horse is most effected.She has always walked out of the gate but after a couple hundred yards she wound pickit up in the classic she was losing ground for a 1/4 mile.Mike Smith rode a great race Zenyatta is the kind of horse you only ride for the last half mile the first 3/4 he's mearly a passenger.

DiscreetCat

Smith said before the race (on horseback a few minutes before the start) that he was happy with her. She was clearly a little keyed-up, a little anxious perhaps, and he made mention of that himself, saying that she was "a little on-edge".