Zenyatta (on the left of the picture), the amazon filly owned by music industry mogul Jerry Moss and his wife, Ann, has wasted no time propelling her late-blooming career to Number One in the distaff division; now four she has raced six times to perfection for earnings of $734,580. The ease with which she powered past eight graded winners, including Tough Tiz’s Girl (G1), Romance is Diane (G1), and Eclipse Champion Ginger Punch (G1), in her toughest test to date, the G1 Apple Blossom, suggests she is indeed special.
In the flesh, the daughter of Street Cry is an imposing presence. Altogether kind in disposition, she takes a keen interest in her surroundings, and with her near 17-hand vantage, she appears considerably taller when captivated. She traveled well to Arkansas for the Apple Blossom and remained composed even when tornadoes threatened Hot Springs on the eve of the race. Her demeanor however, once saddled in the paddock, transforms to ‘pure racehorse.’
In the post parade of the G2 Milady H, broadly dappled Zenyatta danced like a prizefighter, yet never turning a hair beneath hall of famer Mike Smith. She tugged the assistant starter to the gates - enthusiastic to begin the eight-and a half furlong match. As her conditioner John A. Shirreffs watched another of her convincing last-to-first triumphs from the Hollywood grandstand, his taciturn expression broadened into a ‘Cheshire Cat’ smile. Shirreffs and the Mosses have teamed in recent years to win the G1 Kentucky Derby with Giacomo (Holy Bull), and the Santa Anita Derby and the Oaklawn H. with Giacomo’s half-brother Tiago. Their ultimate goal with Zenyatta is to contest the G1 Breeders’ Cup Distaff at Santa Anita in the fall.
Moss, who is thrilled to own a filly of such caliber and potential said, “I would really like to win a championship with this filly.”
Always a crowd pleaser, Zenyatta kept the beat going on July 5, in the G1 Vanity Handicap. Smith asked her to lay a little closer under a 124-pound impost on a sweltering day. Although her signature move was somewhat matter-of-fact, it was enough to keep Tough Tiz’s Girl at bay in her first go at nine furlongs. Off the Milady/Vanity double she earned the distinction of Hollywood Park’s horse of the meeting. The G2 Clement Hirsch Handicap for fillies and mares at Del Mar is a possibility for her next start. Shirreffs is taking a conservative approach to Zenyatta’s training and has opted to keep her work at Hollywood Park until he is satisfied with the safe racing conditions at the seaside course.
Consigned by Winter Quarter Farm at Keeneland on behalf of breeder Maverick Productions, Ltd., Zenyatta was a savvy yearling purchase at $60,000 – twice Street Cry’s introductory fee, yet well below the six-figure average that the first-crop stallion was attaining. In 2007, he averaged $162,872.
Zenyatta’s dam Vertigineux, a homebred by Kris S descends from a Hail to Reason-Forli cross - a distinguished pattern which can also be found in the pedigree of Fairy Bridge, who most famously produced Sadler’s Wells. Zenyatta’s family includes champions Shareef Dancer and Sweetest Thing.
In a dazzling debut at Del Mar last summer, Trevor Denman compared Zenyatta's paternal half-brother Street Boss to an express train. He made up a twelve-length deficit in the last half-mile of a six-furlong maiden race, all the while circling the field five wide and then drawing away by daylight. The Bruce Headley-trained colt has a relentless passion for wearing down his opponents. He has now won seven of eleven starts, tallying $581,800 . At the start of the G3 Los Angeles H. in May, Street Boss broke from the three-hole only to clip heels and bobble before leaving the chute. The instantaneous mishap only reinforced the determination of the come-from-behind sprinter and he responded to jockey David Flores with fractions that now sets the mark at Hollywood Park. Streaking through eleven-second splits, he scored by a length; covering six furlongs in 1:07.55.
Streeet Boss has won his last five starts, adding two Grade One wins in the Bing Crosby and Triple Bend Handicaps. Headley has found parallels between Street Boss and his Breeders’ Cup Sprint champion Kona Gold when at the same age. On a personal level, Street Boss is helping to fill the huge void at the Headley camp left by the departure of Kona Gold, who headed off to the Kentucky Horse Park for a well-deserved retirement.
Bred in Kentucky by Brilliant Stable, Street Boss was discovered at Keeneland, fetching a final bid of $300,000 by Worldwide Bloodstock as agent. Out of Blushing Ogygian, his dam is a daughter of the three-time Grade One winner Ogygian - the last foal sired by all-time great Damascus. Street Boss’s elder half-sister is the near $200,000 multiple Grade Two-placed Habiboo.
Street Cry continues to be a force to be reckoned with. Now represented by six Grade One winners from three crops to race, the leading sire’s 18 Stakes winners have excelled over a variety of surfaces. Already the sire of a Breeders’ Cup winner, his Champion Two-Year-Old Street Sense, now standing at Darley, is the only horse in history to win the Juvenile and the Kentucky Derby.
