Hail to the Queen Z! After Zenyatta finished second in Horse of the Year voting for 2008 and 2009, the third time was the charm for the all-time great racemare, who tonight was finally award thoroughbred racing’s greatest honor as Horse of the Year for 2010.
The voting was close. Zenyatta was named on 128 of the ballots for Horse of the Year, as voted on by members of the National Turf Writers Association, National Thoroughbred Racing Association and Daily Racing Form. Blame, the colt who defeated Zenyatta by a head in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, garnered 102 votes, with five going to the French mare Goldikova.
But Zenyatta, one of the most celebrated racehorses of the past 50 years, was a popular choice. Over a three-year campaign, with most of her races coming in her home base of Southern California, the massive daughter of Street Cry won a record 19 races in a row without suffering a defeat. She earned a legion of fans with her relentless stretch runs, oftentimes getting up just in time as they hit the shadow of the wire.
In 2009, facing male horses for the first time, Zenyatta won the Breeders’ Cup Classic but was runner-up in Horse of the Year voting to another filly, Rachel Alexandra. In 2010, Zenyatta rattled off five straight Grade 1 wins over fillies and mares in California before venturing to Kentucky for a second shot at the Classic.
Far back in the early going, she finished full of run but fell a head short of catching Blame. Yet enough voters realized that Zenyatta, based both on her ability on the track and her popularity off it, deserved to be named Horse of the Year.