The great race mare Zenyatta, who suffered her only defeat in 20 starts losing a photo-finish to Blame in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic, has been retired by owners Jerry and Ann Moss, and will be boarded for her second career as a broodmare at Lane’s End Farm near Versailles, Ky.
The 6-year-old daughter of Street Cry, currently stabled at her longtime home barn at Hollywood Park, is expected to arrive in Kentucky in early December. Breeding plans have not been finalized.
Purchased for $60,000 by David Ingordo on behalf of the Mosses at the 2005 Keeneland September yearling sale, Zenyatta raced for three years, setting a North American female earnings record of $7,304,580. Her 19 victories included 13 Grade 1 wins, among them the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic and the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Santa Anita. She is the only filly or more ever to win that race in 27 runnings.
Trained by John Shirreffs and ridden for most of her career by Mike Smith, Zenyatta won the Eclipse Award as champion older mare in both 2008 and 2009, and is a major contender for 2010 Horse of the Year.