Urine Luck: I'm Writing About Horse Racing Again

By: T.R. Slyder, TRSlyder@yahoo.com

Saturday will feature some great horses, namely two I love talking about: Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra. They will, however, be racing in separate races, much like they will be doing on Breeders Cup Day. Under different circumstances I would accuse Rachel Alexandra of dodging Zenyatta, but because the Breeders Cup will be run at Santa Anita over a synthetic race surface- which is Zenyatta's preferred surface, I don't blame Rachel's connections. With Rachel being a dirt horse, racing Zenyatta on her home track on her favorite surface wouldn't constitute a fair fight. Such a clash of the mare titans deserves a fair fight- and the unfortunate location of the 2009 Breeders Cup will be unable to deliver such a fight. It's unfortunate, but understandable.

Speaking of understandable, the 11 people who didn't understand why jockey Calvin Borel chose to ride Rachel in the Preakness, over Derby winner Mine That Bird, should understand today. Rachel is racing in a $300k race, while Mine That Bird will not be racing. She is installed as the 1-5 favorite in Belmont Park's Grade 1 Mother Goose (1 mile and an eighth) against 4 other, lesser foes.

13 minutes after the Mother Goose's post time, the undefeated Zenyatta will take on seven other horses in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park (1 mile and an eighth). She is also the 1-5 morning-line favorite. I usually don't pay much attention to the weights that a horse will carry, but this race wouldn't allow me to ignore it.

You noticed how Zenyatta's race is called the Vanity Handicap. Not the Vanity Derby, or Vanity Stakes. The "Handicap" part is similar to a handicap golf tournament, but instead of using strokes to even the playing field, they use weight. The theory being that, they can even the field by making the better horses heavier and the less-seasoned horses lighter. Usually what that means is the big favorite carries 3 or 4 more pounds more than the rest, and the rest of the field varies by like 2 or 3 pounds.

Saturday's Vanity, however, is unlike any handicap I can recall. Zenyatta will be carrying 129 pounds (that's the weight of the jockey, saddle and added weight in the form of lead bars for the sake of adding weight). The next highest horse will carry 116, with the others carrying betwixt 111 and 114. I've never seen that much disparity before. I also cannot recall another horse carrying 129 pounds before- male or female, and Zenyatta is a female.

You can expect to see the races on this blog tomorrow once they're on YouTube. Prepare to be impressed again. I just hope these horses can somehow find a way to race one another over a neutral surface. For me that would be a dream match up. Much like some people dream of seeing a Cubs vs. White Sox world series, or a Kobe vs. Lebron/Shaq NBA Finals or Duke vs. North Carolina NCAA men's basketball finals, Zenyatta and Rachel head-to-head is my single biggest, currently possible sports fantasy.

UPDATE: Two horses in the Mother Goose scratched this morning. Rachel Alexandra will now be racing against only two other horses. Finally a trifecta I can hit! The most surprising thing about the 3-horse field is that its in New York and not California.

Update #2: This is a great, brief write up about Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra and how it's unfortunate that they won't be facing eachother anytime soon.