2007: three-year-old season On November 22, 2007, Zenyatta made her debut in a
Maiden Special Weight at a distance of furlongs over
Hollywood Park's artificial track surface. She broke last in a field of twelve and was still in tenth place after half a mile. She swung wide turning into the stretch and drew clear to win by three lengths. On December 15, Zenyatta made her next start in an allowance race at Hollywood Park over a distance of miles. She trailed the field for the first half mile then began to move into position while swinging wide on the final turn. In the stretch, she drew along the early leader and continued to draw off to win handily by lengths. Zenyatta traveled to
Oaklawn Park in Arkansas on April 5 for her first start on dirt and her first Grade 1 attempt. It was also the first time she was ridden by Hall of Fame jockey
Mike Smith, who rode her thereafter for the remainder of her career. She faced champion
Ginger Punch, who had won the
2007 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic and was heavily favored at odds of 2–5. Ginger Punch went to the early lead and set a moderate pace with Zenyatta lengths back after half a mile. Zenyatta began her move midway on the final turn while swinging four wide. She reached the lead in mid stretch and won going away by lengths over Brownie Points, with Ginger Punch a further lengths back in third. Zenyatta returned to California for her next start at Hollywood Park on May 31 in the
Milady Handicap. She broke poorly and was squeezed back but remained fairly closely bunched with the other four horses as Romance is Diane set "turtle-like fractions" of 24.74 seconds for the opening quarter mile and 48.19 for the half. Despite the slow pace, Zenyatta was able to close strongly down the stretch and drew clear by lengths under a hand ride. "She always makes everyone look like they stopped", said Ann Moss. "It's like she's out for a gallop and everyone else is stopping." On July 5, she was entered in the
Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park. She was assigned top weight of 124 pounds, while her main rivals Tough Tiz's Sis and
Sealy Hill carried 121 and 118 pounds respectively. Zenyatta made an earlier move than usual and took the lead in mid-stretch, then held off Tough Tiz's Sis to win by half a length. Smith felt Zenyatta had not been at her best. "She was not tested at all, but I was tested", he said. "She was just pulling [herself] up the whole time. Around the turn, she was pricking her ears. She was not even running. She was basically galloping through the stretch. She made me work hard, but she was just loafing." On August 2, she was entered in the
Clement L. Hirsch Handicap at
Del Mar. She again carried top weight of 124 pounds, spotting her seven rivals from five to twelve pounds. She trailed early behind a fast early pace and was eleven lengths behind after half a mile. She began making up ground around the far turn and moved to the lead in the final sixteenth of a mile to win by a length. She set a new track record of 1:41.48 for miles. Hystericalady went to the early lead and set a slow early pace. Zenyatta relaxed in fourth place just a few lengths behind, then swung wide turning into the stretch. She gained the lead in midstretch and drew off under moderate urging to win by lengths. She clocked negative splits throughout the race, running each quarter faster than the one before it. Her splits were :24 4/5, :23 4/5, :23 1/5, :22 3/5, with a final sixteenth in :06 flat. She finished the miles in a stakes-record 1:40.30 and established herself as the heavy favorite for the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic in October. On October 24, 2008, Zenyatta was sent off as the 1–2 favorite for the
Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic, held during the
Oak Tree meeting at Santa Anita. The field included four other horses who had won at the Grade I level in 2008: Ginger Punch, who had won the Ogden Phipps and Go For Wand Handicaps since losing to Zenyatta in the Apple Blossom, Carriage Trail (Spinster Stakes),
Cocoa Beach (Beldame) and Music Note (Gazelle Stakes). Zenyatta dropped back at the start behind a moderate pace set by Bear Now. Still lengths behind after three-quarters of a mile, she started to make up ground on the final turn. She circled the field at the top of the stretch and won by lengths over Cocoa Beach. With a perfect record of seven wins in 2008, all at the Grade I or II level, Zenyatta was the easy winner of the
Eclipse Award for
Champion Older Female Horse. She finished second in the voting for Horse of the Year to
Curlin, who had won five of his seven starts. Her win in the Ladies Classic was named the
NTRA Moment of the Year.
2009: five-year-old season Zenyatta was given a layoff after the Breeders' Cup, then resumed training in February. She was expected to make her five-year-old debut on May 1, 2009, in the
Louisville Distaff at
Churchill Downs. However, she was scratched from the race after heavy rains made the track sloppy. Instead, she made her first start of the year on May 23, 2009, in the Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park. She was assigned the top weight of 126 lbs, conceding four pounds to stablemate
Life is Sweet, who was also a Grade I winner, and up to 14 pounds to the other horses in the field of six. Behind a moderate pace, Zenyatta dropped to the back of the pack, trailing by twelve lengths after half a mile. She started her move on the far turn and was forced to briefly check. Smith swung Zenyatta wide and she took the lead with a sixteenth of a mile remaining to win by lengths over Life Is Sweet. Smith explained that he and
Garrett Gomez, the jockey of Life is Sweet, "played some games" while battling for position on the turn. "It was all clean and fair. She's so handy that when I eased up on the pedal, she backed up for me, came around and it was over." Briecat went to the early lead and set moderate fractions. Zenyatta rated lengths behind down the backstretch, then moved wide to take the lead in the stretch. She won by lengths over Briecat in a time of 1:48.15 for miles. "It was a short field and she had a lot of weight on her and I didn't want her to have so much to do, so I stayed a little closer than normal", said Smith. "But when I asked her, she lengthened her stride and it was pretty much over then." On October 10, Zenyatta again faced off with Life is Sweet, Lethal Heat and Cocoa Beach in the Lady's Secret Stakes at Oak Tree at Santa Anita. Behind another slow early place, she stayed closer to the early leaders this time. She took the lead in deep stretch and pulled clear to win by lengths under a hand ride. This extended her winning streak to thirteen, tying her with
Personal Ensign for the longest undefeated record at the elite level in North American racing history. Smith said she had several gears to spare despite the ease of her victory. "She has an amazing turn of foot", said Smith, "one that I've never seen before. No disrespect to the other horses today, but she only ran about four jumps when we turned for home and then she shut it down." Meanwhile, Zenyatta faced a deep field of twelve in the Classic. The Polytrack racing surface was a factor in the betting on the race: some horses that ran well on natural dirt did not adapt well to synthetic surfaces, whereas some turf-based horses handled it very well. European-based horses had run one-two in the 2008 Classic and two Group One winners,
Rip Van Winkle and
Twice Over, were among the favorites in the 2009 version. The North America contenders included three-year-olds
Mine That Bird (
Kentucky Derby winner) and
Summer Bird (
Belmont Stakes,
Travers Stakes, and
Jockey Club Gold Cup winner). Among the older horses in the race,
Gio Ponti, (
Arlington Million and
Man o' War Stakes winner), was highly regarded, as were
Einstein (
Santa Anita Handicap winner),
Colonel John (Grade I winner, second in the
Awesome Again Stakes) and Richard's Kid (
Pacific Classic Stakes winner). Zenyatta caused a brief delay before allowing herself to be loaded in the starting gate. As she started to settle,
Quality Road started to create problems of his own, bucking and rearing up in the outside stall before breaking through the barrier. Quality Road was scratched while all the other horses were unloaded and reloaded. When the race finally began, Zenyatta was flat footed and trailed the field by lengths after the first quarter, run by pacesetter Regal Ransom in a leisurely 24.16 seconds. She was still 9 lengths behind after three-quarters of a mile, but began making up position while racing just off the rail around the final turn. Still in ninth and lengths back with a quarter mile remaining, Smith swung her to the outside for racing room. Zenyatta accelerated and began to rapidly gain ground, then pulled clear to win by a length over Gio Ponti. Zenyatta was given a hero's welcome on her return to the winner's circle, with many fans holding signs honoring "Queen Z." Ann Moss said, "Every moment with her is just a pleasure. And she's so feminine. She's just dancing and strutting and enjoying her beautiful, majestic self. And that's a gift." On December 22, Zenyatta was runner-up to tennis player
Serena Williams for 2009
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. The Oak Tree racing association announced that they would rename the Lady's Secret stake in her honor. On December 26, opening day of the 75th year of the Santa Anita meet, Zenyatta jogged around the grandstand in what was then thought to be the final racetrack appearance of her career.
2010: six-year-old season The Mosses initially had intended to retire Zenyatta after the Classic, but announced on January 16, 2010, that she would remain in training. On January 18, Zenyatta won her second Eclipse Award as American Champion Older Female Horse of the 2009 season. Since the middle of 2009, attempts had been made to have Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta face each other directly on the racetrack. On February 5, Oaklawn Park announced that it would increase the purse of the Apple Blossom to $5 million if both horses entered the race. Oaklawn also changed the distance of the race to miles and made it an invitational event for the 2010 running. Both sets of connections indicated their intention to attend if their horses were in top form. On March 13, Zenyatta made her six-year-old debut in the
Santa Margarita Invitational Handicap at Santa Anita Park. She was assigned 127 lbs and spotted her seven rivals 11 to 16 pounds. She wove through traffic mid-stretch to get clear and won under a hand ride, eased before the wire. She completed the miles in 1:48.20 and won by lengths. The two horses would never meet. With the purse reverting to $500,000, the Apple Blossom attracted a field of just five, with Zenyatta the overwhelming favorite at 1-20. She made her usual move on the final turn and coasted to a -length win. She completed the miles in 1:50.71. Her record of sixteen consecutive wins matched
Cigar,
Mister Frisky and
Citation for the longest winning streak for North American horses in races not restricted to state-breds. On June 13, 2010, Zenyatta won her 17th straight race in the Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park by half a length under 129 pounds. Still in last place at the head of the stretch, she was at first unable to close ground on St. Trinians, to whom she conceded 9 pounds. Smith noted that although Zenyatta had "hit a real big gear" in the stretch, St. Trinians had responded in kind. "I said, Whoa, [St. Trinians] is serious. She's going to make me run. I was working at it until the last 100 yards and then I knew I'd outgrind her." With the win, Zenyatta surpassed the records of Citation and Cigar for consecutive victories in unrestricted races. Zenyatta broke slowly and took her normal place at the back of the pack but was only lengths behind after half a mile. She swung to the outside coming off the final turn and gradually took the lead and drew off to win by half a length. Zenyatta broke the North American record for Grade I victories by a filly/mare with her 13th Grade I win. It was also her ninth consecutive Grade I victory (then a world record, since tied by Frankel, then broken by Winx). In addition, she broke the all-time North American female earnings record (formerly held by
Ouija Board). On November 6, Zenyatta attempted to become the first North American horse to retire undefeated with 20 wins and the second horse to repeat in the
Breeders' Cup Classic after
Tiznow. She faced one of the strongest fields in the history of the race, including
Blame (
Stephen Foster Handicap and
Whitney Handicap);
Lookin at Lucky (
Preakness and
Haskell Invitational);
Quality Road (
Metropolitan Handicap,
Donn Handicap and
Woodward Stakes);
Paddy O'Prado (Secretariat Stakes); First Dude (runner-up in the Preakness);
Espoir City(
Japan Cup Dirt); and Haynesfield (
Jockey Club Gold Cup). "I would imagine that when this race was designed, when they came up with the concept in 1982, this is what they had in mind", said trainer
Todd Pletcher. "It brings the best horses in the world together, on a neutral playing field, on a traditional dirt surface. We'll see what happens." Zenyatta had a sluggish start and seemed to struggle with the surface —looking "like a rocking horse", according to
The New York Times. After half a mile, she trailed the early leaders by 15 lengths. Around the far turn, she started to make up ground. Blame had also started his move and reached the lead by mid-stretch. Zenyatta was moving fast but faced a wall of horses in front of her. Smith moved her out wide then made several more adjustments before the mare was able to find running room. In deep stretch, she started to close ground rapidly but came up a neck short. After the race, Smith was in tears, blaming himself for the defeat. "I got away slow and got squeezed out of there", he said. "I couldn't level her off. If you have to blame anyone today, it would be me." "In defeat she didn't lose anything", said Al Stall Jr, the trainer of Blame. "I don't think you'll find anybody criticizing anything she's ever done, much less today. We were fortunate to have the right horse on the right day at the right time." With her second-place earnings of $900,000, Zenyatta surpassed Tiznow,
John Henry, and
Alysheba in all-time North American earnings (male or female) with earnings in excess of $7,304,580. She also broke the all-time
Breeders Cup earnings record (previously held by
American Horse of the Year and two-time
Breeders Cup Classic champion Tiznow). At the time, the top-five Breeders Cup earners were: Zenyatta: $4,680,000,
Tiznow: $4,560,400,
Goldikova (IRE): $3,508,200,
Conduit (IRE): $3,240,000, and
Curlin: $2,955,000. With three
Grade I wins in 2010 and the head-to-head victory over Zenyatta, Blame's connections believed he deserved to be named Horse of the Year. Ultimately however that honor went to Zenyatta, with five Grade I wins in 2010. She was also named
Champion Older Female Horse while Blame was unanimously named the
Champion Older Male Horse. On December 18, 2010, Zenyatta was runner-up to skier
Lindsey Vonn for 2010
Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year. On January 20, 2011,
Penny Chenery announced that Zenyatta was named the 2010 recipient of the
Secretariat Vox Populi Award. On March 23, 2011, Zenyatta became the first horse to win the William H. May Award. The award honors an individual or group that has provided "meritorious service" to the industry. Past recipients include racing industry greats such as John R. Gaines (Breeders' Cup founder), Joe Hirsch (founder of the National Turf Writers Association), Bob and Beverly Lewis, Stanley Bergstein, and Richard Duchossois.
Competition In her narrow defeat to Blame at Churchill Downs on a traditional dirt surface, she overcame many doubts over competition as the 2010 Classic was considered one of the deepest fields in its history with seven Grade I winners. Zenyatta defeated two champions in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic (
Gio Ponti and
Summer Bird), champion
Ginger Punch in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic, and Canadian champion
Sealy Hill in the 2008 Vanity. Other Grade I/Group One winners that she defeated included:
Colonel John; Richard's Kid;
Einstein; Tough Tiz's Sis;
Cocoa Beach;
Music Note;
Life Is Sweet; Switch;
Rip Van Winkle;
Twice Over;
Awesome Gem; Girolamo;
Mine That Bird;
Hystericalady; Romance Is Diane; Double Trouble; Santa Teresita; and Carriage Trail. ==Breeding career==