ZENYATTA AWARDED "HORSE OF THE YEAR" HONOURS

Zenyatta posing for Fans at her Farm in Kentucky

As if there were every any doubt, Female Super Race Horse Zenyatta was honoured 2010's U.S. Horse of the Year at the Eclipse Awards in Kentucky last night. For those of you who have been following her story on my Blog, Zenyatta is anything but ordinary. Just retired, she sported a record of 19-1 on the Track, beating the world's best Horses, male and female. She capped off her remarkable career with her first defeat in the Breeder's Cup Classic held last November. Zenyatta lost by a nose as the only female in the race.

Despite losing that widely-watched race to a horse named Blame, she turned the tables on him in terms of voting last night, beating him out 128 to 102 votes. Everybody gets a piece of the Cake though as Blame still was voted Best Older Horse; Best Older Female though also went to Zenyatta, the second year in a row a female horse has earned the distinction.

FEMALE SUPERHORSE ZENYATTA ENDS A REMARKABLE CAREER IN 2010 "BREEDERS' CUP CLASSIC"

Zenyatta defeated by Blame in 2010 Breeder's Cup Classic

Remarkable.  Female Superhorse Zenyatta ended her career today in what was her 20th and final race at Kentucky's Churchill Downs.  After having become the first female Horse to win the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2009, she looked to repeat the feat again this year against male competition.  And she almost did it.  Almost.

After trailing the field distantly for most of the race, she encountered a bit of traffic in the final stretch.  As soon as she and Jockey Mike Smith found a clear path, she thundered home, making up much ground only to lose by a nose to eventual winner Blame.  The winner it was announced, also is retiring after today's $5 million race.

Smith didn't have much to say afterwards, tearfully walking off the track saying only "It was my fault.  She should've won."  The race was to be Zenyatta's 20th win, marking the finale of a career which only saw Victory. But as we all know, nobody's perfect.  Human nor Horse.

Celebrities alike shared in their adoration for Zenyatta.  John Madden Tweeted, "Poor Zenyatta.  I haven't been this depressed about a horse since Sarah Jessica Parker got snubbed for an Oscar nomination."  Author Tami Hoag Tweeted "What a run!  What a mare!  Brava!".  Both Elizabeth Banks and Bobby Flay rallied their Followers to watch her race earlier also and even Alyssa Milano weighed in on the matter, Tweeting "Zenyatta.  Oh, how I love her so."

SUPERSTAR RACE HORSE ZENYATTA TO APPEAR ON NOVEMBER ISSUE OF W MAGAZINE

Zenyatta on November issue of W Magazine

This is amazing and I must commend W Magazine for thinking outside the box in celebrating Women, not only in Human form but Equine also.  For those of you who aren't familiar with the sport of Horse Racing, everything is all about Zenyatta right now.  She is perhaps, the greatest race horse of all time, although this subject always generates a lot of heated discussion as many will say Secretariat was and always will be the greatest.  After all, he does have a movie out in theatres right now.

What makes Zenyatta remarkable is that she's won an unheard of 19 races in a row, remaining undefeated.  Although a majority of these races have come against female race horses, she won the world's most important Horse Race last fall, the Breeder's Cup Classic.... against the Boys.  She became the first-ever female horse to win that race.  This in turn, sealed her fate as Horse of the Year and she is looking well on her way to repeating this feat again this year as she trains for the same race again Saturday, November 6, 2010 at Churchill Downs in Kentucky.   And she's been sharp in all her races so far this season, while originally her Owners were planning to retire her as really she has nothing left to prove other than to break some more records.

HORSE RACING FOR DUMMIES

Horse Racing has always been a Wong family past time. Although unconventional, I grew up pretty much at Woodbine Race Track here in Toronto as a child, tagging along with my parents on Sundays. I was never into sports, but when it came to Horse Racing, I was an athlete.

It's a science picking a race winner really and although it would have been and still is completely illegal, I was full-on betting on horses by the age of twelve. At that age, I could decipher The Racing Form and give you an educated selection for a bet based on a horse's past performances, pedigree, stable and jockey. I would spend hours on-end studying The Racing Form while other kids were reading Marvel comics, Sweet Valley High or Judy Blume. Actually, I attribute my writing ability today very much to The Racing Form and its fantastic articles. It helped make me an "A Student".

Every year on the first weekend of November, the world championships of Horse Racing are held at a different hosting race course; Woodbine was lucky enough to host it back in 1996. The world's finest horses come together to compete in a series of races and often the results dictate the subsequent Eclipse Award winner for each respective division. Sorta like The Grammys or The Oscars, but with horses. You have divisions for two year old (the youngest possible racing age) males and females, best turf racing males and females, sprinters and the most coveted award of all, Horse of the Year.

2009 was a strong year for the fillies and mares; the former refers to female horses four years old and under and the latter refers to female horses five years old or older. Three year old filly Rachel Alexandra would be considered outstanding any year and she is a leading candidate for Horse of the Year. She has destroyed the fillies and colts (male horses four years old and under) in very important races this year including The Preakness, the second leg of the American Triple Crown series. Believe me, it's not every day a filly this strong comes along. Rachel Alexandra's connections opted not to race her in this year's Breeders' Cup, seemingly confident that she is a shoe-in for the Horse of the Year title.