Apparently she has quite a following, this Zenyatta, but I’d never heard of her until Saturday afternoon, when the
TV announcers began hyping the Breeder’s Cup during the Michigan-Illinois game.
Some say Zenyatta may be one of the greatest horses to ever live, the Thoroughbred filly who
would win every race she’d enter. She’s got personality and star-power and a cult following, with
Sports Illustrated, the Oprah Magazine and ’60 Minutes’ covering her legendary career.
But others say she’s just a drama queen, a flashy filly who hadn’t truly been tested despite
being undefeated after 19 races- - a hopelessly over-sold old mare who could never compete
against the sheer athleticism and raw power of the world’s top colts.
The 2010 Breeder’s Cup, Zenyatta’s last race, would answer them all, as a six-year-old filly went to the gate
against
eleven colts nearly half her age.
I had to watch- - and so do you!
Over and over again, you heard it: “Zenyatta is last, Zenyatta is dead last!”
So far behind that the wide-angle lens couldn’t truly capture the size of the gap, that the
only way to get a sense of that horrible chasm was to switch to an arial view…
And the conversation on our couch, cutting with cynicism: "talk about being over-hyped...
it's really to the point of being embarassing, isn't it?... there is no way, absolutely no
way..."
Zenyatta ran regardless. She ran regardless of the snide pronouncements, the botched expectations, the quick
dismissals, and the critics on the couches. She tackled the race her way & at her own pace, just as
she always
had- - and then Zenyatta RAN.
I barely had time to start screaming in those last 300 yards, in those last few seconds of unbelievable
courage, strength, and resolve, before it was over- - and a rush of awe and emotion swept down my cheeks: “oh,
what a horse,
what a HORSE!”
Zenyatta’s appeal is that she is a “a winner
and a champion and an underdog, all in one”, the unforgettable competitor who reminds us that even the
greatest of the greats don’t always have storybook endings and perfect records- - that we remember Secretariat
(5 losses), Seattle Slew (3) and even Man O’War (1) not because they triumphed in
every encounter but because they ran like no one else ever had before or ever will again.
So I think that’s the beauty of it, whether we’re in the winner’s circle or feeling the sting of
another achingly-close miss today.
Our challenge is to run our race regardless- - to run Zenyatta.
Have a great week, and I’ll see you next Tuesday. - Marie
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