Zenyatta

HANNAH MATHIESEN, OAKMONT HORSE CLUB Favorite: My favorite racehorse of all time is definitely American Pharoah (Pioneerof the Nile). He was running when I was first getting involved in racing, and I followed him closely since he ran early in his career at my home track, Del Mar. One day, a family friend who writes for the local newspaper said she was going to interview Bob Baffert, and asked if I wanted to come along to be her photographer. Having only been to the backside a handful of times and...

'TDN Rising Star' Hard Not to Love was last seen blowing away her competition at 11-1 odds in the GI La Brea S. over this same track and trip Dec. 28, but she likely won't be going off at double digits for awhile, especially after her latest performance. Reined back to last by Mike Smith in a compact field of five, the bay sat perched out wide and within striking distance as the rest of her foes scrambled for position through a :23.04 opening quarter. The favorite began her sweeping...

Zenyatta is still looking for her first win as a broodmare but that may soon change. Trainer John Shirreffs reports that her third foal to make it to the racetrack, Zellda (Medaglia d'Oro), has impressed him so far and appears to have a bright future. "We're really excited about Zellda," Shirreffs said. "She looks really good. She is on the smaller side but she has a really big stride and she's really into it. Some horses just gallop around and they just aren't into it. She is really into it....

It was back in 1988 that John Sadler began his stake race winning spree at Del Mar, when the mild-mannered speedball Olympic Prospect took the then-$75,000 Bing Crosby H., prompting jockey Alex Solis afterwards to breathlessly exclaim, "I never rode a horse that fast in my life." When given this little factoid at his Del Mar barn one recent morning--a full 31 years after the event--Sadler assumed the look of someone who'd just been told that water wasn't wet. "I wouldn't think so--it's got to be before that," he said...