Zenyatta returns to Hollywood Park home

By: SPORTS NETWORK

Inglewood, CA (Sports Network) - Undefeated champion mare Zenyatta has been safely returned to her home base at Hollywood Park. The six-year-old was vanned from Del Mar three days after recording her 18th consecutive victory on Saturday in the Clement L. Hirsch Stakes.

Zenyatta, owned by Jerry and Ann Moss, will remain at Hollywood Park under the care of trainer John Shirreffs. A two-time Eclipse Award winner as champion older female, Zenyatta is expected to make her next start in Santa Anita's $300,000 Zenyatta Stakes on Saturday, October 2.

"She's a great star," Jerry Moss said following the Hirsch win. "She's brilliant and she has a great bunch of fans that recognize that. She hasn't let them down yet.

"Zenyatta represents the best there is in racing. She's a great leader to follow."

The mare has actually won the Zenyatta Stakes the last two years. Before Santa Anita renamed the 1 1/16-mile race to honor the champion mare, it was known as the Lady's Secret Stakes.

"She's a great horse and we're grateful for that," Moss noted. "We want her to keep winning. She's just a miracle."

Saturday's win, with jockey Mike Smith, was Zenyatta's third straight triumph in the Hirsch. Also this year she won the Santa Margarita, Apple Blossom and Vanity Handicaps.

"She'll run on all surfaces," Smith said. "She runs on dirt. She runs on the synthetics. She ran really well on the one at Santa Anita. She changes leads all on her own. Her mechanics are so good, she can run on anything. I think you could put her on grass and she'd run great.

"If we can pull two more (wins) off, to me she might go down as the greatest horse of all time."

Winner of last year's Breeders' Cup Classic, Zenyatta has earned $6,254,580 in her illustrious career.