2009 Breeders' Cup Classic
| Breeders' Cup Classic | |
.jpg)
Zenyatta (rider with turquoise cap) saves ground around the far turn
|
|
| Location | Santa Anita Park |
|---|---|
| Date | November 7, 2009 |
| Winning horse | Zenyatta |
| Jockey | Mike E. Smith |
| Trainer | John Shirreffs |
| Owner | Jerry and Ann Moss |
| Conditions | fast |
| Surface | Synthetic dirt |
| Attendance | 58,825 |
|
|
|
The 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic was the 26th running of the Breeders' Cup Classic, part of the 2009 Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships program. It was run on November 7, 2009 at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, California with a purse of $5,000,000.
For the first time in the race's history, a mare won when Zenyatta closed from last place to win by a length. The race was named the NTRA Moment of the Year.
The Classic is run at a distance of one mile and one-quarter (approximately 2000 m). It is normally run on a dirt surface but in 2009 was run on a synthetic surface. It is run under weight-for-age conditions, with entrants carrying the following weights:
In 2008, European-based horses finished one-two in the Classic, a result that many attributed to the synthetic surface used at Santa Anita. California had adopted synthetic surfaces starting in 2007 due to safety concerns but many horsemen and bettors felt that the synthetics performed more like turf than dirt. As a result, a few East Coast racehorses who had only raced on natural dirt surfaces did not ship to Santa Anita for the Breeders' Cup. Most notably, the connections of the outstanding filly Rachel Alexandra announced that she would not race on "plastic".
Instead, the favorite for the race was Zenyatta, who in 2008 had won the Ladies Classic and was named the Champion Older Female Horse. Zenyatta came into the Classic undefeated in thirteen career starts and was, with Rachel Alexandra, one of the most popular horses in recent memory. However, some handicappers questioned her credentials. As a California-based horse, she had demonstrated her ability to win on synthetic but was viewed as having faced inferior competition to that on the East Coast. She also had never raced against male horses, had never run at 1 1⁄4 miles, and the Beyer Speed Figures that she had recorded in previous races were unexceptional.
...
Wikipedia