Zenyatta returns to the Breeders' Cup, in bronze form

Fan Admires Zenyatta Statue / Joe Hammond

Santa Anita, California -- While Zenyatta is retired and will not be racing in today’s Breeders' Cup Classic, her bronze statue near the paddock still drew plenty of attention as many fans posed with it. Zenyatta, a horse whose style of last minute come-from-behind victories endeared her to horse racing fans, was immortalized recently with a new bronze statue at Santa Anita.

Zenyatta, perhaps the most famous thoroughbred race horse in recent years, won the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita. Zenyatta was the first female horse to win that event since it began in 1984.

Only two other horses have been honored with statues at Santa Anita: Seabiscuit, who received a statue there in 1941, and John Henry, who received a similar statue in 2009. While other equestrian statues of both Seabiscuit and John Henry exist, this will be the first-ever statue of the 1,200-pound Zenyatta.

Though Zenyatta was retired to Lane’s End Farm in Kentucky in 2010, the horse has had a busy year, giving birth to a colt on March 20, 2012.

Zenyatta won 19 of her 20 races overall and was voted “Horse of the Year” in 2010.

By Joseph Hammond
Contributing Writer for The Daily Sports Herald