Zenyatta

Rachel vs. Zenyatta. The race is on! One day after a matchup of racing's leading ladies fell apart, the owner of Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark., worked out a compromise to match the champion females for the first time - in the $5 million Apple Blossom Invitational on April 9. "The race is a go," a delighted Charles Cella told the Associated Press in a telephone interview. "Both parties have signed off on it. I feel like we've been through the wringer on this thing. Now, we're really excited about it. This is truly a race for the ages.

Zenyatta improved to 16-0 with a 4 1/4-length victory in the Apple Blossom Invitational yesterday, galloping effortlessly from behind in her usual running style. The 6-year-old mare tied the modern mark shared by 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation and 1995-96 Horse of the Year Cigar in unrestricted races. Peppers Pride, who retired last year at 19-0, and Hallowed Dreams, who won 16 straight, achieved some of their success in statebred stakes. Zenyatta beat four horses in the 1 1/8-mile race at Oaklawn Park in Hot Springs, Ark. The race did not include racing's other female superstar, Rachel Alexandra, whose owner passed on a chance to participate in what would have been a $5 million dream matchup if both horses had shown up. "It's kind of hard to say if she's getting better and better, because she's so good," Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith said.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Perfection. It is unattainable in life and just about unattainable in sports. And the hardest sport to win them all might very well be horse racing. There is usually a faster horse. Or a training mistake. Or an injury. Or an in-race situation that can't be overcome. Something always goes wrong eventually. Secretariat lost four times and was disqualified once. It was during the 1973 Triple Crown when the colt was invincible. Native Dancer won 21 times and lost once - the 1953 Kentucky Derby when traffic trouble left him a head shy of Dark Star at the finish.

The owner of Horse of the Year Rachel Alexandra says his filly will not run against Zenyatta in a $5 million race in Arkansas, but he is proposing a three-race series in which the leading ladies will meet. Jess Jackson says he has been in discussions with the president of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association and hopes details can be worked out with the owners of Zenyatta. In a news release issued yesterday, Jackson says if training and racing schedules as well as purse money can be worked out, the three races would "rival the Triple Crown.

VERSAILLES, Ky. - Zenyatta is a mom. The former Horse of the Year who won 19 of 20 races during her stellar career gave birth Thursday night for the first time. A post on her website says Zenyatta had a dark bay colt shortly after 7 p.m. EST at Lane End's Farm in Versailles, Ky., where she lives. The yet unnamed colt weighed 130 pounds and has a white star on his forehead and some white on his feet, the website says. A photo posted on the site shows Zenyatta and her offspring lying on bedding in her stall.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - When it is so perfect that everybody at the track is looking down the stretch gauging the distance from the closing horse to the frontrunning horse to the wire and screaming for something far more significant than a horse race or history or really anything tangible, you almost want to freeze the moment, never knowing how it ends. Zenyatta was a feeling. Just like Smarty Jones was a feeling at the 2004 Belmont Stakes. And every time you are there for something you may never experience again is a feeling, along with a concern that you may never get it back.

For the second consecutive year, there was serious intrigue as the Horse of the Year was announced last night at The Fontainebleau Miami Beach. The vote was always going to be close between Zenyatta and Blame. Zenyatta finished second once in her career. She finished second the previous 2 years in the H/Y voting. In her third try at the biggest award in the sport, Zenyatta finally got the most votes. And she was named 2010 Horse of the Year. She got 128 votes to 102 for Blame. Blame had a terrific season and won the Breeders' Cup Classic, the sport's designated championship race.

IF ZENYATTA had won the Breeders' Cup Classic, she would be 2010 Horse of the Year without any dissent. If Blame had won the Classic and Zenyatta had finished far back, Blame would be 2010 Horse of the Year without much debate. If Zenyatta had finished the year and her career without a single loss, there would be no argument about Horse of the Year. But the great mare finally found a horse she could not pass and that horse was Blame. So, for the second consecutive year, we have a serious disagreement over Horse of the Year.

ARCADIA, Calif. - It must have sounded and felt like this in 1940 when Seabiscuit finally won the hundred grander. Or in 1955 when Swaps was setting all those world records. Or in the 1980s when ageless John Henry was straining for one more finish line. In Southern California, they fall hard for their equine heroes. When Zenyatta was passing Santa Anita grandstand sections as fast as she was passing horses in an unforgettable, almost impossible, final quarter-mile of Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic, the noise seemed to be reverberating off the nearby San Gabriel Mountains.

ARCADIA, Calif. - They all want to know. So, they did what everybody wanted them to do. They decided to find out if Zenyatta really is perfect. Owners Jerry and Ann Moss could have taken the easy way out and had their unbeaten 5-year-old mare defend her title in Friday's Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic. She would have been an odds-on favorite to win and finish her career 14-for-14. Trainer John Shirreffs wanted to make sure she was at her absolute best before he made the commitment.

At the Under-17 Women's World Cup on Saturday, the United States got a goal from Darian Jenkins to earn a 1-1 tie with North Korea in Baku, Azerbaijan, and finish undefeated in group play - but the Americans were still eliminated from the tournament on goal difference. The U.S., France, and North Korea all finished with five points, after the teams tied each other in their matches. The decider turned out to be who scored more goals against Gambia. France defeated the Gambians, 10-2, and finished with an eight-goal difference.

Lindsey Vonn of the United States won the World Cup giant slalom race in Are, Sweden, Friday to clinch her fourth overall title. Vonn was tied with Phil Mahre of the United States with three overall titles. "I don't know what to say," an emotional Vonn said. "I just wanted to have two aggressive runs today. I felt like I had nothing to lose and I was having fun. I'm just really excited, I'm thrilled. It's crazy. " Olympic champion Hannah Kearney won the individual moguls event in Are for her 10th freestyle World Cup victory over the season.

VERSAILLES, Ky. - Zenyatta is a mom. The former Horse of the Year who won 19 of 20 races during her stellar career gave birth Thursday night for the first time. A post on her website says Zenyatta had a dark bay colt shortly after 7 p.m. EST at Lane End's Farm in Versailles, Ky., where she lives. The yet unnamed colt weighed 130 pounds and has a white star on his forehead and some white on his feet, the website says. A photo posted on the site shows Zenyatta and her offspring lying on bedding in her stall.

LAST YEAR was not 2009 or 2010 in any way - no superstars, no races for the ages, no controversy over Horse of the Year. The voters did not have to choose between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta (2009) or Blame and Zenyatta (2010). There was just a really nice filly based much of the year at Delaware Park who was consistently brilliant all of 2011. So, the voters chose Havre de Grace as Horse of the Year, the third consecutive year a filly has won racing's highest award. The results for all the categories were announced last night at the annual Eclipse Awards dinner in Beverly Hills, Calif.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Zenyatta took the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic but lost the horse of the year vote to Rachel Alexandra. Last fall, Zenyatta narrowly lost the Classic but got the trophy. Sometimes when you lose the big one, you still can win it all. If the 4-year-old filly Havre de Grace had won the Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs, she would have been a lock to be the third consecutive female to earn thoroughbred racing's most coveted honor. She finished a nonthreatening fourth, but considering how things shook out, she may continue the Girl Power dynasty.

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE to top the epic 2010 Breeders' Cup story line with Zenyatta going for her 20th straight win and consecutive Classic wins in her final race. But BC 28, with its $26 million in purses spread over 15 races set for Friday and Saturday at Churchill Downs, has another brilliant filly in the Classic. If Havre de Grace, who was based at Delaware Park all summer, wins, she will be the third consecutive female Horse of the Year after Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta. This Cup also has the amazing French-trained mare Goldikova going for an unprecedented fourth consecutive Turf Mile.

U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy shot an 8-under 64 on Thursday to take a 1-stroke lead in the Shanghai Masters, the lucrative invitational tournament that isn't sanctioned by any of the major tours. The 22-year-old from Northern Ireland had eight birdies in his bogey-free round on Lake Malaren's Masters course. American Hunter Mahan was second with a 65. England's Paul Casey and Ian Poulter and Ireland's Padraig Harrington were 3 shots back at 67. Thirty players are vying for the $2 million first prize, the richest in golf.

UNBEATEN has even more cachet than champion. There is always a champion at the end of every season. Unbeaten never happens anymore in sports where sanctioned money is involved. (So we are not counting college football.) In horse racing, unbeaten has become a synonym for impossible. Which was why Zenyatta was such a fascination last year when she nearly finished her career 20-for-20. Standardbred racing also involves horses, but is quite different from thoroughbred racing.

GOT A BOATHOUSE ROW tour yesterday afternoon. After years of seeing them from across the rivers, made visits to the Undine Barge Club, Penn AC and Malta. You could see and smell the history - wood everywhere, boats of all sizes, spectacular views of the city's skyline. Got a smooth trip on the Schuylkill, heading to the 2,000-meter course where the Dad Vail will be held today and tomorrow. Listened very closely to boatmates Jim Barker and Joe McFadden. In 1950, they won the double sculls Gold Cup on the river.

After a five-day tryout proved that he was a good teammate who lacked enough soccer skills, NFL star Chad Ochocinco got what he was hoping for Tuesday - a spot on the reserve team for Sporting Kansas City. "This is so awesome I'm an honorary member of SportingKC and can train with the reserve team as long as I want," Ochocinco said in a tweet. "Totally awesome ILuvKC. " Cobi Jones , who played more games for the U.S. men's team than anyone, was elected to the National Soccer Hall of Fame along with three-time World Cup veterans Eddie Pope and Earnie Stewart . Oscar Cardozo scored in the 18th minute as Paraguay held on for a 1-0 friendly win over the United States in Nashville that left the Americans winless in three games this year.