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Clement L. Hirsch StakesDEL MAR, CALIFORNIA SUNDAY, AUGUST 9, 2009 CLEMENT L. HIRSCH STAKES$300,000, Grade I, 3-y-o & up, f & m, 1-1/16 MIKE SMITH (Zenyatta) – “Wasn’t that something! I thought I had it. But I’ve got to admit I underestimated the company we were keeping today. They made her run. She really was running easy. Her ears were pricking back and forth and she was just loping. I never hit her; but I showed her the stick. I knew we had to get busy at the finish. When we got right near the wire she hit another gear. Then when we crossed and I stood up she hit another gear. On the gallop out she was drawing away. This mile and a sixteenth is a funny distance. I’ll tell you, she wants to run farther. There’s no doubt. If she runs farther, she’s got an advantage. When we pulled up she was hardly blowing at all. She wouldn’t have blown out the match.” TYLER BAZE (Anabaa’s Creation) – “I thought I won it. I thought I got it. She (Anabaa’s Creation) ran her fanny off. We got beat by a champion. I didn’t know where she (Zenyatta) was, but I knew she was coming. She came and just got us.” JOSEPH TALAMO (Lethal Heat) – “Aw, what a race. My filly ran great. I didn’t think we’d be on the lead, but when I nudged her and she got there she just went into cruise control. So easy. Then we turned for home and I threw it at her and she gave me her all. You can’t really complain when you get beat by one like the big mare.” GARRETT GOMEZ (Life Is Sweet) – “I had her in a striking spot turning for home, but she just didn’t have another gear today. No excuses. We just got outrun late.” JOHN SHIRREFFS (Zenyatta) -- “It was very, very close down there. All the way down the stretch I’m hollering, ‘Get ‘em, Get ‘em.’ What I really liked about her race is that she had a lot of ground to make up and she put her head down and kept making it up. She never picked her head up. She kept reaching out and running for the wire. That’s Zenyatta.” FRACTIONS: :23.86 :48.84 1:13.64 1:37.28 1:43.24 According to Trakus calculations, Zenyatta ran her last quarter mile in :22.49 and reached her maximum speed of 40 mph at the wire. The stakes win was the second of the meet for Mike Smith and his fourth in the Clement L. Hirsch. He now has won 24 stakes at Del Mar. The stakes win was the first of the meet for John Shirreffs and his third in the Clement L. Hirsch. He now has won 12 stakes races at Del Mar. Zenyatta and her same team won this race by a length last year, running the distance in a track record 1:41.48. That mark still stands. She is now three-for-three this year and 12-for-12 in her racing career. Zenyatta was an exact 1-5 in the betting pools at .20 on the dollar. There was a $95,010 minus show pool on her. |
Today's Card
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