Rachel Alexandra versus unbeaten Zenyatta, maybe never

LITTLE ROCK

If unbeaten Zenyatta is going to be Horse of the Year, her owner is going to have to take some risks.

Zenyatta must venture outside of California to take on Rachel Alexandra or beat the boys in the Breeders' Cup Classic, maybe both, to finish ahead of "Rachel." No. 2 behind Curlin in the 2008 voting, Zenyatta is a close second to Rachel in the latest poll.

Now 5, time is running out for Zenyatta.

"We want to win that this year if it's possible," owner Jerry Moss said a week ago on a radio show.

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Rachel is on top in the voting because of her Preakness victory over Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird and because she has made it look easy every time she has faced her own sex.

At the moment, Zenyatta's predicament is similar to that of Utah's 2008 football team. The unbeaten Utes routed Alabama in the Sugar Bowl, but were considered a lesser light in the BCS because they beat up teams from the Mountain West Conference.

Zenyatta has won 10 times in California and, for the most part, she has faced the same horses. The only time she exited the Golden State, she won the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park in 2008. This year, Rachel romped in the Fantasy at Oaklawn.

Too bad, live racing in Hot Springs is over until 2010. Oaklawn would have been the perfect neutral site for the twain to meet.

Racing fans are passionate and divided about Rachel vs. Zenyatta and the clamor for them to face each other grows each time they compete. Last week, 18 minutes and almost 3,000 miles apart, the two best thoroughbreds in the country strutted their stuff.

In New York, Rachel won her seventh straight. Out West, Zenyatta improved to 11-0. Rachel won by almost 20 lengths; Zenyatta's margin was much less, but there were more horses in the race and her come-from-behind style creates doubt until she gets rolling. At the wire, they were equally impressive.

Rachel is the football team that opens a 28-0 lead and wins by 45; Zenyatta is the team that puts away the competition in the third quarter and runs out the clock.

Never had I heard of a minus win pool until last week when Rachel Alexandra had only two opponents. Almost $599,000 of the $726,260 wagered to win was on Rachel and the $2.10 minimum payout resulted in a minus pool of $18,698.

Stung by Curlin's defeat in the Breeders' Cup Classic on a synthetic surface, Jess Jackson will not send Rachel to California to face Zenyatta on plastic in the Breeders' Cup.

Trainer John Shirreffs is pointing Zenyatta toward a race in California on July 30, a move that would preclude her from participating against Rachel in an Aug. 2 race at Saratoga. Jackson and his trainer, Steve Asmussen, have mentioned several options, including the Haskell Invitational in New Jersey against the boys.

There is a race for fillies and mares in New York on Aug. 30, but the 1 1-4-miles might be too much for Rachel.

There has even been talk of the NYRA adding incentives to secure both horses.

For these people, a couple of hundred thousand dollars is not enough motivation. Both sides want everything just right and that may never happen. In that case, the voters will decide and Zenyatta might be No. 2, again.

(Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.)