Unbeaten champion mare Zenyatta will complete her march to the Breeders’ Cup Classic in the G1 Lady’s Secret Stakes at Hollywood Park on Saturday.
Zenyatta (Street Cry) will be gunning for her 19th consecutive win in the 1700m event which she has won for the last two years. It will be her final prep for the Breeders’ Cup championships at Churchill Downs on November 6.
In 2008, Zenyatta beat Hystericalady by three lengths in the Lady’s Secret prior to her victory in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic at Santa Anita. Last year, Zenyatta defeated Lethal Heat in the Lady’s Secret, less than a month before her one-length victory in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Jockey Mike Smith reports Zenyatta is training as well as, if not better than, last year during her run to the Classic. “She is just so full of confidence and so full of herself. Sometimes, I think she leaves the gate extra slow to just give them a head start.”
Zenyatta will face five challengers in the Lady’s Secret: Rinterval, Satans Quick Chick, Switch, Moon de French and Emmy Darling.