Zenyatta (centre): on her way to registering a typical last-to-first victory

  PICTURE: AP Photo Benoit  

Remarkable Zenyatta extends unbeaten run

Report: USA, Saturday

Santa Anita: Santa Margarita Invitational Hcp (Grade 1) 1m1f, AW, 4yo+ f/m 

TWENTY minutes after Rachel Alexandra failed on Saturday in New Orleans, the remarkable Zenyatta (John Shirreffs/Mike Smith) did what she has always done at Santa Anita when extending her unbeaten winning streakto 15 with a typical last-to-first victory in the Santa Margarita Invitational.

The spectacular Breeders' Cup Classic winner was giving away 12lb and more to a talented bunch of graded-stakes calibre fillies in the$250,000 event.

Nevertheless, this outstanding racehorse was still sent off 1-5 favourite to score on her first outing since her ‘unretirement'.

As usual, jockey Mike Smith rode the giant mare with the utmost confidence, allowing her to lope along right at the back of the nine-runner field, well adrift of front-runner Dance To My Tune.

Zenyatta was still fully eight lengths adrift two furlongs out as they left the far turn, where Smith took the dangerous option of sending her to the inner to deliver her challenge.

For a few strides it looked as if she might struggle to find a gap, but Zenyatta is nimble as well as talented. She weaved between traffic before picking up the leader and flying past her rivals to score cosily by a length and a quarter, covering 1m1f on the Pro-Ride in 1m48.20s.

Mike Smith: white-knuckle ride

  PICTURE: Edward Whitaker  

Smith, who had virtually gone looking for trouble, was exultant. "I don't know what to say, I'm like a fan," he said.

""I wish I could say I contributed - I might have done a little steering, but that was about it. I cut some corners and gambled a bit, but I was confident at all times that if she needed to make room, she could," added the rider.

"She's a bit of a bully. This was a great, great race for her and it wasn't taxing at all. We got enough out of this race to move forward."

Theshock defeat of Rachel Alexandra on her seasonal debut at Fair Grounds barely 20 minutes earlier jeopardises the $5million showdown at Oaklawn Park next month but Zenyatta will be running there anyway.

Shirreffs, who saddled Zardana to floor Rachel Alexandra, said: "I didn't get a chance to see it, but I heard it, and it sounded great.

"She's tough. California's tough, we're tough. Don't take us short. Zenyatta willrun in the Apple Blossom regardless. That was never really the thing, for us. It really wasn't.

"Zenyatta came back so we could have some fun with her and other fans could see her. That was the whole thing. She'll go back to Hollywood and get ready for Oaklawn."

Asked if she was better now than she was before: "That's hard to say. How can you be better than perfect?"

Reflecting on the race, he added: "Obviously, he went to the inside, and then had to come back out, so - I just have a lot of faith in Mike.

"I know once he gets her in the clear, he has a good chance. She's cut in between horses and everything, but when you have a big X on your back, a lot of places don't open up that normally would."

Asked about Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta's owner Jerry Moss said: "I'm sorry she lost - she lost to a better horse today."

Actor Dustin Hoffman was among those on hand to welcome Zenyatta to the winner's enclosure.