Re: the first matings of Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta: "Never before in modern times have the careers of two female racehorses overshadowed male contemporaries for consecutive years. And chances are, any success by their offspring will be attributed to the mares’ genetic prowess while the failures will surely fall on the backs of the sires. That in itself constitutes a seismic shift in attitude."

“She has as much presence as any young horse I’ve ever been around,” Robinson said. “It scares me. She’s completely herself, very independent, but in a good way. She’s sweet, but not sugary. Very businesslike. She was definitely the dominant one, but in a kind way, with the other yearlings. I watched Zenyatta at Lane’s End several weeks ago when they first introduced her to the other maidens, and it’s the same thing. It’s not a kick-your-ass kind of dominance, but it’s like they just knew who the boss was. Eblouissante is very much that way.”

"In the horsey world, this is huge news. Zenyatta is perhaps the greatest mare ever to have raced. Her pregnancy, if it comes, will likely be the most closely-followed in Thoroughbred history. And the resulting foal, if it comes, will be the most famous weanling ever. If you think Prince William was cute as a boy, and I know you do, just wait until you see this little one running around a paddock in Kentucky in a few years."

"Ann Moss came to the Eclipse Awards at the Fontainebleau Hotel with a small golden object clutched in the palm of her thin left hand. It was a shiny circular foal tag, the kind placed upon halters to identify young thoroughbreds. Simply, it read, 'Zenyatta.' In the moments before the Horse of the Year announcement was made on Monday, Moss held onto that tag and to the hand of her husband, Jerry Moss, and together they hoped that their 6-year-old mare would not be denied the sport's top honor as she was in 2008 and 2009. Third time's the charm."

"I'm so happy for the fans."

"For now, suffice it to say it is the opinion here that a vote for Zenyatta is, simply put, a vote for horse racing. To recognize this kind of runner as vital to the sport's survival is common sense, not emotional gibberish as some would choose to believe. The assumption that rational, fact-based voters are those who choose Blame while those who pick Zenyatta are somehow less professional or lack understanding of the game is absurd."

"The horse is absolutely my inspiration," said Bonnie O'Neill, who drove from New York with her husband, John, to see Zenyatta one last time. "My hubsand got unemployed, and she sort of got us through the whole thing. That was a couple of years ago, and we really started following her. I bet on all her races, and she's the only one I ever bet on, and we built up a nice, cool little Zenyatta fund."

"During a brief ceremony, Zenyatta was honored with a personalized Los Angeles Dodgers jersey (#10) by Lou Johnson, the former player who now serves as both the team's community relations liaison as well as a member of the speakers bureau. In addition, Anita Mannila, representing Las Profesionales, presented Zenyatta a blanket."

"Zenyatta was her usual playful, calm self, enjoying every minute of the star treatment that she truly deserves."

“I’ve been doing this for more than 40 years, and I can tell you that [Zenyatta’s] performance was the greatest that I have ever seen by a horse that did not win the race,” he told the host. “Some people will say that she shouldn’t be named Horse of the Year because she didn’t win. I would argue that her performance in defeat was much better than her winning effort a year earlier and should guarantee that she is named Horse of the Year.”

"Night was stealing across the huddled knolls and woodland beyond, enveloping ochre, gold and russet in the same gloom. We knew, now, that she was not invincible. She was better than that."

"That's the intangible Zenyatta brings to the table, and it's bigger than Beyer figures, company lines and everything else her critics might judge her on. She just wins. You cannot argue with 19 straight, no matter how weak some of the fields she has been facing might have been. It is an historic accomplishment, something no other top-level horse has done. Corny as it might sound, she has a big heart, refuses to lose, knows where the wire is, whatever. In the Classic, that's what is going to get her to the finish line first."

"Unbeaten in 19 races, Zenyatta has established a winning streak unrivaled in American racing. With a victory in the Breeders' Cup Classic, she will cement her legacy as the greatest female thoroughbred ever."

"Naysayers will point out Zenyatta’s perfect 19-for-19 record, but without disparaging what she has accomplished, it must be pointed out that Zenyatta has been dodging top-quality competition for most of her career. Had she been challenging and beating the best of the breed the way Goldikova has done since the middle of her 3-year-old campaign, Zenyatta backers might have an argument. But her stay-at-home Southern California campaigns at the ages of 4, 5, and 6 against a modest bunch of fillies and mares paints her as a provincial champion with only a single world-class performance to her credit, that when beating one of the weaker Breeders’ Cup Classic fields last year in her backyard at Santa Anita."

"In the end, there will always be the hidebound contrarians who handcuff their definition of greatness to stiffly academic parameters, as if horse racing was nothing more than algebra writ large."

"With the revisionist version of Secretariat's life story in theaters near you, the Breeders' Cup, still a month away, promises the most compelling drama of the 2010 racing season and one that needs no hype, contrived promotion or departure from reality. Hold your breath. This could be as good as it gets during a day at the races." Watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX7AZlVVBb4

"Standing on a patch of grass outside her trainer John Shirreffs' barn the day after her 19th victory in the Lady's Secret Stakes, this gentlest of giants posed happily for literally hundreds of photographs with fans, among them a number of owners and trainers just as entranced as everybody else by this equine phenomenon."

"I went out to Hollywood Park on Saturday afternoon to see what soccer in this country could be."

"Twenty yards later, to a mass audible sigh of relief, win number 19 was safely on the board, in a time of 1m42.97s, as Zenyatta equalled the mark of the New Mexico mare Peppers Pride, who won 19 consecutive races against lowly opposition to establish a modern-day US record in 2008. No wonder Smith was kissing the heavens after a gut-wrenching victory as Zenyatta paraded in front of a standing ovation from the whoopin’-and-hollerin’ stands, where the official crowd figure was 25,837."

"Win or lose this weekend or next month, Zenyatta already has cemented her place in the Hall of Fame. But a victory Saturday would arguably put us on the brink of the most highly anticipated Breeders' Cup Classic in event's history. And wouldn't that be the perfect time for Oprah to introduce the only four-legged member of her Power List to her worldwide audience of viewers?"

"You have the power to make this the most exciting fall season our sport has known in decades. Simply reverse course and become the hunter instead of the hunted. Do yourself and the sport a favor and pass up a Breeders’ Cup prep at Belmont Park and go West to take on Zenyatta on her home turf. You have nothing to lose. Although Rachel Alexandra’s fans do not want to admit this, it has become a lost season. In football terms, the clock is running down and nothing but a Hail Mary can save it."

"Moss said the most likely spot for Zenyatta is the newly named Zenyatta Stakes on Oct. 2 at Hollywood Park. That would end any thoughts of having her run in the Beldame Stakes at Belmont on Oct. 2." All in on the Breeders' Cup. Risky. (And dull.)

"Studies of running, rowing, speed skating, and swimming races have shown that human males are on average 11 percent faster than women. The gap between colts and fillies -- male and female horses younger than 4 years old -- is around 1 percent."

“Rachel was clearly not ready to run.... Yet there’s no reason she can’t return to where she was last year. She just rounded into shape too slowly for this race. I think if they meet it will be in the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1), but if someone wants to offer $5-million before then Rachel could be ready for a top effort in June after she gets in one more race.”

The gamesmanship continues.

On Zenyatta and the Breeders' Cup Classic: "She’s six wide and she’s going to swamp them. Twinkletoes versus treacletoes – except this formidable force of nature doesn’t look particularly dainty pounding down the lane. She brutally downs the gallant Gio Ponti and Twice Over, a pair of equine Canutes pointlessly attempting to withstand an irresistible tide."

DANCMSTR Len Goodman on the mare’s distinctive leg movements.

Sports Illustrated scribe picks both for 2009 honor. "For everybody who says that thoroughbred racing cannot produce a star outside of the Triple Crown, it was a year to eat their words, and a year for history. That's why both Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta are my choices for Sportsman of the Year."

Tale of the Tape. (What a year. Two amazing distaffers; an unprecedented debate. Emotions aside, the honor must go to Rachel Alexandra. She ran more, she won more, she set records.)

Timeform ranks Goldikova at 132, a single pound ahead of Classic victress Zenyatta at 131 and two pounds ahead of Turf winner Conduit at 130.

Racing Post rates Zenyatta at 128, one pound behind Rachel Alexandra at 129, on their list of top dirt/all-weather performers. "With two such amazing distaffers adding to the outstanding exploits of Sea The Stars and Goldikova in Europe, this has been a season the like of which will be hard to replicate."

"As the world turns on every verbal barb between the connections of Big Brown and Curlin, almost invisibly out west there's a filly barnstorming her way toward the game's highest honor rolls."