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BREEDERS' CUP WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPSOctober 24, 2008Ann MossJerome MossJohn ShirreffsDottie ShirreffsARCADIA, CALIFORNIA ERIC WING: We're joined by the winning connections of Zenyatta, winner of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic. I suppose 50 years from now people may mistakenly think that the Police album was named after the horse (laughing). You've tasted great success. I should introduce success. Ann Moss, Jerry Moss, co-owners of Zenyatta. John Shirreffs, his wife, Dottie. You've achieved success at the highest levels of thoroughbred racing, Kentucky Derby comes quickly to mind. Haven't seen you get choked up after a race before. That's what you were doing out there. What is it about her that obviously holds such a special place in your heart? JEROME MOSS: Well, she's a great star, you know, and the people understood that, and they applauded. Gave her the respect she deserves, and that always gets me. ERIC WING: Mike Smith is riding in this next race, so we'll attempt to have Mike in after that race to get his take on things. Q. Ann, where does this moment rank, not in racing for you, but in the life of so many wonderful things? I imagine there is something about a race like that that gives you a feeling that can't be duplicated in any other walk of life. ANN MOSS: Well, walking through this life with this guy and this team is an amazing opportunity. The horses that are coming to us and then being developed by this amazing team, including David and Gordo, this is such a blessing. What a happy thing in these kind of days to have this majesty. I mean she's just put together so perfectly. And she poses, and she's having a good time. So it makes it really fun. I say it again, we're in thrill. We're in thrill. What else can you say? It's a blessing, thank you. Q. Ann and Jerry, I'm going to ask you a question, if Curlin loses tomorrow, should Zenyatta be horse of the year? JEROME MOSS: I think it's not in our hands, to tell you the truth. Obviously, we've been reading about the possibility, but, I mean, we worry about that -- somebody else worries about that. That's not our job. Look, we're just thrilled that she's won this race, and she seems to be at the top of her division rather firmly. I mean, to have, if I may say it, a champion, is a pretty ultimate thrill for us. It will be our first one, in a sense. We couldn't be happier than to share it with John, and Dottie and all our -- the great barn, everybody has a piece of this. It's a fantastic experience. To answer your question, I really don't know, and it's not up to us to say. Q. The one thing that is in your hands is the Eclipse Award for champion and older filly and mare this year. John, what's it like training a horse that not just wins every time like Zenyatta does, but wins with that type of authority? JOHN SHIRREFFS: Having a horse like Zenyatta is obviously very special. Jerry loves the Yankees, so I think of Mario Rivera, right, the stopper. So Zenyatta's the ultimate stopper. Whatever's going on, you can always look to her, and something fantastic's going to happen. So she's just like the ray of sunshine in whatever cloudiness may come our way (laughing). Q. You mentioned before that she's a closer, and there's always a chance on that day that she won't close. Do you ever worry about that? JEROME MOSS: Well, yeah, I would, because that would mean that something's wrong with her, basically, something's off. Then I would really be concerned. So, obviously, every horse owner wants their horses to finish. Firstly, they want them to finish the race safe and sound, as we do, and that is the most important thing. But if she didn't have that closing sort of kick, then we'd think, well, obviously something's off. We hope it's not too serious, that kind of thing. That's our concern in that matter. Q. Any idea yet about next year for Zenyatta? JEROME MOSS: No, we sort of saved it all for seeing that she gets back okay, then we'll talk about it, I guess. I don't really, at this day, see any other -- I mean, she's just too good not to run again. But we have to talk about all that and see what -- obviously, she deserves a rest, and then we go from there. Q. Just her price tag doesn't necessarily suggest greatness, but she's achieved it. How did you come to make the transaction? JEROME MOSS: Well, David and his team, Jeannie Mayberry found this horse for us to look at, and we all, the four of us, sort of saw her, I think around the same time. She was a rather imposing filly to begin with. We liked the sire very much. I know that John likes sort of long, tall horses. He trained Manistique so beautifully. We were just hoping she would check out vet-wise. And then, as you heard, she had a tremendous rash on her shoulders and her neck. So we asked John how long it would take to clear up, and he said, Oh, about two weeks. So we said, Okay, if she checks out vet-wise... We obviously looked at her more than once. We just loved her, you know. Obviously we were prepared to go higher for her, but the bidding stopped and David was absolutely right, and lucky us, you know. Q. Obviously, 2005 Derby was a big day for you also. Did you get choked up after that race like you did today when the crowd was applauding Zenyatta? JEROME MOSS: I don't know. I think I did a little bit. As Annie said, maybe it just wasn't on camera. We got a chance to exalt quite privately at the Derby because we were 50-1. We were so under the radar, we needed two tickets to get in. But, you know, it was an exaltation, and there is a picture around that somebody got off the web that we keep very close to us. Every day we wake up and look at each other and say, We won the Derby. So that was very special, indeed. Q. You are on Cloud 9. Are you looking for a record to make it 17 in a row? And the fact that she's so special, do you want to count the new horizons and race her abroad next year? JEROME MOSS: Hmm, that's good. Maybe John should answer that. JOHN SHIRREFFS: I don't know. All records get broken some time. So I don't think records are really the big thing about horse racing. Horse racing is about performance. And we saw a great performance today. Q. I thought that Bob Baffert stopped and measured -- story is around the track that Bob Baffert went and measured Midnight Loot, and after doing that, came over to measure Zenyatta. Is that true, and how tall exactly is Zenyatta? JOHN SHIRREFFS: You know, everybody probably has a Bob Baffert story, but this is my favorite, right? So here comes Bob over as arrogant as he possibly can be with his stick. I know that filly isn't bigger than Midnight Loot, I'm the myth-buster. So she's out on the wash rack, oh, what the hell, Bob. You know, Bob goes over and measured her, and she's a little over 17 hands, and he goes, Oh, she's bigger than Midnight Loot. So had to turn around, walked back to his barn, and he didn't bust any myths. Q. Assuming everything goes well, will you keep her going next year, will you entertain the thought of running her against the boys? JEROME MOSS: I'm going to let Dottie answer that question. DOTTIE SHIRREFFS: Yes. Q. Dottie says yes. DOTTIE SHIRREFFS: What would you say, trainer? Q. If you could, would you run her back tomorrow? JEROME MOSS: Well, I don't think so. You know, she's never run a mile and a quarter before. And to do it against the best horses in the world, that would be tough. Besides, we've got a pretty good chance tomorrow. We think we've got a really nice horse in that race, so thank you anyway, Mike. ERIC WING: Santiago, he's referring to. And there's always next year for Zenyatta. Who knows? There are no further questions, so we'd like to once again congratulate Jerry and Ann Moss, Don and Dottie Shirreffs on America's super filly, Zenyatta. End of FastScripts |
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