FanHouse Horse Racing

Zenyatta topped the 2009 Breeders' Cup results, improving her record to 14-0 after a thrilling rally. Despite a rough start, the 5-year-old mare bested a field of 11 males and fought off Gio Ponti down the stretch to win by a length at Santa Anita.

With the victory, Zenyatta became the first female to win the Breeders' Cup Classic and the first horse to ever win two different Breeders' Cup races. In addition to the $5 million Classic in 2009, Zenyatta also won the Breeders' Cup Ladies Classic in 2008.

Ridden by Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith, Zenyatta paid $7.60, $5.60 and $3.80 as the 5-2 wagering favorite. Gio Ponti returned $9.20 and $6.60, while Twice Over paid $7 to show.

You can check out complete results for all the races below:

ARCADIA, Calif. (AP) -- What a gal!

Zenyatta overcame early trouble to beat the boys in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday, running her record to 14-0 in the most impressive effort of her career.

The 5-year-old mare rallied from last after a poor start and fought off Gio Ponti in the stretch to win by a length at Santa Anita, beating a loaded field of 11 males and becoming the first female to win the Classic in its 26-year history.

"There are tears coming to my eyes. I can't believe it," said trainer John Shirreffs, who eschewed a box seat to watch his star horse from the rail near the finish line.

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No, don't freak out -- Thom Yorke won't be doing any left-turned sprints around a dirt track as a jockey whips his hide this weekend (at least not that I can confirm and/or report anyway), and his band doesn't actually doesn't even horse in the race either, as it might seem easy to insinuate.

Instead, it's just a horse named Radiohead, which is still pretty awesome from a pop culture perspective (and certainly better than being stuck in the desert on a horse with no name anyway).

One of the biggest annual events in Maryland horse racing was approaching, and this particular afternoon in downtown Baltimore last week was especially meaningful. The $1.23-million Maryland Million, the Breeders' Cup-style program started in 1986 and copied by 22 states since, was officially being named in honor of its creator, none other than ABC Wide World of Sports legend Jim McKay, a native Baltimorean and longtime patron of the sport. Major names from the Maryland horse industry, politicians and the late McKay's daughter, Mary McManus Guba, were on hand at Sports Legends Museum at Camden Yards to celebrate the occasion.

Yet amid the generally buoyant mood, it was neither surprising nor out of place when, after the announcement, Katherine Voss, one of the state's leading breeders, was asked about the present and future of the sport in Maryland, and she answered with a sardonic smile:

"Hanging on by our fingernails?''

It's the hope that keeps them coming back. That's part of the allure of being a degenerate gambler. Or maybe that's just the debilitating addiction showing through. Either way, some down-on-their-luck sad sacks received a gift from the heavens Thursday at Belmont Park.

UPDATE, 2:40 PM ET: A source tells FanHouse that the New York Racing Association (NYRA) is paying off on both tickets (both the winning and losing superfecta), which will cost the track roughly $82,000.

Via the New York Daily News:

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) -- Rachel Alexandra can handle older men, too.

The sensational 3-year-old filly became the first female to win the prestigious Woodward Stakes on Saturday, holding off Macho Again by a head and leaving six others in her wake.

OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) -- What a gal!

Rachel Alexandra turned on the speed around the far turn and rolled past the boys once again to win the $1.25 million and establish herself as one of the greatest fillies in thoroughbred racing.

When the regal bay filly returned to the winner's circle with Calvin Borel patting her neck, the Monmouth Park crowd of 37,090 cheered mightily for racing's brightest star.

Saturday's fifth race at Belmont Park got off to an odd start when a horse named Phone Jazz threw off her jockey, Jean-Luc Samyn, while coming out of the gate. But that didn't matter to her.

NEW YORK -- The other Cajun jockey, the one who didn't follow Paris Hilton on Letterman's couch, the one who spent the week heeding Belmont's killer track rather than offering bold guarantees, wasn't about to holler, "Told you so."

Kent Desormeaux had said Calvin Borel was naïve of the circumstances -- meaning he had no real experience with how Belmont's mile-and-a-half oval tended to be racing's Bermuda Triangle -- and when Borel promised that his mount, Mine That Bird, would win the third leg of the Triple Crown and spin Borel into racing history, well, Desormeaux noted that Borel might want to keep those things to himself.

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NEW YORK (AP) -- This was a Belmont for the Birds.

It was Summer Bird, not Mine That Bird and jockey Calvin Borel, who came roaring down the long stretch and won the final jewel of the Triple Crown on Saturday.

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