No sooner had Zenyatta blazed past Gio Ponti to win last weekend’s Breeders’ Cup Classic in dramatic fashion than the buzz began.

Who should be Horse of the Year — Rachel Alexandra, the brilliant winner of the Preakness Stakes and the first three-year-old filly to defeat older males in the Woodward Stakes, or Zenyatta, the five-year-old super mare who ran her record to 14-0 on Saturday?

Early Speed Ration (ESR): A measurement of a horse’s early energy expenditure in relation to the total race requirements. The lower the figure, the greater the horse’s early exertion in that event.

-15 = Demanding
-10 = Brisk
  -5 = Moderate
   0 = Soft

Late Speed Ration (LSR): A measurement of a horse’s late energy expenditure in relation to the total race requirements. The higher the figure, the greater the horse’s late exertion in that event.

   0 = Excellent
  -5 = Good
-10 = Fair
-15 = Poor

Those who believe Rachel is more deserving point to her five Grade 1 wins this year, along with her historic victories against males in the aforementioned Preakness and Woodward Stakes, as well as her six-length drubbing of likely three-year-old male champion, Summer Bird, in the Haskell.

“The Horse of the Year should go to the runner that provided continued excellence at the highest levels throughout the whole racing season,” noted Dan Illman in his blog for the Daily Racing Form. “… While Zenyatta remained in her comfort zone, Rachel Alexandra defeated males in the second jewel of racing's Triple Crown (the first filly to win the Preakness in 85 years), won the Haskell against males and the Kentucky Oaks against fillies, and became the first three-year-old filly to win the historic Woodward Stakes against older males.
 
“We haven't seen, or even conceived of, a campaign like this,” Illman concluded, “and Rachel emerged unscathed every single time.  She's won over seven different tracks, over wet and dry, around one turn and two.”

While I think Illman makes some excellent points — he typically does — I personally feel it would be a crime if Zenyatta isn’t crowned the best of the best. To begin with, this notion that the daughter of Street Cry “remained in her comfort zone” throughout the year is kind of a Catch-22; sure, she was in her comfort zone — 14 straight victories will do that to you. But let’s not forget that Zenyatta took on the finest fillies and mares the Golden State had to offer before she beat the boys in the Classic. The fact that California girls weren’t that great in ’09 (the Beach Boys don’t know what they’re talking about) shouldn’t be held against her any more than Rachel’s Grade 1 gallop in the Mother Goose against just two (overmatched) opponents should be a knock against her.

The fact is horses like Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra tend to put a damper on entry box enthusiasm. After all, why compete against two of the greatest females in history when, on any given weekend, there’s a bevy of other, more suitable races to choose from? Ruffian, the great filly of yesteryear, beat a total of 17 horses in five of her 10 lifetime wins, yet I don’t hear folks grumbling that she was an unworthy champ. Instead, many (I’m not one of them) consider her to be the greatest female thoroughbred of all time.

Yeah, but Zenyatta is a “synthetic” freak, some will argue, pointing to the mare’s 13 career wins on all-weather, or synthetic, surfaces. Rachel, on the other hand, has won on a wide variety of tracks and terrain. OK. So what? Artificial surfaces are the norm in California, just as dirt tracks are the standard in the east, thus there is nothing insidious or cowardly about Zenyatta’s gaudy record on faux soil. Plus, it’s not unprecedented to have a surface specialist garner Horse of the Year honors. Remember All Along? She was named top hoss in ’83 despite running exclusively on grass that year; ditto for Kotashaan in ’93 and NFL Pro Bowl MVP Ricky Williams in 2002.

Actually, on the subject of human sports stars and artificial playing surfaces — obviously, I’m just kidding about Williams — let’s talk about the late baseball great Kirby Puckett. A 10-time all-star and former batting champ, Puckett was clearly a better hitter on artificial turf, where he compiled a lifetime batting average of .332, compared to .295 on the sod. The same can be said for George Brett, the man whose .390 batting average in 1980 remains the highest since Ted Williams last surpassed the .400 mark in 1941. Despite a .305 career batting average, Brett hit just .285 on natural grass. Yet, both Puckett and Brett were easily elected to the baseball Hall of Fame — so much for surface concerns in Major League Baseball.

The point is champions play whenever and wherever they are asked to. One didn’t hear members of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers griping and whining when they had to play Super Bowl XXXVII in California, the home state of their opponents, the Oakland Raiders. Instead, the Bucs picked off Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon five times, returning three for touchdowns, en route to a 48-21 victory.

On American racing’s grandest day, in its biggest and richest event, Zenyatta showed up; Rachel Alexandra did not.

What’s more, to those who claim that the Jess Jackson filly was faster and more dominant than “Z” (my own pet name for Zenyatta, born less out of affection than laziness), I point to the following:

• The 112 Beyer figure Zenyatta earned in the Classic is the highest ever awarded on a synthetic surface, according to the Daily Racing Form.

• Zenyatta’s largest margin of victory (4 ½ lengths) came in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn Park — her only start on real dirt.

It all adds up to one thing: Zenyatta, 2009 Horse of the Year.

Simon’s BS Makes for a Profitable BC

Three weeks ago, I unveiled, to little fanfare and no applause, my five-star betting method for beating the Breeders’ Cup. Well, in the same manner that a broken clock occasionally displays the proper time, the system proved a smashing success, as the following statistics prove:

 
Total Races (bets): 13 (22)
Winners: 4
Rate: 30.8%
Return: $69.80
ROI: +58.64%

Overlay Races (bets): 7 (9)
Winners: 1
Rate: 14.3%
Return: $52.60
ROI: +192.22%
 

Mrs. Revere Draws 17

Saturday’s Grade 2 Mrs. Revere Stakes at Churchill Downs drew an overflow field of 17 sophomore fillies, including top contenders Hot Cha Cha, C. S. Silk, Keertana and Miss World. Below is a look at the entrants, along with their morning line odds:

1-C. S. Silk (10/1)
2-Kiawah Cat (15/1)
3-Miss World (4/1)
4-Striking Dancer (12/1)
5-Mary's Follies (10/1)
6-War Kill (20/1)
7-Hot Cha Cha (3/1)
8-Bluegrass Princess (12/1)
9-Romacaca (10/1)
10-Miss Keller (8/1)
11-Keertana (8/1)
12-Redreamit (20/1)
13-Obsequious (30/1)
14-Single Solution (30/1)
15-Aaroness (30/1)
16-Alice's Smart (20/1)
17-Bum Bum (30/1)

Although I don’t yet have the past performances for the race, my Win Factor line makes Hot Cha Cha a clear favorite at fair odds of 5-2. For more free picks, be sure to listen to this week’s “Simon Says” Racing Podcast.