Smith: Zenyatta should have been three-time Horse of Year

Mike Smith's ride of a lifetime is over, but the memory will live forever.

The Hall of Fame jockey's racing days with the legendary mare Zenyatta came to a

close when she was retired to become a broodmare after suffering her first

defeat, losing by a head to Blame in the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill

Downs last November 6.

Prior to that, she made history by winning her first 19 starts, each in the

same, signature last-to-first style that captured the fancy of racing fans

worldwide and thrust her name into the lexicon of mainstream America, a la

Seabiscuit and Secretariat.

Yet despite her flare for fantastic finishes, if she isn't named Horse of the

Year when the honor is announced at the 40th annual Eclipse Awards dinner at the

Fountainbleau Miami Beach Hotel in Florida on January 17, and finishes second to

Blame, it would mark the third straight time Zenyatta was second in Horse of the

Year voting. She was runner-up to Curlin in 2008 and second to Rachel Alexandra

in 2009, even though she became the first female to defeat males in the

Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita that year.

To her legion of worshippers and Team Zenyatta -- headed by owners Jerry and Ann

Moss, trainer John Shirreffs, his wife and Moss racing manager Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs,

and, of course, Smith -- it would be an omission of incalculable magnitude should Zenyatta be left at the altar again.

"It's not even worth bringing up, as far as I'm concerned," Smith said when

asked about Horse of the Year. "She should be, without a doubt, that's just my

opinion.

"Of course, if you ask me, she should have been three-time Horse of the

Year. All the other connections that are involved are great people and great

families. I've been blessed to have ridden for all of them and I wish them luck,

but I believe we deserve it.

"She is really happy where she's at right now, which is great to see," the

45-year-old Roswell, New Mexico, native said of Zenyatta, who is at Lane's End

Farm near Versailles, Kentucky, preparing for her first season as a broodmare.

"She

seems to have settled in really well, so that's the main thing. I was with her

in Kentucky when she first went there, but I haven't been back since. But I plan

on going really soon."

Meanwhile, Smith is looking forward to many more successful years in the

saddle. But with an easy-going demeanor, a succinct and candid way with words

and a smile that can light up the room, Smith would seem an ideal fit with

camera and microphone, should he be so inclined when he decides to hang up his

tack. But that day doesn't appear to be on the horizon anytime soon, especially

with winning rides like he put up on 6-5 favorite Mother Ruth (Speightstown) in Friday's Kalookan

Queen H.

"Just because Zenyatta retired, that doesn't mean I'm going to," Smith said.

"I'm not ready to do that. I feel as good as ever and I'm riding as good as

ever. I have some good barns, and I'm enjoying myself as much as ever."