Zenyatta Goes for 17th Victory on Sunday in the Grade I Vanity

There’s a lot going on in the world of sports this weekend.

The 2010 World Cup is underway.

The Lakers and Celtics are battling each other for the 2010 NBA Championship.

Major League Baseball has interleague games going on. Chuck Liddell faces off against Rich Franklin at UFC 115.

And then there’s the Grade I Vanity at Hollywood Park on Sunday. The race, which many sports fans might not even watch, means a whole helluva lot to horse racing betting fans. In fact, one of the Holy Grails of horse racing is set to be broken this Sunday.

This Sunday, about 25 minutes before the Lakers and Celtics take to the court for Game 5 of the 2010 NBA Finals, Zenyatta, the undefeated and brilliant Zenyatta, will take to the cushion track at Hollywood Park and attempt to do something that has never been done before in the modern history of American thoroughbred racing.

She will go for his 17th victory in a row in a non-restricted race. The record of 16 victories in a row in a non-restricted race is shared by 4 horses. Besides Zenyatta, the record is held by Mister Frisky and Cigar. The other horse that shares the record is the great Citation.

Zenyatta’s quest for her 17th victory would make her perhaps the 3rd greatest racehorse to ever live. She’s already considered the greatest female racehorse to ever live.

Winning this Sunday’s Vanity would no doubt cement her place in thoroughbred racing history and put her on thee greatness list after the immortal Man O’War and the indomitable Secretariat.

That’s how important this race on Sunday has become. There are very few people involved in horse racing who will be rooting against Zenyatta.

I, because that’s the kind of guy I am, will be one of them, however. Yes, I will be betting against Zenyatta on Sunday.

Hollywood Park – Race 8

Grade I Vanity $250,000

• Where: Inglewood, CA
• When: June 13th, 2010 at 7:35 pm EST
• TV: TVG

Who Will Beat Zenyatta? St Trinians Will!

St Trinians is the horse that will beat the great Zenyatta and end her 16 race unbeaten streak. Oh, I know. The chances of that happening are very, very slim, but slimmed chanced occurrences actually occurring often seem to keep history intact and to keep unfathomable events from happening.

When Cigar attempted to break the record in the Pacific Classic, an improbable horse named Dare And Go upset him.

St Trinians has a good shot of being Zenyatta’s Dare And Go. She’s a classy mare herself, having won 4 races in a row before losing in the Grade I Santa Anita Handicap. St Trinians is 7 out of 12 overall for her career. She can either close with Zenyatta or lay a length or two behind the speed and get the jump on that rival.

She’s run numbers as fast as Zenyatta has run and she’s getting a big weight advantage from the undefeated 2009 Breeders’ Cup winner. Yes, it’s a long shot, but I believe there’s a chance it might happen on Sunday. St. Trinians might, just might, upset Zenyatta and keep the brilliant mare from breaking the esteemed race record.

As they turn for home, I see St. Trinians accelerating to the front and continuing to accelerate while Zenyatta and Mike Smith make a furious move and gobble up ground like a black hole sucking in light. She’ll look like she’s going to catch St. Trinian’s like she’s caught 16 other horses in her awesome career.

But this time, this time, she won’t. She won’t catch St. Trinians and she won’t break the record because this record isn’t meant to be broken.

Zenyatta won’t do it. Am I sure about that? Nope. I’m not sure at all. It’s just a feeling, but it’s a strong feeling.

Zenyatta won’t win the Grade I Vanity on Sunday.