My all-time favorite baseball player is Cal Ripken Jr., so I have a respect for streaks.
The 17-race win streak Zenyatta has put together is the most impressive in the history of the North American Turf, but "most impressive" is not the same as "record."
Pepper's Pride won 19 races in a row, and nothing about the "class" of those races changes the fact that she holds the record for most consecutive wins. Maybe that will change this year as Zenyatta (hopefully) keeps racing, but for now Peppers Pride has the record and to pretend it doesn't exist because she raced only in New Mexico is an insult to every horseperson who knows how hard it is at any level to win ONE race let alone 19 in a row.
When Zenyatta won the Vanity for win 17 in a row, much was made of her passing Cigar's streak. Most articles also mentioned Citation in that breath while a few even dropped Mister Frisky's name, but very few both to mention Hallowed Dreams, which is a shame.
I'm all for perspective, and as I said above, Zenyatta's win streak is better than any of the others mentioned so far in this post, but to say she has some kind of record for most wins in a row is just not true. Some articles try to qualify the statement by saying "against top competition" or some other general statement, but Zenyatta's win streak includes a maiden and allowance win, and that's not "top competition."
Zenyatta is a future Hall of Fame racehorse who has put herself in a position to go down as the greatest American-bred female racehorse of all time. She doesn't need sympathizers bending the metrics of a win streak stat to enhance her reputation. Just as no one thinks Mandurah is better than Elusive Quality, no one thinks Peppers Pride is better than Zenyatta (or Cigar or Personal Ensign) because of one stat.
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Yes it's exactly the same as saying this crop of three year olds is weak when you can't name one European three year olds.
ReplyDeleteThen again, that college kid with hits in 50-something games in a row isn't exactly Joe D. Ping!
ReplyDeleteFrank,
ReplyDeleteand a MSW win against females is probably on par with a New Mexico-bred stakes race for older females.
Nice post Ed. The boys and girls at TVG are the worst in this regard. Zenyatta is a great horse and her going to the post 17 times and never experiencing an off day, bad luck, or a bad trip that she could not overcome is truly remarkable. It speaks volumes about her competitiveness and heart when facing similar talent. But Pepper's Pride speaks just the same about hers. The fact that she was able to deliver time and again to keep her streak alive indicates that she had as much courage and heart as Zenyatta even if less talented. Such streaks reflect heart, courage, determination and even a little luck, but you cannot use such streaks to compare talent, and the remarkable achievement that such streaks reflect should not be minimized by belittling the talent level at which they were achieved. If anything, winning consistently at the lower end of the talent spectrum is even more impressive, because inconsistency is the hallmark there.
ReplyDeleteWorst article I have ever seen!!! Please don't be an idiot your whole life. The Queen actually ran against good horses, not dogs.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Ed's saying that Zenyatta ran against claiming quality horses. I think he's saying that, just because she's the hottest horse right now, doesn't mean that we overlook the accomplishments of other horses like Pepper's Pride.
ReplyDeleteI personally want to see her retire 20-0, but whether she can do that depends on luck, health, etc. Until then, I'm gonna enjoy her everytime she races!
Thank you so much for making this point. This "Unrestricted" nonsense is contrived and after the fact. Nothing was said about restrictions when Cigar was going for the record nor was it brought up during Peppers Pride's quest. The record is 19 and will remain 19 until another horse exceeds 19.
ReplyDeleteThe record is 56 consecutive wins, set by the great Camarero in 1953-1955. Last I checked Puerto Rico was part of North America. The 14.3hh Camarero wasn't racing against garbage, he set several track records, won the PR Triple Crown, and had he not died of colic at age 5 would almost certainly have had a chance to prove his stuff in the States.
ReplyDeleteIf we want to go strictly continental US, then there's Hall of Fame/KY Derby winner Hindoo's 18 in a row over 4 months, his son Hanover's 17 in a row, Saratoga giant Kentucky's 21 in a row, and finally the old 4-miler gelding Leviathan, America's first star racehorse, who late in his career won 23 races in a row-each with multiple heats, and he never lost a single heat-against the best in the country. He ran around the turn of the 19th century, so many forget about him, but he is mentioned in numerous old turf registers and magazines.
I do not think Puerto Rico applies although I have no doubt Camarero was a great horse. I think by North America they mean USA and Canada pretty much, not Chichen Itza downs. Possibly the record is 56 but that is not realistic. The record is 19 because Peppers Pride ran in the USA.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous,
ReplyDeletePlease direct me to some documentaion for this Leviathan's American record. I did a quick search, but could only locate a Leviathan that ran in England, c. 1823 - 1829. I couldn't piece together a 23 race win streak, but the article does mention this tough contest -
"In September he was at Warwick, where he took a walk-over for the St. Leger Stakes, none of the nine subscribers showing up to challenge him, and a sweepstakes worth £30."
This horse was shipped to stud in Tennessee after going lame and being retired from racing.
http://www.tbheritage.com/Portraits/Leviathan.html
Ed, I really enjoyed your Turning for Home racing commentary in today
ReplyDeletes edition of Th. Times TODAY.