jimbo66,
You are indeed a classic. And you "apologize" for the nasty subject? You're all about being nasty about lots of things.
I have several questions...Have you purchased a filly at a sale for less than 6 figures and campaigned her for 10 straight wins and over $2M in earnings? If not, then who are you to designate where she should run? You're just chomping at the bit to play against her, so where's the sportsmanship in that? I don't have to bet a nickel on her to just enjoy watching her run. If she gets beat, does that make her any less valuable as a broodmare?
Do you think it makes any difference to John Shirreffs what your opinion is? I think not. Personal Ensign was one of the great fillies of all time. Why does Zenyatta have to approach or surpass her? To please you? By the way who are these other "great mares" you're talking about that were also undefeated?
The last horse I remember you campaigning was IWR and he failed to make the gate at the Derby while you were tearing up your future tickets. Maybe Mullins should have left this horse out west and then tried the dirt in his first attempt on regular dirt, he might have had a Derby winner.
So this is what's wrong in part with racing? How bout taking top 3 year olds off the track and send them to stud and deny the racing public high profile matchups? That's one of the biggest problems in racing. Curlin campaigns all over the world because of the great sportsmanship of those connections? Gimme a break, it was all about litigation. If that mess had been resolved, we wouldn't have seen Curlin as a 4 year old. Run him on the turf and get him beat, run him on Pro Ride and get him beat? That's sportsmanship? No, that's resume building. Gotta show 'em the potential offspring might be able to handle turf or artificial. Sportsmanship went out of this game a long time ago. It's about money now. Make as much money as you can make while conducting the type of campaign that let's your horse be ready for the very best effort of the year in the Breeder's Cup where the money is huge. If, repeat if, Zenyatta can get it done 3-4 more times this year and earn $4M plus, what's wrong with that? You gotta beautifully spaced, beautifully campaigned and healthy 5 year old mare who has a chance to hit the breeding shed in one piece. It doesn't mean she can throw any good runners, but she might. Jimbo, when you have a rare commodity like Zenyatta, its about managing risk. Five years from now, you think anybody's gonna care where or on what surface she won her races?
As far as referring to Shirreffs as gutless, would you call him that to his face?