Zenyatta helps Greg Avioli with Breeders’ Cup sales pitch
For those putting on the big show keeping the star of the show happy can be a tough deal.
And when that star is a world famous diva, extra supplies of valium could be a wise order but Greg Avioli is not worried. As the president and CEO of the Breeders' Cup it is Avioli’s task to keep the event at the top of the news agenda. But Zenyatta is doing that for him – even before she steps on to the track at Churchill Downs on Saturday night when she bids to conclude her career with a 20th successive career victory when she defends her title in the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
While Zenyatta takes top billing she may well be vying for the limelight with Goldikova, who will be attempting an unprecedented third consecutive victory in the same race, when she runs in the Mile and just for good measure there will be Henry Cecil’s Midday aiming for a repeat victory in the Filly & Mare Turf. “It’s a tremendous opportunity for racing fans around the world to see three of the sports great superstars perform on one stage,” Avioli said.
“We’re already talking to people about where they’re going to put the Zenyatta statue if she wins her second Breeders’ Cup Classic. Her story has really taken the sport to a new level in the general media in the United States. She was recently named in Oprah Winfrey’s Power List for the top 10 most influential women in 2010 – first time a horse has ever been on that list.
“Our most popular news programme, 60 Minutes, is going to be doing a 15-minute feature on her, which will go out to 30 million people. And the press are really coming out of the woodwork to capture this amazing, once-in-a-lifetime, story. They’re calling it ‘the quest for perfection’.”
There were plenty who felt that the Breeders’ Cup, with eight races on one day, was just about perfect by Avioli believes the expansion to 14 races, spread across two days, has proven its worth now. “When we moved to the expanded format a few years ago one of the big concerns was would we have enough quality horses to fill the field top to bottom. And when you look at these races you have to be pleased that we have such quality,” he said. “The number of Group One winners means that there are multiple superstars in just about every race.”
However the number of European runners in the races run on dirt has dropped greatly after the previous two years when those races were run on the synthetic surface which was then used on the main track at Santa Anita, which had been the home of the meeting.
This time there were just four dirt entries at a track where Sheikh Albadou won the Sprint for the late Alex Scott in 1991. “We knew there would be less horses from Europe taking shots are what are traditionally dirt races, ”Avioli conceded. “It’s probably a little better than we expected but it’s in line with our expectations.”
With Santa Anita in the process of going back to dirt there seems little hope of the Breeders’ Cup being staged on a non-dirt course in the near future, which some in the sport see as a regressive step given the high injury rate for dirt racing, but it is not a fight that Avioli is keen to become a part of. “It’s just the reality we face in the United States right now. The fact is that the major racetracks which have hosted the most Breeders’ Cups – Churchill, Belmont and Santa Anita – will all be traditional dirt surfaces for the foreseeable future and we’re going to have to address that reality.
“But we now have on the card six turf races with $10million in purses and I think you will continue to see a handful of Europeans try the dirt races particularly those who are trying to make a dirt stallion.”
Zenyatta will be trying the dirt for only the third time in her career, having won twice in the Apple Blossom Handicap at Oaklawn, and Aviloi believes that the local experts will not be selecting her come the big race.
“I think there are a number of the top handicappers who are going to look elsewhere for their first choice,” he explained. “You’re going to see some great odds on that race because you have some quality horses competing with her. Blame, who is one of the top older horses, has had very good success at Churchill Downs and Lookin At Lucky, who is our best three-year-old, has been peaking right now. I think it’s a combination that people do consider Zenyatta to be a horse who primarily runs on the synthetics but it’s also a tremendously deep field she’s running against.”
But a big show from the big star would suit Avioli just fine.
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