by Frank Angst After 20 career races and a final, fantastic 1 ¼ miles, Zenyatta’s bid for perfection came up a head short as Blame earned the distinction of being the first horse to ever hold off her furious stretch rally on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Blame found just enough to hold off Zenyatta, to win the $4545000 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The photo showed Zenyatta finished about 12-inches short of a 20th straight win. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” said Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, co-owner and co-breeder of Blame along with Adele Dilschneider. Hancock said the owners and trainer Al Stall Jr. started pointing for this race a year ago but noted so many plans in racing fail to come together. “To see it come true … it’s a feeling I can’t describe,” Hancock said. Of course, the ability of racing to humble that Hancock referred to made Zenyatta’s run of 19 straight victories so incredible. Still last in the field of 12 approaching the stretch, Zenyatta was moved to the outside by jockey Mike Smith after saving some ground on the turn. With the crowd of 72739 roaring their approval, Zenyatta—who had done the seemingly impossible so many times before—unleashed her long stride that had led to 19 previous victories. “I just left her with too much to do,” said an emotional Smith, who said the six-year-old Street Cry (Ire) mare was away a little slowly and was squeezed back farther than he had planned in her third career dirt start. “If I had to blame anyone, it …

by Frank Angst After 20 career races and a final, fantastic 1 ¼ miles, Zenyatta’s bid for perfection came up a head short as Blame earned the distinction of being the first horse to ever hold off her furious stretch rally on Saturday at Churchill Downs. Blame found just enough to hold off Zenyatta, to win the $4545000 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1). The photo showed Zenyatta finished about 12-inches short of a 20th straight win. “It’s just an unbelievable feeling,” said Seth Hancock of Claiborne Farm, co-owner and co-breeder of Blame along with Adele Dilschneider. Hancock said the owners and trainer Al Stall Jr. started pointing for this race a year ago but noted so many plans in racing fail to come together. “To see it come true … it’s a feeling I can’t describe,” Hancock said. Of course, the ability of racing to humble that Hancock referred to made Zenyatta’s run of 19 straight victories so incredible. Still last in the field of 12 approaching the stretch, Zenyatta was moved to the outside by jockey Mike Smith after saving some ground on the turn. With the crowd of 72739 roaring their approval, Zenyatta—who had done the seemingly impossible so many times before—unleashed her long stride that had led to 19 previous victories. “I just left her with too much to do,” said an emotional Smith, who said the six-year-old Street Cry (Ire) mare was away a little slowly and was squeezed back farther than he had planned in her third career dirt start. “If I had to blame anyone, it …