By Harry King
LITTLE ROCK — The lady from Brazil is to board a charter flight from Los Angeles to New Orleans on Wednesday for a scouting mission that will last less than two minutes.
The operative’s name is Zardana and her thin cover story is that she can’t find work in California. The fact that John Shirreffs calls the shots with Zardana says there’s more to her trip.
Shirreffs is the very capable trainer of another female named Zenyatta and it just so happens that he is preparing her to run against Rachel Alexandra in Arkansas next month and that Rachel is running Saturday in New Orleans and that Zardana is competing in that very race.
Hmmm. Shirreffs knows what he has in Zardana, knows that she is inferior to Zenyatta, and that he can measure one of his backups against Steve Asmussen’s first teamer.
Shirreffs has said that the race in New Orleans was suggested by Zardana owner Arnold Zetcher, who has nothing to do with Zenyatta.
As soon as he decided to run Zardana against Rachel, Shirreffs knew that there would be questions about his motive. He told a New Orleans reporter that he said to Zetcher, “Oh no, here we go.”
Last week, Rachel Alexandra owner Jess Jackson said Shirreffs’ plan to race Zardana in New Orleans made sense.
“I think they are trying to size us up,” he said.
Support of the conspiracy theory can be found in these facts:
—California-based Shirreffs has never shipped a horse to Louisiana as far as anybody can remember.
—The race is new, and therefore ungraded, and Zardana has already won a Grade II event.
—The purse is $200,000 and the second-place check might not cover expenses.
Shirreffs’ counter is that Santa Anita’s only remaining race for older fillies and mares is the Santa Margarita on Saturday and that race will be Zenyatta’s prep for the April 9 Apple Blossom Invitational at Oaklawn Park.
The race in New Orleans serves the same purpose for Rachel, who finished ahead of unbeaten Zenyatta in the balloting for 2009 Horse of the Year.
Even before the votes were counted, there were various flirtations with a race that would attract both. Oaklawn is closer to pulling this off than any other track, but all those who want it to happen will hold their collective breath until after this weekend.
Out of training for a few months, Rachel’s race will be her first since she won in New York in September. Zenyatta, who converted some Rachel fans when she beat the boys in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in early November, has never stopped training.
Less than a week ago, The New York Times quoted Jackson as saying Rachel is about 85 percent of where she should be at this time. That might be a concern, but she was never going to be fully cranked for Saturday’s race. There are more demanding goals down the line, including the Apple Blossom and possibly the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.
Rachel will not run at Oaklawn unless she is in tip-top shape, Jackson said. Nothing new there. All along, he has said as much.
Maybe next week, the two stars will be headed to Arkansas and everybody involved can exhale.
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Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media’s Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com.
