After the Auction: Zinzay

As an avid fan of sales with possible aspirations to become an adviser/bloodstock agent, auctions are one of my favorite topics to write about on Past the Grandstand. “After the Auctions” feature horses I selected in sales that have found success after the sale. 

No matter how talented a young racehorse that has not yet started may seem, the answer is not revealed until the true test: the horse’s performance on the racetrack. For Zinzay, the betting public certainly doubted her, allowing the well-bred filly to enter the starting gate for her debut at odds of nearly 20-1. But her connections had confidence in her. Whose opinion would she uphold?

Facing nine other juvenile fillies in a mile and one-sixteenth turf maiden special weight at Saratoga, Zinzay – while racing three paths off the rail – tracked the steady pace. After pressing the pace throughout, the daughter of Smart Strike began to make her move around the far turn as she set her sights on the favored leader, Hillhouse High. Dueling down the stretch with that rival, Zinzay triumphed by a neck in a good final time of 1:41.09.

After the race, Zinzay’s trainer, Rusty Arnold, told The BloodHorse’s Ron Mitchell, "I never expect them to pull out a victory. I expect them to run well. She had trained well and we thought she had performed well, and that's all you can ask for a 2-year-old first-time starter. Winning is just a bonus.”

Zinzay, a $700,000 two-year-old purchase at the 2013 Fasig-Tipton Florida Sale, was among my selections for the 2012 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, at which she sold for $250,000.

Pedigree Analysis

Zinzay is a daughter of the elite sire Smart Strike, who topped the North American sires list in 2007 and 2008. A Canadian Hall of Famer, Smart Strike is also the sire of the champions Curlin, English Channel, Lookin At Lucky, My Miss Aurelia, and Soaring Free. Smart Strike is a son of Mr. Prospector, one of the most influential stallions to ever live. The Mr. Prospector sire line has produced an astounding number of champions, including six Horse of the Year honorees in the United States.

Zinzay’s dam is Music Room, who is a half-sister to the multiple grade/group one winners Musical Chimes and Music Note, as well as the multiple graded stakes-winning steeplechaser Top of the Bill. Zinzay’s third through sixth dams are all Reine De Course mares, including It’s In The Air – a champion racehorse and dam of four black-type horses, including a graded stakes winner.

Zinzay’s maternal grandsire is the late Unbridled’s Song, who is also the broodmare sire of the grade one winners J. B.’s Thunder, The Lumber Guy, and Unbridled Command, as well as the additional graded stakes winners Alpha Kitten, Etched, Out of Bounds, and Super Ninety Nine.