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horsesarecreatures · 6 years

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101 Reasons Why Zenyatta is a Legend

1. She is the first horse to win two different Breeder’s Cup races (The Breeder’s Cup Classic and The Breeder’s Cup Ladies’ Classic).

2. She had one of the most dramatic running styles of all time. She never failed to start slowly and she never failed to finish powerfully.

3. She is the first and only female horse to win the Breeder’s Cup Classic, the most important horse race in the United States.

4. She won a total of $7,304,580, despite not being raced until she was almost 4

5. She won 19 consecutive races in a row.

6. She is the first horse to win the William H. May Award.

7. She broke the all-time North American record for Grade 1 victories by a mare.

8. She tied the all-time North American record for consecutive victories without defeat.

9. Tied the all-time North American record with 16 consecutive victories in unrestricted races (held by Citation and Cigar).

10. She is the top Breeder’s Cup earner ($4,680,000).

11. On August 7, 2010, Zenyatta broke the world record set by Rock of Gibraltar for consecutive Grade/Group I victories

12. Zenyatta surpassed Tiznow, John Henry, and Alysheba in all-time North American earnings (male or female).

13. Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert of triple crown winners American Pharoah and Justify said Zenyatta beating his horses in the 2009 Breeder’s Cup Classic “...was the only time in horse racing that I didn’t mind getting beat in a race. If they don’t reward her with horse of the year, it would be a travesty. Zenyatta made the Breeders’ Cup. And the way she won! I’ve never seen a crowd so captivated. It felt like a horse winning the third leg of the Triple Crown.”

14. She was purchased for only $60,000.

15. She won a total of four Eclipse Awards.

16. She was named Horse of the Year in 2010, getting in on the first ballot.

17. Her Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic was the second-fastest in Breeders Cup history at 1:46.85 for 1⅛ miles.

18. Zenyatta set speed records in the 2008 El Encino Stakes (1:40:61) and the 2008 Lady's Secret Stakes (1:40:30).

19. She is the first mare to win Vanity International Handicap, Clement L. Hirsch Stakes, and the Lady's Secret Stakes for 3 consecutive years.

20. Zenyatta holds both the speed record and record for most wins in the Lady's Secret Stakes. Her connections Ann & Jerry Moss, John Shirreffs, and Mike Smith hold records for most wins (four) by an owner, trainer, and jockey respectively.

21. She was named by Oprah Winfrey to the 2010 “O Power List” in O Magazine.

22. Zenyatta was selected three years in a row (2008–2010) for NTRA's Moment of the Year Award, for her 2008 Ladies' Classic victory, historic 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic victory, and narrow defeat in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.

23. On May 10, 2011, Zenyatta's story kicked off the "Inspire" segment of the 2011 Professional Business Women of California (PBWC) Conference. This organization was founded by California Congresswoman Jackie Speier. Ann Moss, Dr. Dawn Hunkin, and Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs and several thousand people attended as Zenyatta was presented with a PBWC Honorary Membership.

24. Zenyatta was the first horse to receive an Honorary Membership to the San Pedro Assistance League. Her photo proudly hangs in their official conference room.

25. According to her jockey Mike Smith, she is the greatest horse of the decade.

26. Her career spanned 4 years and she retired sound as ever.

27. She never suffered a major injury.

28. She has a personality like no other. Her funky pre-race dances entertained thousands.

29. She was a hero to people in times of economic hardships.

30. Her trainer John Sheriffs said, “I’ve been around horses for 50 years, and I’ve never seen a Thoroughbred like Zenyatta. She was that special that I wanted everyone who wanted to meet her personally to be able to do it. There was something about Zenyatta that made you feel good.”

31. At 17.2 hh, the starting gate could barely contain her massive frame.

32. She clocked the second-fastest time for 1 1/8 miles in Breeders’ Cup history when she blazed that distance in 1:46.85 in the Ladies’ Classic in 2008.

33. Zenyatta was inducted into the National Museum of Racing's Hall of Fame in 2016.

34. The only race she ever “lost” was her second Breeder’s Cup Classic, where she came in second place, only inches behind Blame, who she had beaten before.

35. She was born on April Fool’s day.

36. She likes beer, preferably stout Guinness.

37. ESPN studied the length of her stride and concluded that it was a whopping 26 feet. For comparison, the average thoroughbred stride is 20 feet and Secretariat’s was 24 feet 11 inches.

38. She was chosen to promote The Dodgers in 2010 and had her very own billboard in Los Angeles.

39. At Del Mar, they use the Trakkus system for clocking how fast a horse is running during a race. When Z won the Clement Hirsch in 2009, they clocked her "closing down the stretch" at 40+ mph.

40. She has beaten every single one of the 135+ horses that have raced against her (yes, this includes Blame).

41. Her heart is the size of a volleyball.

42. While often criticized for primarily running on synthetic surfaces, she started training on dirt and it is what she was most comfortable with.

43. Even though she has broken record after record, people still don’t know how fast she truly is because she always came from the back of the pack and swung all the way to the outside to avoid traffic before winning at the last moment. As her jockey Mike Smith said, she has “another gear.”

44. She loves foals as much as she loves people. Todd Claunch said, “She loves foals more than just about any mare I've ever been around. When she's outside, all the other foals just come up to her, not just her own.… You can even see her going through the thought process of teaching them things."

45. Zenyatta set speed records in the 2008 El Encino Stakes (1:40:61) and the 2008 Lady's Secret Stakes (1:40:30).

46. She’s photogenic and knows how to pose for photos.

47. Her talent and personality are unmatchable. When asked, “How does Zenyatta compare to the other horses you've been on who won these championship races?," Mike Smith replied “She means more to me than all those.”

48. She lived in Hollywood like the celebrity she is.

49. She can dance. Her moves were taught to her by Mike Smith as a positive way to relieve her endless energy.

50. She feeds of the crowd’s energy.

51. Mike Smith said, “I think she could arguably go down as one of the greatest, if not the greatest horse of all time." And Mike smith’s ridden a lot of champions.

52. She kicked up so much dirt that Mike Smith once had to change goggles six times during a race.

53. Over a thousand people came to her retirement ceremony, despite below freezing temperatures.

54. She has her own horse race named after her (The Zenyatta Stakes).

55. She was smart enough to control her own energy and exert during the most important part of the race.

56. Her trainer was John Sheriffs, who is known for his kind and patient approach.

57. When she was at Hollywood park she lived on a street named after her.

58. The Dodgers had her on a billboard, with the tagline “This is My Town.”

59. She has her own song written by Liza G. Fly.

60. She blurs the line between a starlet and a horse,

61. She once bowed when the track announcer called her name.

62. Zenyatta’s owners Anne and Jerry Moss love her so much that they almost moved her into their Bel-Air home.

63. A sandwich was named after her at trainer John Sheriff’s favorite coffee shop.

64. She has multiple books written about her.

65. She had her own 60 minutes episode titles “Another Look at Zenyatta.”

66. Her first son, Cozmic One, is the 2018 Retired racehorse Project ambassador.

67. She made “Zenyatta” a word that Urban Dictionary defines as “To meet unrealistic expectations, do things that shouldn't be done, defy all logic, leave observers with a loss for ways to describe awesomeness and be perfect.”

68. She sparked a girl power movement in horse racing.

69. Her fans invented the term “hooves crossed.”

70. She has a trusting soul and a zen-like calm.

71. On June 27, 2009, Zenyatta won the Grade 1 Vanity Handicap at Hollywood Park for the second straight year. She carried 129 lbs, spotting her rivals from 13 to 18 pounds, and became the first horse to win under such a weight assignment since 1977.

72. Her rivalry with Rachel Alexandra was the most intense one of recent horse racing history.

73. The second time she ran in the Breeder’s Cup Classic, its TV ratings were triple what they were in 2009.

74. A single halter of hers once sold for $6,600.

75. Jonathan Bush, nephew of George W. Bush, named his luxury catamaran after her.

76. She is in the Arcadia Historical Society Walk of Champions.

77. Unlike most racehorses, Zenyatta did not jog or gallop to warm up before a race. Instead, regular pilot Mike Smith would let her stand and look over the crowd and her competition. He figured she did enough stretching doing her little dance.

78. Zenyatta retired as the leading money winner among North American-based fillies and mares

79. For three straight years, one of Zenyatta's races was named the National Thoroughbred Racing Association's “Moment of the Year.” The races selected for this honor were her victory in the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (USA-I), her victory in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-I) and her narrow defeat in the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic (USA-I).

80. A statue of Zenyatta was unveiled at Santa Anita in 2012, joining the statues of Seabiscuit and John Henry in the Paddock Gardens area near the main grandstand. It took over two years to build.

81. Zenyatta is an honorary member of the San Pedro Assistance League.

82. She stares down anyone who approaches her.

83. The Run the Bluegrass half-marathon in Lexington honors a different Thoroughbred each year, and Zenyatta was the honoree for the 2014 edition.

84. She has her own Breyer model.

85. Her whole pedigree is pretty cool and rare for a top thoroughbred.

86. She is not related to Northern Dancer or Seattle Slew, unlike the majority of thoroughbreds who sometimes feature these horses in their pedigrees multiple times, so she’s not intensely inbred.

87. She outpaces her competitors even in fundraising.

88. Trevor Denman screaming, "If she wins this, she'll be a superhorse" and "This is un-ba-lievable !!" after Zenyatta won the 2009 Breeder’s Cup Classic.

89. She has raised thousands of dollars for various charities, particularly Canter, which helps place ottbs in forever homes. Thanks to her, it has expanded to several locations in the United States.

90. Even though Blame officially won the 2010 BBC, Zenyatta still pulled herself ahead of him after the wire.

91. Thousands bet on her, even when they only got a 10 cent profit off of two dollars.

92. Zenyatta was an inspiration like no other. One school teacher from Santa Barbara who was in a wheelchair when she first met Zenyatta decided to try and walk afterwards, and she did.

93. Kari Bussel from Tennessee once said, “I am terminally ill and my dying wish was to touch her once. I know in my heart she is the reason I am still alive and have thus far defied the odds and what the doctors told me. She inspired me never to give up. I have refused to go anywhere until her story was finished."

94. Although she did not retire undefeated, Zenyatta proved in the end that perfection is not always measured in numbers.

95. She proved that mares can be just or even more profitable as racehorses than as broodmares.

96. She started a new era of filly-dominated horse racing. After her, other great fillies like Rachel Alexandra, Black Caviar, Goldikova, and Havre de Grace started dominating the sport as well.

97. She has over 468,000 followers on Facebook.

98. For two years in a row, she finished second in voting for the Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year, narrowly beaten by Serena Williams and Lindsey Vonn.

99. Sports Illustrated rated Zenyatta as number 1 female horse of all time.

100. She helped revive the struggling racehorse industry on the West coast.

101. She turned the sport of kings into the sport of queens.

#Zenyatta #thoroughbred #racehorse #mare #brown horse #horse #equine #legend

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nofomoartworld · 8 years

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Hyperallergic: “This Is a Revolutionary Moment”: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge on Intersectionality in Art

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, “My Funny Valentine” (2013), Expanded Polaroid, C-print mounted on Plexi, 48 x 47.5 inches, edition of 3 (image courtesy the artists and INVISIBLE-EXPORTS)

Intersectionality is a powerful reminder of our connectedness, but it has arguably lost some of its weight due to overexposure. Many art critics have coopted the word as a lazy syllable for identity politics, vaguely encompassing discussions of race, gender, sexuality, and feminism. Intersectionality can seem like another big word meant to hide the art world’s ugly essentialism — an impulse to sort artists into epithetic categories.

But essentialism be damned. The Intersectional Self at the 8th Floor Gallery shows that this big word is more than an empty container. Intersectionality has the power to unite people, if we let it — if we can appreciate its nuance. In this exhibition, Genesis Breyer P-Orridge invokes intersectionality to destroy the body politic. As the founder of pandrogyny, P-Orridge seeks the collapse of all senses of identity into one self, one total humanity. (Accordingly, P-Orridge speaks with the pronoun “we,” not in the royal sense, but in the sense of unity with his/her departed partner in pandrogyny, Lady Jaye. P-Orridge also prefers the pronouns s/he and h/er to further demonstrate that bond.)

Pandrogyny manifests itself in the artist’s work as simultaneously humorous and visceral. As the founder of hardcore industrial music, there will always be something inherently confrontational in P-Orridge’s work, if also political. For example, “My Funny Valentine,” on view at the 8th Floor Gallery’s exhibition, is a kaleidoscopic image of hearts made out of an ambiguous assortment of body parts. Are we looking up someone’s skirt? Are these pieces of flesh from someone’s backside?

Through h/er work, P-Orridge puckishly calls for an end to gender as a construct, and so, h/er participation in The Intersectional Self feels apt. I spoke to P-Orridge and the broader world.

* * *

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, “Mousetrap” (2016), cigar press, tampons, meunstral blood, resin, brass, 24.75 x 15 x 5.25 inches (image courtesy Invisible Exports)

Zachary Small: How would you define intersectionality? Do you ascribe to that phrase? Is pandrogyny intersectional?

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge: To be honest, we are not 100% sure. But pandrogyny is a wide-ranging and contemporary concept. It’s outside the gender gap. Our view is that society’s real issue is with evolution. Historical (we prefer to say ahistorical) progressions in the human species have lead us to this moment where we either mutate or disintegrate. Our war has always been with binary systems. What do you think the intersectional self is?

ZS: I think intersectionality is also a relatively new concept in the same way pandrogyny is. And therefore, I think it is still being defined and redefined. But generally, I’d say it is identity at the cross-sections of socio-economic and political status, race ethnicity, gender, and sex. It can be many other things as well.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, “Gender is a Drag” (2011), mixed media, 14 x 11 inches

GBPO: Okay, so both intersectionality and pandrogyny address the problematic issues of the body, identity, and socioeconomics. How do they interact and what do they mean? For us, it’s also a spiritual issue, which is something contemporary art avoids. The origin of art goes back to prehistoric times when people didn’t know if the sun would come back the next day. Our idea of consciousness was still primitive, and there was a terrible fear of the darkness. That fear gradually gripped civilization, which required control. And there was a long period of about 3,000 years when everyone linked their individuality with the idea of perpetuating groups. It was about submission: submission to individuals in order to survive. But we are past there! The problem is that some people still want to maintain control. And while our environment has become more sophisticated and complex, our attitudes and social behaviors have been left behind. Now is the moment when we must regather our thoughts and say that it’s imperative to reintegrate ourselves with our minds. Why are we here? What do we want to do? How can our experiences and physical life rationalize the material world?

Those in power create wars to maintain their opposition. But this is a revolutionary moment, and we cannot revert to the ongoing distractions of a binary system. We need to take back who we are and write the narrative of our own stories. It’s about stripping away our inherited archetypes and our distracting issues to look at our solid bodies, our experiences amongst people. Who is writing my story? Who am I submitting myself to? Who am I forcing to submit? What is it that I truly wish to be? That’s where the real battle will be: Will we have an evolutionary thrust or stagnation?

ZS: As recognition of your work has only grown, how do you make sense of your own rise to prominence in a political climate that exceedingly wants to return to binaries?

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, “Red Chair Posed” (2008), C-print mounted on Plexiglas, 56.5 x 72 inches, edition of 3 (image courtesy Invisible Exports)

GBPO: We are really depressed, to be honest. We were not surprised about Trump or his cronies. We looked at the situation and thought about the worst that could happen. And it happened. It was instinctive, intuitive. People have been distracted for so long; they’ve become narcissistic, obsessed with selfie culture, and entitled to information. When we realized that Trump would win the election, we turned to our friends. We grew up in the 1960s. We were part of the psychedelic revolution. We worked with Gay Lib Street Theatre. And we were involved in political action when homosexuality was finally made legal in Britain. We worked with squatter’s rights, animal rights. We worked against apartheid. And slowly, we saw common sense winning. People became more tolerant. It felt like a liberal expansion where people were left alone unless they were destructive. Now, it feels like we’ve returned to postwar austerity — an austerity of ideas and imagination.

We did all this work and for what? To be rejected by these idiots? It’s depressing but I guess we must do it again. We are in an amoral conundrum where the people left to fight, the youngest, have yet to wake up. There is an old but very usable saying given to us by a Native American shaman that says, “No attachments. No judgment. No expectations.” We must become all things that the current status quo is not: kind, respectful, loyal, and forgiving. We must do what the establishment does not expect us to and be good people.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge (photo by Drew Wiedemann, courtesy Invisible Exports)

ZS: Right, because the bureaucracy can only understand so much. It makes me think of the idea of comedy as rebellion, and I sense elements of comedy in your work. Would you agree? GBPO: Oh, of course! One of the great disappointments of our career is that no one noticed our dark, sarcastic humor. I’m from Manchester — what can I say? — we are famous for our sarcasm. Looking back at the 1960s, you have the yippies who go to Wall Street and throw money into the pit. It’s still talked about because it was such a simple action that jarred everyone’s realities. The symbol worked beautifully, humorously. Anyone that wants to evolve a thinking culture must look for ways to avoid overtly aggressive work.

In the 1980s, there was punk and industry. We were so angry and trying to destroy everything. That was the right strategy against Reagan and Thatcher because it helped adjust the culture. But we cannot use that anymore. They know that. They’ve diluted it, coopted it with money. It’s the same with Hip-Hop. Where is Public Enemy now? Power tries to bribe you. Don’t be tricked. Think about what they are used to — anger, rage, demonstrations — do the unexpected. Be kind and thoughtful. Speak with a considered voice and explain how you feel so there is no excuse for them dismissing you. Anyone that wants to evolve a thinking culture today must look for methods that shy away from overt aggression.

ZS: Do you think the art world has cultivated a thinking culture?

GBPO: No. What’s really depressing for us is how long the art world has followed in the shadow of the Young British Artists. Initially, they were smart, funny, and clever. “We hate art and there it is.” But now everyone wants to brand themselves that way. They aren’t thinking about content. Art must have a story, comment, some kind of information that you can take away. That’s the definition of art: creation.

Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, “Perfecting, undated,” mixed media, 14 x 11 inches

ZS: You’ve talked about pleasure as a weapon. What does that mean and how do we use it?

GBPO: When you make art, it’s implied in the content. Same with music. As an attitude, I see pleasure as an attempt to create a blank slate each day. One good way to do that is changing your name. That new person is just a name, and then you can say, “Who is this? What are they like? What do they do?” And that’s what we did. We invented Genesis. What happened to Neil? [Laughs.] Neil is the artist and we are the artwork that Neil made. We still exist but where the fuck is Neil?

ZS: Where is Neil? Does Neil ever come out?

GBPO: No, no. God knows where Neil is. We should make a tattoo saying, “Copyright: Neil Andrew Megson.”

ZS: “Have you seen Neil?” Put it on a milk carton.

GBPO: Put it on my leg! You see, we’ve created another little comment. It’s got humor but it’s saying something important. You can deconstruct yourself and become the truth, the author of your own narrative. Once you do that, every day becomes a story. You are free to decide your life.

ZS: Thinking about these ideas of reaction and resistance for queer people, I wonder what’s possible. If the pandrogyne is an intersectionality, a third being, does that also mean there’s a third world out there solely for queer people to inhabit?

GBPO: Oh God, there are infinite worlds. Anyone who’s taken acid will tell you that. If you can swallow a piece of paper and the world vanishes … We live in a moment when there are so many options to demonstrate our own perceptions. We need to give that ability to other people. Imagine humanity like a single living organism, maybe an amoeba. When the amoeba gets damaged — what’s the organism do? It marshals its resources together and heals itself. If the human species is one organism, and we believe it is, then we are all cells of a singular being. If everyone saw themselves as cells of the same organism, there would be no use for fighting. We could already be colonizing space by now! Curing illness! We could be that incredible species that maximized its potential and filled itself with love.

The Intersectional Self continues at the 8th Floor Gallery (17 W 17th St, Flatiron District, Manhattan) through May 19.

The post “This Is a Revolutionary Moment”: Genesis Breyer P-Orridge on Intersectionality in Art appeared first on Hyperallergic.

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