Dein erstes Forum » the first one, but we need more of those.Chimera tie

Zenyatta was born on April 1 -- no kidding -- and she made her racing debut on Thanksgiving. Youre welcome.After such delightful coincidences of the calendar, anything was possible. So, why not 19 straight wins and nearly a 20th, three championship seasons and Horse of the Year, international fame and adoration, and a place on the Hall of Fame wall in Saratoga Springs in her first year of eligibility?Those of us lucky enough to witness the emergence of Zenyatta as a filly of consequence attach our memories to special moments. For this reporter, Zenyatta was always a necessary stop, if only to stand at her stall and wonder aloud how it was possible for anything so big to be so fast and so sweet.Though counterintuitive in Americas culture of speed, Zenyatta was a racehorse who led from behind. She turned races upside down, requiring race-callers to account for her every stride at the back of the pack as if that is where the action was truly unfolding, because it was.Her athleticism in full flight was a sight to behold. Here is Zenyatta skipping lightly over the heels of stablemate Life Is Sweet when Garrett Gomez tried to sucker Mike Smith to the rail on the backstretch of the 2009 Milady Handicap. Here is Zenyatta looking right and then diving left to hit a narrow hole in the 2010 Santa Margarita Handicap. Here is Zenyatta knifing between horses on the turn of the 2009 Breeders Cup Classic before picking her seam and running down Gio Ponti.It was inside the sixteenth pole, said Ramon Dominguez, who rode Gio Ponti that day and will be inducted on Friday as well. Thats when I heard the commotion from the public. I looked over and saw her and thought, Okay. There was nothing I could do.Zenyatta was 5 for 5 when she had her first tough day in the 2008 Vanity Handicap, her first race at nine furlongs. She washed out, fussed going to the post, and pulled herself up once she hit the lead to beat Tough Tizs Sis by only half a length.You want them to be challenged, said her trainer, John Shirreffs, in the wake of that race. You dont want them to have it easy all the time, especially not when theyll be facing much tougher opposition as you go along.Zenyattas opposition often was maligned as moderate, a function, no doubt, of the ease with which she devoured most of her fields in hand. Let the record show, however, that her beaten opponents included champion Gio Ponti, champion Summer Bird, champion Ginger Punch, Breeders Cup winner Life Is Sweet, Santa Anita Handicap winner Einstein, and the major stakes winners Switch, Hystericalady, Music Note, Cocoa Beach, St Trinians, and stablemate Zardana, who upset Rachel Alexandra in New Orleans, the same Rachel Alexandra being inducted alongside Zenyatta.The Hall of Fame spotlight will be on Zenyattas owners, Ann and Jerry Moss, as well as Shirreffs and his wife, Dottie. And, of course, Mike Smith, who rode Zenyatta with the confidence of a man running for a train he knew hed always catch.Shes the best thing that ever happened to me, thats for sure, Smith said.The sentiment is echoed, especially by Jerry Moss, who bought the daughter of Street Cry as a yearling for $60,000.She was big and beautiful, Moss said. She just had this skin rash. We were prepared to go much higher for her, and when the hammer stopped, I just wanted to make sure it was us. Kiss a frog, see what happens.Call it kismet. Call it a fairy tale. Give it whatever name you like.I take no credit other than to admit I am a very lucky man, Moss said. If some of my luck seems to have gotten into the equine part of my life, so be it. Ill accept the credit for being lucky.Moss would be the first to spread the credit around. The list of people who deserve praise for Zenyattas care and well-being also includes Mario Espinoza, Frank Leal, Felipe Rivera, Michelle Jensen, Freddy Miller, and Steve Willard. If their names are not on her Hall of Fame plaque, they should be.I also have to attribute a lot of her success to David Flores, Shirreffs once said, referring to Zenyattas jockey through her first three starts, before Smith took over. He was so patient with her in those earlier races. She would break slow, and he did nothing to rush her or ask her to do anything she wasnt ready to do. She won anyway, but the experiences were positive and helped her a lot.Zenyattas narrow loss in her final start to Blame in the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic proved that she was, at last, human after all. The race still stings, perfection being so very close, but nothing is held against her.To have a horse of this nature, this stature, is a dream come true, Moss said upon her retirement. I just love her. I just hope shes happy and healthy and goes on to be all shes suppose to be.As her plaque is presented on Friday and the crowd at Saratoga stands in ovation, Zenyatta will be lolling about in her 15-acre pasture at Lanes End Farm in Kentucky, probably finding some shade. She is in foal to Medaglia dOro, a Travers and Whitney winner, after having lost her fourth and most recent foal last April to postpartum complications.They certainly mourn the loss of a foal, said Todd Claunch, Lanes End assistant manager. But you could tell, when we brought her back and put her in her paddock, she put her head up, looked around, and said, Im home now. You could see the release in her eye.When she was a maiden mare, Id never seen such a muscular horse, Claunch added. She was like a gladiator. She doesnt exercise herself as much now, but shes still in great shape.Its really nice having her here at the farm. But watching her train and race, that must have been really spectacular.Yes, it really was. Dragan Bender Suns Jersey . Reassurance came from Paul Tesori, his caddie and close friend whose newborn son is in intensive care in a Florida hospital. "Paul sent me a text this morning, just told me he loved me and wanted to go out and fight as hard as I would any other day," Simpson said Sunday after doing just that. Grant Hill Suns Jersey . LOUIS -- Valtteri Filppula assisted on three of Tampa Bays four goals, and the Lightning beat the St. http://www.officialsunsfanstore.com/deandre-ayton-suns-jersey/ . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. Deandre Ayton Jersey .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. Phoenix Suns Jerseys . Louis Blues absence from top spot in the TSN. NEW YORK -- Andrew Ladd and Jason Chimera scored their first goals with the Islanders and helped New York to a needed victory in a finale of a long stretch of home games.Cal Clutterbuck and Ladd scored 1:39 apart midway through the third period to lift the Islanders over Vancouver 4-2 on Monday night, giving the Canucks their ninth straight loss.Chimera and Nikolay Kulemin also scored and Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 shots to help the Islanders improve to 2-3-2 in their last seven.We had a little bit of puck luck tonight, New York coach Jack Capuano said. The last few games we played well, we just havent got results. Its good for the guys to get that feeling.Ladd and Chimera, New Yorks top free agent signings in the offseason, had combined for just four assists through the first 12 games.Its great for me and Jason, just getting that good feeling to put a couple of pucks in the net, Ladd said. Sometimes all it just takes is one and build off from there.Daniel Sedin and Markus Granlund scored, and Ryan Miller had 28 saves for Vancouver, which fell to 0-8-1 with eight straight regulation losses since opening the season with four wins.Its tough. We need some good results, Canucks coach Willie Desjardins said. Its nice we got the first (goal) tonight, its been a long time since thats happened. ... We got one on the power play, and that hadnt happened in a while, either. ... We didnt take it away in the third like we needed to.Clutterbuck backhanded the rebound of a shot by Johnny Boychuk past Millers blocker side at 9:11 of the final period to give the Islanders a 3-2 lead. It was Clutterbucks second of the season and first since the season-opener.Ladd got his first with 9:10 remaining, firing a one-timer off a pass from Nick Leddy.The Islanders completed a five-game homestand 2-1-2, bringing their record up to 3-6-2 during a stretch with 10 of 11 at home.There might be a little bit of a relief but I think we got a mature enough group to realize that theres a couple of games in there that we probably should have won and we didnt, Capuano said.Kulemin gave the Islandeers a 2-1 lead at 7:38 of the second period with his first of the season.ddddddddddddJohn Tavares knocked the puck away from Miller to Kulemin, who tipped it in from the right side. It gave Tavares a point in five straight games (one goal, four assists).The Canucks tied it on the power play with 3 1/2 minutes left in the middle period as Bo Horvat got the rebound of his initial shot off the boards and sent the puck back in front of the net, where Granlund fired it into the open cage.The Canucks entered a league-worst 7.7 percent on the power play (3 for 39) and ended an 0-for-19 skid on their second chance of the night.Sedin opened the scoring as he stole the puck inside the blue line, skated in on Halak and fired it in off the goalies glove for his fourth of the season at 4:22.That was a turnover on their blue line and I was fortunate to get a half breakaway, Sedin said. It was nice to get the first one, but we need more of those.Chimera tied it nearly 5 1/2 minutes later with his first. Anders Lee knocked Brock Nelsons shot down at the left side of the net and it bounced across the front of the goal to Chimera, who tipped it into the open goal.Game notes Sedin has six goals and 17 points in 18 games against the Islanders. ... The teams conclude their season series on March 9 at Vancouver. ... The Islanders officially put D Travis Hamonic on injured reserve with a right hand injury. He is expected to miss four to six weeks. D Adam Pelech was called up from Bridgeport earlier Monday and had an assist in his season debut. ... The Islanders were 21 for 22 on the penalty kill for a league-best 95.5 percent over the first six games, but are 16 for 26 in seven games since.UP NEXTCanucks: At the New York Rangers on Tuesday night in the fifth game of a six-game trip that concludes Thursday at Detroit.Islanders: At Tampa Bay on Thursday night in the opener of a two-game trip to Florida.---Follow Vin Cherwoo at www.twitter.com/VinCherwooAP ' ' '