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For iliana's challenge, a favorite picture of Chlark - the first time he saved her life.

Horse racing update

Horse racing is one of my passions and last year gave us two superstar fillies who reignited a more widespread interest in the sport. The undefeated Zenyatta was scheduled to retire after winning the Breeders' Cup Classic last year. Instead, her owners kept her in training in order to take on defending Horse of the Year, Rachel Alexandra. That race is set for next month and today were the all important prep races. Rachel has been off for six months and wasn't quite fit, so it perhaps shouldn't have been too surprising that she lost, even if the field she was facing was significantly below her class. She'll definitelly be better next time.

Shortly after that shocking upset, Zenyatta faced an even tougher challenge - also coming off a long layoff, giving away significant weight to her opponents and in a race that looked to lack pace - the latter in particular a significant challenge for a horse with Zenyatta's running style. So I was prepared to see her go down to defeat - it almost seemed inevitable somehow.