Zenyatta going to the post in the Vanity (crystaldiamondk2)

It’s very curious to me that the either/or mentality that has, in my opinion, cast a pall over our country is alive and well in racing in the form of Rachel vs. Zenyatta. Zenyatta fans, of which I count myself, seem to be a bit miserable this week after Rachel’s win the Haskell.

One Zenyatta fan writes “I’m not ready to jump off the Zenyatta band wagon just yet” while another posts a comment here at GbG “I will be the first to admit as a huge Zenyatta fan that all you Rachel Alexandra people must be whooping it up right now after two mind-blowing performances in the Acorn and Haskell…”

Jump off the Zenyatta bandwagon in order to be a Rachel fan? You Rachel people must be whopping it up? What?? I don’t know about all y’all but I’m on BOTH bandwagons and will be whopping it up just as much when the mighty Zenyatta wins her TWELFTH race a row as I did for any Rachel win. Why is the assumption that if you are for one you are against the other?

No doubt “Zenyatta fans” (who think that they must somehow be against Rachel in order to be a Zenyatta fan) are feeling left out of the fun because her connections have not chosen to give her any challenges worthy of her greatness thus far this year. I know I would have loved to have seen Zenyatta cruise past Rail Trip in the Hollywood Gold Cup (except that I cashed a nice ticket on him), thus proving what we all already know about her… she’s friggin’ fierce.

And no doubt Jess Jackson’s on going refusal to run in the BC has “Zenyatta fans” nervous that they’ll never get the vindication that they seem to crave. While I want to see the two of them battle it out just as much as anyone else, I’m with Gary West & Val (check out her new kick ass site!) on the BC issue.

But back to my point, which is NOT about Jess Jackson and the BC (I suggest you jump into the comment thread here, if you’re interested in that topic). If this either/or mentality is what the industry is so dying to convert to racing, i.e., sports fans, let me just say that I’m not a fan.

Update: Val at Fillies First expands on this topic while Jessica at Railbird provides a spreadsheet tracking Zenyatta and Rachel’s 2009 campaigns.