Zenyatta baby is growing up fast

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of horse racing fans who still love Zenyatta, the 2010 Horse of the Year who won 19 of 20 races and is now living the good life as a broodmare at Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky. And 2014 could be an intriguing year for Zenyatta fans.

First, Zenyatta is six months in foal with her third baby. She was bred to the Claiborne Farm stallion War Front.

But even more exciting is that her firstborn has a name, Cozmic One, and he just turned 2 and is beginning early training in Florida. A son of Preakness winner Bernardini, Cozmic One looks like his mother.

“I’m very excited,” trainer John Shirreffs said. “He looks very good and the farm has gotten very good reports.”

The owners of Zenyatta, Ann and Jerry Moss, are very careful in selecting names for their horses. As the website Zenyatta.com explains, “Naming a horse is not the easiest thing. Not only does it need to be brilliant, but it also needs to be available. So ... being born on International Women’s Day and Purim a day of celebration, under a full moon and with a star on your forehead, not to mention having Zenyatta be your mom and be the firstborn....

“Well, we searched the stars and with the desire to have Zennie represented too ... we’ve come up with a name that we hope encompasses all. May the heavens bless him and he has all the chances to be the bright star he is.”

Zenyatta’s trainer, Shirreffs, paid Cozmic One a visit in November (see video above). Shirreffs was beaming. It remains to be seen if Cozmic One will make his racing debut in 2014. Remember, Zenyatta was a late bloomer and perhaps her firstborn is the same.

“He’s big, he’s lean and looks like his mother,” Shirreffs said.

But the little Zenyattas (and they aren’t really little any more) are growing up. No. 2 baby, a colt by Tapit, was born last April.

We’ll see soon if they like to run from way behind like their mother. Now that’s something to be excited about.

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