One of the best female mares to ever grace the racetrack will head into the sunset soon, as Zenyatta was retired on Saturday at Hollywood Park, where she won twice in 2009 and six times in her legendary career.

Zenyatta, a daughter of Street Cry, will retire a perfect 14-of-14 in her career, which started as a three-year-old at Hollywood Park. She capped her career off with a thrilling ride in the $5 million Breeders Cup Classic at Santa Anita (who also may have a retirement ceremony for her as she won five times there), becoming the first horse to win two Breeders Cup races (she won the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic in 2008), and she was the first female to win the Breeders Cup Classic, overcoming the likes of Mine That Bird and Summer Bird, who won two of the three jewels in the Triple Crown this year.

She also ended her career as a massive money-earner. Zenyatta earned over $5 million for owners Jerry and Ann Moss, and she was one of the most-loved horses in the history of California. Her retirement even brought out Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to make some remarks about Zenyatta. She was usually steered by jockey Mike E. Smith, who rode Zenyatta to 11 of her 14 wins and called her the “Horse of the Decade”. We may never see anything like Zenyatta again, although Rachel Alexandra may make a run at her mark. Still, we must salute one of the greatest horses of our time, Zenyatta.

OK, so it’s weird to have an online racebook blog and talk football, but there’s nothing wrong with broadening our horizons, is there? I’ve been thinking about the NFL and the horse racing season, which is winding down. If the sportsbook were an online racebook, which horses would the top football teams be?

I’m thinking that the Minnesota Vikings are Mine That Bird. Remember, Mine That Bird didn’t open the year as a top contender, and neither did the Vikings last year. Now, Mine That Bird is something special and the Vikings, with their devastating run defense and great rushing offense, are gaining traction among Super Bowl picks. The Vikes aren’t perfect and neither was Mine That Bird, as shorter tracks weren’t good to him since he likes to hang back and make a late push.

Who could be this year’s Rachel Alexandra? Many people want to say the Texans, but I like Seattle. They’ll be written off since they sucked last year but they play in a ridiculously weak division in the NFC West. The Cardinals are getting all the hype after their improbable Super Bowl run but they only won eight games last season. The Seahawks are a good online racebook surprise horse pick because they’ll be healthier, they added a good wideout in T.J. Houshmandzadeh and they drafted a defensive standout in Aaron Curry. They could be that surprise Triple Crown/Super Bowl online racebook/sportsbook pick this season!

If you thought that Rachel Alexandra, the dandy filly who came out of nowhere to win The Preakness, but then was pulled out of The Belmont Stakes, would be taking a break from racing, you’re wrong.

The owners and trainers of Rachel Alexandra, the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924, pulled her out of the Belmont because they probably didn’t think she had a great shot to win. With a longer track and a new horse, they felt that it wasn’t worth the risk – and maybe the entry fee – to race her. As it turned out, the way the race turned out, it looked like it was probably a good decision.

She’ll keep racing though and she’s going to take on the Belmont Stakes winner, Summer Bird, in the $1 million Grade I Haskell Invitational on Aug. 2 at Monmouth Park in Oceanport, N.J.

1 1/8-mile race would be perfect for the filly, who has won twice at nine furlongs this year.

And after hearing trainer Steve Asmussen talk about her – and the length of the track, it makes sense that they would keep her out of the Belmont and let her race in all the smaller tracks that she can dominate.

Summer Bird will be her competition but don’t be surprised if Rachel Alexandra with this one – again.

As they say, ladies first.

It looks like it’s the year of the female horse on the tracks as the girls have been outclassing the boys all over the place.

By now, everyone knows the story of Rachel alexandra, who turned out to be the little pony that could. She was purchased right after the Kentucky Derby and it’s new owners and trainer, Steve Asmussen, got her ready for The Preakness, which it had no problem winning (actually, she did get a push from Mine That Bird, the Kentucky Derby winner).

Then Rachel Alexandra was held out of the Belmont Stakes and then raced after and won in another high stakes race.

But Rachel alexandra hasn’t been the only female story – Zenyatta has come out of nowhere to do some damage as well.

Trained by John Schirreffs, Zenyatta didn’t start racing until she was three-years-old but now that she’s going full steam, no one can stop her. Zenyatta is 11-0 right now and everyone is already frothing over a potential race at the big three next eyar.

Rachel Alexandra versus Zenyatta will likely be one of the biggest storylines in the last decade heading into the Kentucky Derby, assuming that everything holds as is and the two horses continue to dominate.

At this point, the edge still has to go to Rachel Alexandra, who has already won a Triple Crown race while Zenyatta has not. Even so, it should be a great race whenever these two meet head to head.