Back-to-back G1 wins makes Zensational best in the West

The lightning-quick 3-year-old colt Zensational staked his claim as the West’s leading sprinter moving towards the Breeders’ Cup Sprint this fall at Santa Anita with his second consecutive Grade 1 win Saturday, August 8 in the $300,000 Bing Crosby H. (G1) at Del Mar.



Cutting back to the Breeders’ Cup Sprint distance of six furlong from his seven-furlong Triple Bend (G1) triumph last month, Zensational broke a tad tardy by his standards under regular rider Victor Espinoza, but the gray son of Unbridled’s Song quickly found himself out-footing the rest of the field to the lead down the backstretch. As they rounded the far turn through a crisp half-mile in 44.50 seconds, Zensational was well-composed on the lead in his high cruising speed. For a second, it may have appeared as if the field was closing in on him, but on cue he swapped leads for Espinoza and powered away from his rivals in the stretch to hit the wire clear by 2 ½ lengths.



The win was an easy one and his most impressive to date, stopping the clock in a stealth 1:08.57 over the local Polytrack – just .28 seconds off the track record of 1:08.29. The performance earned him a lifetime-high 110 Beyer Speed Figure.



“He’s fast, there’s no doubt about that,” said Espinoza. “Around the turn, near the middle of it, I took a little hold on him. I don’t want him to go around there too fast. But then we straightened out and he ran again.



“He’s something. If I let him, this horse would run a :20 (quarter mile). He’s that fast. I’ve ridden some very fast horses. But this horse – just as a sprinter – he’s something. He’s special,” he added.



Trained by Bob Baffert for Ahmed Zayat’s Zayat Stables, Zensational moved his stellar record to four wins from six starts with half of his victories being Grade 1s. He has earned $429,300.



“The last time I won this it was with a gray horse and you know what happened after that. It was Thirty Slews [and he went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Sprint],” Baffert said. “I’ve never had a horse with this kind of speed. He’s a freaky kind of animal. He’s getting more mature and growing up more every day. I’m going to keep him here in California and get him just right for the Breeders’ Cup.”