ARCADIA, Calif. — She's a mare set to race against a dozen of the world's most daunting male horses for the first time in her career, but Zenyatta seems to be the one inspiring fear.
The 13-0 Zenyatta was entered in Saturday's $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Santa Anita on Tuesday instead of the Ladies' Classic she won last year, giving a boost to the big race's profile and throwing a bit of a scare into some of the boys.
"We have to be next to Zenyatta in the gate, so hopefully she don't intimidate us too much, as big as she is," joked Tim Ice, trainer of Belmont and Travers stakes winner Summer Bird, who drew the No. 3 post just inside the 5-2 morning line favorite.
Trainer Bob Baffert's Pacific Classic winner Richard's Kid will be a few stalls outside of the mighty mare, but the white-haired Hall-of-Famer has got the same feeling.
"I hate to run against her, I didn't want to see her in there," Baffert said.
But Baffert insisted he wasn't entirely unhappy to see Zenyatta among the Classic starters.
"If we're gonna get beat, I don't mind getting beat b