Del Mar Betting: Zenyatta Favored in Horse Odds

The famed Del Mar race track in Southern California will host a grade 1 race on Saturday with the $300,000 Clement L. Hirsch Stakes. The length of the race is 1 1/16 miles and has drawn a field of 6 contenders led by the biggest name in horse betting odds these days, Zenyatta, who will be seeking her 18th consecutive win. The Clement L. Hirsch Stakes is one of several key preliminary races that leads up to the Breeders Cup World Championships where Zenyatta is slated to be an overwhelming favorite in betting odds at online racebooks.

Zenyatta will be making her first appearance Del Mar betting, which is not far from her regular home at Hollywood Park. She had an uneventful job on the synthetic Del Mar surface earlier this week and trainer John Shirreffs was pleased with her overall condition for the race. Other Del Mar betting probables for the Hirsch on Saturday include Dance to My Tune, Made for Magic, Princess Taylor, Rinterval and Spring Style. Made for Magic looks like the top challenger to Zenyatta as the winner of the Grade 2 Milady Handicap at Hollywood Park in May of this year.

Zenyatta has 2 previous wins in the Hirsch, when it was a Grade 2 horse betting event in 2008 and then last year when it was moved up to Grade 1 status. Last year was a close call as Zenyatta had to close 4 ¼ lengths at the end to beat out Anabaa’s Creation by a head. Zenyatta will be retired after this season and it’s likely that this will be her final race in front of her home fans of Southern California. Her last race ever is likely to be in the Breeders Cup Classic in November at Churchill Downs as she attempts to defend her title.