Mosses accept Secretariat Vox Populi Award

Last updated: 2/5/11 9:47 PM

Penny Chenery and the Mosses stand before the portraits of Secretariat and Zenyatta
(Benoit Photos)

On behalf of their much-beloved ZENYATTA, Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Moss
accepted the inaugural Secretariat Vox Populi (“Voice of the People”)
Award from Penny Chenery in a special winner’s circle ceremony at Santa
Anita on Saturday.

Chenery instituted the award, the first of its kind in horse racing,
to recognize the horse whose popularity and racing excellence best
resounded with the American public and gained recognition for the sport
during the past year.

Zenyatta was an obvious choice as the first
honoree, in light of the legions of fans that she inspired, and the
media coverage that she generated, over the
course of her glittering career.

The custom-made trophy, a bust of Secretariat, was presented to the
Mosses, with trainer John Shirreffs and his wife, racing manager Dottie
Ingordo-Shirreffs, also on hand.

Retired following her only loss in 20 career starts, an agonizing near-miss
to Blame in the November 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at Churchill Downs,
Zenyatta has continued to be a newsmaker. In early December, she was honored
with a grand Hollywood Park send-off, and greeted by a crowd of hardy souls at
Keeneland en route to her new home at Lane’s
End near Versailles, Kentucky.

Zenyatta starred at the Eclipse Awards banquet in mid-January, garnering 2010
Horse of the Year honors and her third straight champion older mare title. By
the end of the month, the seven-year-old mare made headlines again with the
announcement that she would begin her broodmare career by visiting Bernardini.