When discussing Zenyatta's storied career, it can be said her finest moment was beating the boys in the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. As she ralled from last and found that opening in the stretch, the Santa Anita grandstand was as loud as it had ever been as the mega-popular horse debunked the talk she could not defeat males and came up with her biggest victory.

Had she been retired after that race, it would have been the perfect ending to a wonderful career. But the connections decided to give her one more year at the races, much to the delight of her fans. And in true Zenyatta fashion, the formidable horse again captivated the sport at the age of six.

True, the fairytale ending did not go as planned as Blame pipped her at the wire in the 2010 Classic, but that whole year saw Zenyatta quietly put her stamp in the history books as she toured Southern California.

Looking back at her career comprehensively, Zenyatta's schedule was mapped out well in advance for 2010. After posting Grade I victories in the Santa Margarita at Santa Anita and then the Apple Blossom at Oaklawn, Queen Z found herself back home at Hollywood Park for the Grade I Vanity Handicap. The winner of the Hollypark staple for two years running, very few dared to meet her challenge. Only five came to call, and St. Trinians was the lone horse seen with any chance of possibly halting Zenyatta's then-sixteen race winning streak.

As it turned out, St. Trinians nearly sprang the upset. Both she and Zenyatta were well off the pace going down the backstretch, but they went from being the last two to the pair battling for the win in the stretch. St. Trinians gave a commendable performance, showing her toughness at the Track of the Lakes and Flowers. But Zenyatta, a horse who know how to perform on racing's biggest stages, proved to have a stronger closing kick. Overcoming a wide trip turning for home, and in front of a sea of supporters, Zenyatta timed everything just right as she caught St. Trinians in the final jumps to move past Citation and Cigar and clinch her seventeenth straight victory. As the crowd celebrated her latest triumph. And immediately after the race, Zenyatta looked relaxed as ever, as if she wanted to say, "Just another day at the office."

A little over two months later, Zenyatta showed up at Del Mar. In her three appearances at the seaside, she only entered one stakes race: the Grade I Clement L. Hirsch. Two-for-two in the event at this point in her career, most of the bettors saw no reason to oppose her. The overwhelming 1-10 favorite in a field where everyone else was 10-1 or higher, Zenyatta looked poised for another visit to the Del Mar winner's circle.

She stayed well behind the leader, Rinterval, as the field traversed the main track. But Zenyatta was not as far from the front as she had been in previous starts. And while navigating the far turn, she commenced her patented rally. Fanned very wide at the top of the stretch, Zenyatta simply shrugged it off. With a confident stride, she motored to the front. Rinterval tried to accomplish what St. Trinians could not, and gave it a good try. But she could not match Zenyatta's power.

With a half-length margin, Zenyatta became the first horse to win three renewals of the Clement L. Hirsch weeks after doing the same in the Vanity. And that firmly secured her place in the annals of Del Mar.

Zenyatta's next race was the Grade I Lady's Secret, which had been her annual stop at the Oak Tree meet in 2008 and 2009. But while the race stayed the same, the venue changed. Oak Tree moved over to Hollywood Park after the longtime agreement between the Oak Tree Racing Association and Santa Anita ended, so Zenyatta returned to Hollywood Park in her final prep before the Breeders' Cup Classic. With just four horses alongside her in the starting gate, the Queen sought to continue her undefeated streak.

Again 1-10, her competitors were perceived as running for second, with Grade II Hollywood Oaks champion Switch the only other horse at under 10-1 on the tote board. Well back early on, Zenyatta caught up with the pack in the far turn. In third place going down the stretch and the crowd giving her an abundance of support, Zenyatta dug in like she had so many times before. Switch tried to steal it, but Zenyatta gobbled up ground quickly as she put a stop to those plans and took her third Lady's Secret by a half-length in her Hollywood Park finale as the fans roared.

During the summer and fall of 2010, Zenyatta enhanced her legend as she became the first horse to win three straight versions of the Vanity, Clement L. Hirsch, and Lady's Secret. And the latter race became hers completely as it was later renamed the Zenyatta Stakes in her honor. But lost in the wonder of whether Zenyatta would finish her career undefeated was the fact that she completed something truly unique at six years of age.

It is rare for a horse to win the same stakes race three years in a row. Native Diver did it with the San Diego Handicap and Hollywood Gold Cup; John Henry followed suit with the Oak Tree Invitational; and Lava Man matched the Diver in the Gold Cup in the early twenty-first century.

Zenyatta not only joined those legends in that rare club, but she pulled it off in three different stakes in the same year. That is something truly amazing and exceptional. And it pays tribute to Zenyatta's natural talent, the expert riding of Mike Smith, who rode Zenyatta in most of her starts, and the master horsemanship of trainer John Shirreffs. With her potent closing ability, supreme confidence, and refusal to give in, Zenyatta crafted a truly historic run in Southern California throughout 2010. And as she wowed crowds during that time, future fans will be amazed at what she accomplished over those few months. It will stand the test of time.

To do something of that nature requires a special horse. Zenyatta was indeed that, and it is likely we will not see a horse like her or a run like that in the sport again.