One word sums up perfectly this weekend's Turf Festival of horse racing at Hollywood Park. Bittersweet.
The sweet part is easy. Zenyatta will be in public again.
The retired 5-year-old, a lady who became the ultimate champ with her stirring victory in the recent Breeders' Cup Classic, will parade after the seventh race Sunday.
Exercise rider Steve Willard will bring her up the main straightaway and guide her back across the finish line one more time. As in all of her 14 races in a career that marked her as one of the best ever, no other horse will be in front of her.
She will make one more familiar stop in the winner's circle, and regular jockey Mike Smith will climb aboard. Also expected to be on hand are Zenyatta's owners, Ann and Jerry Moss. Moss, the "M" in Herb Alpert-Moss' A&M Records, produced the 1980 hit album by the Police titled "Zenyatta Mondatta." The album did very well. Arguably, its namesake did even better.
Also in the celebrating group will be trainer John Shirreffs and his wife, Dottie Ingordo, who is the stable manager for Shirreffs' operation.
Before Zenyatta heads to Kentucky for her next career as a mom -- first baby named Mondatta? -- she is on a victory tour that may include a similar parade during Santa Anita's winter meeting. Also, Oak Tree at Santa Anita recently renamed its Lady's Secret Grade I Stakes the Zenyatta Stakes, starting next fall. Zenyatta won that race twice.
Well before Zenyatta's victory jog, the weekend will be busy with racing that should live up to Hollywood Park's Festival label for its three days of five graded races.
And therein lies the bitter.
Just 11 days ago, the trainer who dominated this weekend died. Bobby Frankel had 17 wins in 17 years of competing in the Turf Festival, and that was 11 more than anybody else. Like Shirreffs and Zenyatta, Frankel's home for most of his Hall of Fame training career was Hollywood Park.
Three horses trained by Frankel will race -- Fluke and Proudinsky in today's $300,000 Grade I Citation Handicap and his prize mare, Ventura, in Saturday's Matriarch, also a $300,000 Grade I.
The other featured races are Saturday's $100,000 Grade III Generous Stakes, and Sunday's $100,000 Grade III Miesque and $300,000 Grade I Hollywood Derby.
