Is Superhorse Zenyatta About To Win, Place Or Die?

Last time people blended potential immortality into horse-racing discussions, it ended with euthanasia block pools. So, good luck with all that, Zenyatta. Here's hoping the following links collection doesn't become a pre-obit around 6:45 p.m.

• Can this modern-day Seabiscuit do it again? Can she finish a career with a 20-0 record? Can the oldest horse in the field become the first 6-year-old to win a Breeders' Cup Classic? Can she give yet another field of horses a huge lead and storm home again like something launched from a slingshot at the head of the homestretch? [ LA Times]

• Zenyatta loves the spotlight and exudes as much charisma as an athlete can without talking. Her pre-race dance routine puts Ray Lewis to shame, which is only one facet of a personality that's big enough to cover a segment on ''60 Minutes'' and a few pages of ''O'' magazine. ''She's puts on a show for everybody with her little antics,'' Baffert said, ''and she's a really smart mare. I mean, she knows where the wire is. ... it's almost like a game to her. She's like a killer whale playing with the seals.'' [ FoxSports]

• She has been mentioned as perhaps the greatest Thoroughbred of all time - greater, even, than Secretariat and Seabiscuit. Traditionalists may cry heresy, but with every victory, the din of awe grows louder. [ NY Daily News]

• The fact that Zenyatta has rarely left the artificial surfaces of her home tracks in California, and generally contests small-field events restricted to filly and mares, prompts some to suggest that hers is a smoke-and-mirrors record. On the unfamiliar dirt surface at Churchill Downs in Kentucky, Zenyatta could stop the sneering for good. [ Guardian]

• Friday morning I was privledged to witness her 45 minutes of grazing. Actually, when I wrote this, I bet she was out again grazing and enjoying some peaceful downtime. [ New York Times]

• Zenyatta is the heavy favorite in advance wagering and in will-pays for the two-day daily double wager combining the winners of the Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic on Friday and the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday at Churchill Downs. [ ESPN]

• She lives on a street named after her. She likes Fiji water. The Dodgers have her on a billboard, with the tagline "This is My Town." She does these leg kicks in the paddock before races; horse people see an animal doing dressage steps to expel excess energy but fans see … a dancer. She bows to the grandstand. And the races. They are breathtaking. [ OTL]