Jerry and Ann Moss' Zenyatta, 2010 Horse of the Year, foaled a colt by Central Kentucky sire War Front April 10 at William S. Farish's Lane's End Farm.
Zenyatta had an uneventful, textbook delivery, the foal arriving at 9:24 p.m. EDT. He was born slightly meconium stained, however, meaning he aspirated some fecal-like substance that is normally present in the small colon of the rectum at birth, so he and the mare were sent to a clinic as a precaution, Lane's End manager Mike Cline said.
"If he got some of the placenta in his lungs and it had some feces in it, then it could cause some issues with his lungs. We just wanted to have him there to have around the clock attention. ...There is some risk; you want to go the extra mile," he said. "If something were to happen, you'd want him to be (at the clinic already). We're trying to get in front of anything that might be going on with him. So after about 48 hours (there) he should return to the farm, but he looks to be in really good shape. We're really happy to have him on the ground."
Cline said foals can show a lot of different signs of staining, such as oxygen deprivation, but the colt had a perfectly normal delivery.
"He got up assisted, fairly quickly. He didn't show any signs of anything being wrong with him."
Cline said Zenyatta is doing great.
"The issue we had with the foal had nothing to do with her. She had a normal delivery, and she's in very good health. The foal is a dark bay, very similar to the color of Zenyatta," he added
"He has a big blaze on his face that runs the whole length of his face, same style as his mom. He's a well-grown, good-sized, nice, big, leggy sort of foal. Really just what you'd want."
A 12-year-old daughter of Street Cry, who is domiciled at the Versailles, Ky., farm, Zenyatta produced her fourth foal and second by War Front. Her 2014 weanling filly by the Claiborne Farm stallion died following a paddock accident during that autumn, and the mare was not bred for 2015.
Zenyatta's first foal, Cozmic One, a Bernardini colt, was born in 2012; followed by Ziconic, a Tapit colt, in 2013. The new foal is her third colt.
Cozmic One was unplaced in two starts last year at Santa Anita Park and Belmont Park; Ziconic finished third in his debut in February at Santa Anita and most recently was fifth in a maiden special weight race March 25 at the Arcadia, Calif., track. Both are homebreds of the Mosses and are trained by John Shirreffs, who also conditioned Zenyatta.
Cline said the Mosses chose to breed to War Front because they were "very keen" on the weanling filly that died.
"And obviously everybody wants to breed to War Front," he added about the 14-year-old son of Danzig whose top offspring include grade/group I winners The Factor , Declaration of War , Air Force Blue , Jack Milton , Data Link , War Command, Hit It a Bomb , and Summer Soiree, to name a few. "He's a great match for the mare."
Plans call for Zenyatta to return to the breeding shed this season and the Mosses are leaning toward War Front again but no final decision has been made, Cline said.
One of the most popular racehorses in recent years, Zenyatta won 19 consecutive races, including the 2008 Breeders' Cup Ladies' Classic (gr. I) and the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic (gr. I) before suffering her only loss when second to Blame in her final start, the 2010 Breeders' Cup Classic.
