Zenyatta had done everything asked of her through 13 career starts. Launching one breathtaking rally after another, she had run down every filly or mare sent against her.

Face of a future Hall of Famer. (Eclipse Sportswire)

Trainer John Shirreffs decided to present her with the ultimate challenge by asking her to do something never done before. She represented a towering figure at 17.1 hands with a will and a Guinness-guzzling personality to match. It was time to allow her to take on the boys in the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“It was pretty much an obvious choice for us,” Shirreffs recalled. “It was the opportunity she needed to put her up there with the elite females, so I just felt, ‘Why should I deny her the opportunity?’”

Owner Jerry Moss, co-founder of A&M records with Herb Alpert, was quick to endorse the idea. He knew a rock star when he saw one. Zenyatta, whose high-energy paddock jig led her to be celebrated as racing’s dancing queen, was surely that.

Hall of Fame jockey Mike Smith also welcomed the attempt to make an historic breakthrough, knowing few males packed the kind of power that the then 5-year-old mare offered once she was underway.

“I went in there with a lot of confidence. I knew she was capable of doing it,” Smith said. “All I had to do was help her find the trip.”

So the stage was set on Nov. 7, 2009 for a Classic that would be like no other, and it did not disappoint. The Classic became an instant classic, a mile-and-a-quarter testament to the magnificence of Zenyatta. Based on a polling of fans, her unprecedented triumph and a feat yet to be matched ranks as the greatest moment in the rich 40-year history of the Breeders’ Cup World Championships.

The dark bay or brown daughter of Street Cry had a penchant for breaking slowly and easing into a race on her own terms. She got off to a particularly sluggish start this time and as track announcer Trevor Denman said, “Zenyatta is dead last.” Smith stayed cool, counting on his superstar to find her rhythm. Shirreffs and his wife, Dottie Ingordo-Shirreffs, watched anxiously.

A beloved fan favorite. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“Once she gets going and switches to her right lead, then I know she’s in race mode,” Shirreffs said.

She got into race mode but was still no better than 11th of 12 runners through the opening three-quarters of a mile. She had overcome trouble before but not on such a grand stage and not against the best of the boys.

Smith signaled to Zenyatta that it was now or never as they left the backstretch. “It took her just a bit, just a jump or two, to get the momentum going,” he remembered.

Smith’s plan all along was to follow Ramon Dominguez and Gio Ponti, correctly anticipating that they were the ones to beat.

“He was kind of like my fullback,” Smith said. “I just followed him through all of the holes he was making.”

Still there was so, so much to do approaching the turn for home.

Let Denman take over from here with an unforgettable call that rose to the magnitude of the moment. “And now here is Zenyatta and, let’s see, Zenyatta has a lot, a lot, of ground to make up. Zenyatta, if she wins this, she’ll be a super horse. She’s starting to pick them off, though.

“Meanwhile, it’s Colonel John, Summer Bird in the red cap. And now Zenyatta has come to the outside. Zenyatta is flying on the grandstand side! Gio Ponti on the inside. Summer Bird is right there. This is un-be-liev-able! Zenyatta, what a performance! One we will never forget! It looked impossible. But it is Zenyatta!”

Un-be-liev-able! Gio Ponti was seemingly in command at the sixteenth pole. Zenyatta blew past him as if he was standing still and prevailed by one length. Smith might have been the only one who believed all along.

An instant classic in the Breeders' Cup Classic. (Eclipse Sportswire)

“Once she got going,” he said, “I knew everyone was going to see something that had not been done before.”

Fans erupted, knowing they had just experienced a couple of moments in time — 2:00.62, to be exact — that they will always treasure.

“I can remember the building shaking, just shaking,” said Ingordo-Shirreffs. “People were screaming. The unification of people around a horse and a sport and the appreciation of greatness was huge. It was amazing. You just go, ‘Wow, she really did it.’ “

Smith will never forget the bedlam that ensued as Zenyatta, barely blowing, made her way toward the winner’s circle. It was the sweetest of moments for Shirreffs and his wife, who allowed Zenyatta’s many fans to regularly visit the barn, and for the late Moss, whose bold stroke allowed the magic to happen.

“That’s the day the ground shook in California,” Smith said, “and there wasn’t an earthquake.”

Un-be-lieve-able!