I think it's different for a horse than a human. Had Michael Phelps failed to out-touch Milorad Cavic in the 100-meter butterfly at the Beijing Olympics -- despite the fact that it would have been a truly outstanding swim by Cavic -- Phelps would have been labeled a failure, though his "comeback" in the final 10 meters would be pretty amazing either way. It might have been a lot different for Jason Lezak, too, if he'd lost by a couple hundredths of a second rather than capped off an out-of-body comeback with a win.
Zenyatta was and is famous for her closing speed, and she was 19-for-19 with it. In the 2010 Breeders Cup Classic, the amazing stretch run, passing all the other horses in the field save one as if they weren't even close, fell short. But rather than be disappointed that she fell short of 20-for-20, you've got to give credit to a horse that put it all on the line and missed by a head. Because the horse doesn't care about money or fame or history; it just likes to run. For Zenyatta, missing out on perfection was exciting, and not disappointing to a sports fan. The opinions of fan that lost money betting might be different, but that's their problem.
Andrew Beyer on Zenyatta
YouTube video of the race
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