U.S.A.
Everyone Else
Health
Science
Business
Technology
Sports
Video Games
Entertainment
Future
Humour
NEWS > SPORTS > WOMAN’S RIGHTS GROUPS CELEBRATE WIN AT BREEDER’S CUP
WOMEN’S RIGHTS GROUPS CELEBRATE WIN AT BREEDER’S CUP
November 8 2009
Arcadia, CA – The struggle for equal rights is something that will seemingly never come to a firm resolution. In the United States that battle has been fought based on race, gender, and in recent years on sexual orientation. Great strides have been made
of course; Women’s suffrage resulted in the vote and a closer parity in pay and social responsibility; the abolition of slavery and eventually segregation laid the ground work for the election of a black President; the redefinition of marriage continues unabated across the country.
Throughout the world, though, the biggest fight continues to be that of women’s rights. With many countries across the world still holding onto the principals of women being the lesser gender, the fight to equalize the genders continues to be a battle, one that seems to have no end. Now though women’s groups have a new reason to celebrate and a new hero to help carry the movement. That hero comes in the form of Zenyatta, a 5-year old mare who stormed her way to victory in one of the most venerated races in the United States, the Breeder’s Cup. That victory has pushed the mare to a 14-0 record and has added to her legend, setting her up to become one of the greatest racing horses of all time.
“There are tears coming to my eyes. I can't believe it. At the half-mile pole, I thought, 'Oh God, they're stacked up. There's no way I'm going to get around all these horses. She's incredible. She's sent from heaven. I still didn't hit all gears,” said jockey Mike Smith. “She's horse of the decade by far. She should go down as one of the greatest horses of all time. I’m just happy to be a part of it and to help add her name to the record books.”
Smith isn’t alone in his praise of the horse. Everyone from racing commentators to other owners are applauding the victory and citing it as a major step forward for the sport. The last mare to win the Horse of the Year was Azeri in 2002, also ridden by Smith.
“This is about as big as you can get. Women in sports have always been relegated to second place, have always been forced to compete with other women but here we see a woman coming and playing with the boys and winning, winning solidly I might add. That simply has never happened before and marks a hige step forward for women’s rights all over the world,” said Sarah Kelp of the National Organization for Women. “It still remains to be seen whether or not she’ll win the big award and how she will be regarded in history but it’s clear that she has made great strides for woman all across the world and shown everyone that women can play with the boys and beat them.”
At 5, Zenyatta still has a number of years ahead of her to further establish her growing legend. Some groups though are still sceptical and see her as less of a champion of women’s rights and more of the same old thing.
“This is a mare who was ridden by a man, who is owned and represented by a man, who was trained by a man. She was ‘given’ a shot according to her owner, she didn’t earn it. That is exactly the type of thing we need to make a break from in order to truly bring equality to all women across the world,” said Shelly Smithers of W.H.A.M. “Only when women do the training, the owning, and riding will we truly be free. We cannot live off the benefit or at the behest of men; we must do this for ourselves. It is the fact that we are beholden to men that has kept us down for so long and will continue to do so until we have total control of our lives and our destinies.”
Zenyatta, being a horse, had no comment.
Alexi Orton, Sports Correspondent
NEWS > SPORTS > WOMAN’S RIGHTS GROUPS CELEBRATE WIN AT BREEDER’S CUP
SHARE THIS STORY!
LINK IT! http://scrapetv.com/News/News%20Pages/Sports/pages-2/Womens-rights-groups-celebrate-win-at-Breeders-Cup-Scrape-TV-The-World-on-your-side.html |
TWEET IT! http://bit.ly/2FLatL |
BOOKMARK IT!  
|
|---|
Scrape Store
