SHOOTING THE BREEZE: A Q&A with retired horse trainer Laura de Seroux

Q: Did you mend fences with Michael Paulson and will you be in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., when she is inducted in August?

A: I believe that it is the owner's platform when a horse is inducted, and I haven't heard from anyone yet.

Q: Azeri has been sold to Japanese interests. Does that disappoint you that her babies likely will never run in the United States?

A: I think that it is so sad that there wasn't an American buyer for her at what turned out to be a bargain basement price when she was finally sold last year. My husband was in Japan last week and visited Northern Farm, where she resides, and said her 2010 filly by Distorted Humor is smashing. Northern Farm is operated by Katsumi Yoshida, of Sunday Silence fame, and it is on a par with the best farms and racing operations in the world.

Q: Azeri was Zenyatta before Zenyatta, what are your thoughts on Zenyatta?

A: I am a huge Zenyatta fan and watching her win the Breeder's Cup Classic last November brought tears to my eyes. I really empathize with and admire (trainer) John Shirreffs and the Mosses (Zenyatta's owners) and understand why they choose the races they do for her and filter out what could be pressure from the public and the media. They always put Zenyatta's interest and safety first and foremost.

Q: Have you seen Zenyatta run in person and do you see any similarities between her and Azeri?

A: Zenyatta is an Amazon with tremendous physical presence and scope. Azeri was more of a gazelle. Zenyatta is a pure closer and what underscores her brilliance is the fact that she is not compromised by a lack of pace up front. If the pace is slow, she still manages to come from behind and win. If the pace is fast, then she just mows them down in the stretch and wins easier. Azeri developed into a front runner, but if she missed the start she could still relax and finish well and find a way to win. If she made the lead and someone decided to contest it with her they would end up committing suicide. Leave Azeri alone on the lead and they would never catch her. Both Azeri and Zenyatta present their competition with the difficulty of finding a strategy that could trip them up and get them beat. We saw that strategy applied (with Zenyatta) in the Vanity (Handicap at Hollywood Park) last weekend and it looked for a moment that it was going to work, but only for our eyes because (jockey) Mike Smith is the only one who knows how much more there is in the tank and that's why she won yet again. All of us watching had an anxious moment when it looked like Zenyatta would not get by St Trinians. The only ones not having an anxious moment were Zenyatta and Mike Smith.

Q: Do you miss training thoroughbreds?

A: No.

Q: What is your life like now?


