ARCADIA, CALIF -- Bob Baffert stood in the middle of a media cluster at Clocker's Corner on Tuesday morning and enthusiastically rambled on about a runner. Not one of his runners, four Breeders' Cup entries scheduled to start at Santa Anita this weekend. Oh, no. The subject of Baffert's adoration was the unbeaten Zenyatta, the 5-year-old racemare who will tackle the boys in the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday. "She's an Amazon," the Hall of Fame trainer said. "She's big and she covers a lot of ground, and she does it effortlessly. She's just one of those really freaky big runners and I don't want (my horse) to be next to her when she takes a run -- because those great horses, they just jerk the heart out of other horses when they run along. She's the horse to beat, she's a good mare, she's never been tested, she wins (every time)." Sure, Baffert has Pacific Classic victor Richard's Kid in the Classic, and of course he'd like to win. But in the grand scheme of things his horse is going to be a long shot, like he was a few starts ago at 24-1, and racing fans across the country won't be screaming for him to win. But they will be screaming for Zenyatta, and who wouldn't? Seeking to score her 14th consecutive victory in her first start in mixed company, the John Shirreffs trainee brings starpower to this year's edition of the Breeders' Cup. "I don't like to see her in there," Baffert joked, "I'm in there with her so I really don't like it, but she's going to bring so much … it's going to be the biggest arena that day to go in there with her in there, everybody's going to be watching, and that's what the Breeders' Cup is all about. When I heard that she was going in there, my first thought was 'Oh (expletive), it's gonna be tough,' but then it was like 'Oh yes, this is going to be the best thing for racing.' And we need it, we need a big boost right now, she's going to be our boost. Rachel carried us to a certain point right now and this mare is going to finish it off.' I thought about Baffert's comments while I watched Music Note bearing down through the lane in a feisty gallop first thing this morning, and later while Summer Bird circle the oval. That's one of the things I love about this sport, I realized. Here's Baffert, heading into the Classic with his own contender, yet completely in awe of an incredible mare. And we're allowed to do that, to admire greatness and yearn to see it realized. It's hard to explain how Turf writers fall in love with the racehorses we cover. We try to remain objective, sure. But when you follow a great runner from the days when he was nothing but a maiden winner, up through his development into a champion, when you've been there for every step of that journey, chronicling the hopes and dreams and preparation and accomplishments, you open a little spot of your heart and let him in. And trainers do the same thing, as Baffert did this morning, his appreciation for Zenyatta's talent only compounded by his knowledge thanks to the many great runners he's had in his barn. "We get goosebumps watching Zenyatta, and that's all that matters," he said.