Horse of the year

Moments after the Eclipse Awards ended Monday night, Zenyatta owner Ann Moss came off the stage eager to call her mare in Kentucky. They keep in touch by video phone.

"I just can't wait to tell her," a beaming Moss said. "We won!"

Zenyatta beat Blame to win Horse of the Year, besting the only opponent ever to defeat her on the track.

The award caps a remarkable career for the popular Zenyatta, one of the sport's greatest mares. She was 19-0 before losing her final race to Blame in the Breeders' Cup Classic last November.

"This makes it all OK after getting beat last time," said Mike Smith, Zenyatta's jockey.

Zenyatta received 128 votes and Blame 102. Goldikova, the other nominee, received five votes for the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters.

Warning of a disaster

A group of more than 100 scientists and experts say in a new report that California faces the risk of a massive "superstorm" that could flood a quarter of the state's homes and cause $300 billion to $400 billion in damage. Researchers point out that the potential scale of destruction in this storm scenario is four or five times the amount of damage that could be wrought by a major earthquake.

It sounds like the plot of an apocalyptic action movie, but scientists with the U.S. Geological Survey warned federal and state emergency officials that California's geological history shows such "superstorms" have happened in the past, and should be added to the long list of natural disasters to worry about in the Golden State.