The news out of Hollywood Park last week was bittersweet, as trainer John Shirreffs announced that Zenyatta, whose only career loss in 20 starts came in the Nov. 6 Breeders’ Cup Classic, will race no more.

Owned by Ann and Jerry Moss, Zenyatta will be shipped to Lane’s End Farm in Versailles, Ky., in early December. Breeding plans for the 6-year-old Street Cry mare are undecided.

“The decision was made a while ago,” Shirreffs said. “We knew going into the Breeders’ Cup that it would be her last race. Everyone agreed she had done enough as a racehorse and it was time to move on.”

Though she will not take a perfect record into retirement, Zenyatta leaves the sport in perfect health and at the top of her game.

Many view her loss in the Classic — beaten a head by Blame after coming from more than 20 lengths back — as her most impressive race. Zenyatta won 13 Grade I races, including the 2009 Breeders’ Cup Classic and the 2008 Breeders’ Cup Ladies Classic, and was named champion older female in 2008-09.

She finished second in Horse of the Year voting both years, and is once again a finalist in what appears to be a two-horse race.

Lane’s End, which routinely allows visitors to see the farm’s stallions, is still working on a plan to accommodate Zenyatta’s legion of fans, many of whom traveled across the country to watch her run or spend time with her at Shirreffs’ Hollywood Park barn.

Once at the farm, Zenyatta will be reunited with 2009 Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic winner Life is Sweet, a former Shirreffs trainee who is now a broodmare at Lane’s End. Life is Sweet, nicknamed “Little Sister” by Shirreffs, inhabited the stall next to Zenyatta in Shirreffs’ barn, and the two mares were fast friends.

After her win in last year’s Ladies’ Classic, Shirreffs decided to keep Life is Sweet at Santa Anita rather than ship her back to Hollywood Park after the race.

The reason: He wanted Life is Sweet to be there to support Zenyatta, who was running in the Classic the following day.

Hollywood Park will host a going-away party for the mare during the races on Dec. 5. Zenyatta will be paraded before the crowd, and her human connections will be honored.

Zenyatta retires as North America’s top money winning female, with earnings of $7,304,580.