Talk:Ahmed Zayat/GA1

GA Review
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Reviewer: Dr. Blofeld (talk · contribs) 20:32, 1 June 2015 (UTC)

Give me a few days...♦ Dr. Blofeld  20:32, 1 June 2015 (UTC)


 * Lede
 * I'd place "Egyptian" before entrepreneur at the top.
 * DONE. ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "one of the most successful and flamboyant owners in thoroughbred racing" I'd move that nearer the top and attribute it. "" Something like:

Ahmed Zayat (born August 31, 1962) is an Egyptian entrepreneur and owner of Thoroughbred race horses. He currently serves as the CEO of Zayat Stables, LLC, a Thoroughbred horse racing business which has bred horses such as American Pharoah, the winner of the 2015 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. As a result of his achievements he has been cited by xx as "one of the most successful and flamboyant owners in thoroughbred racing". He was born in Cairo should be new paragraph then and merged into the other. "Zayat lives in Teaneck, New Jersey with his wife, Joanne. The couple have four children: Justin, Ashley, Benjamin, and Emma. The girls were the inspiration for the names of two race horses, Point Ashley, who in turn inspired daughter Ashley's costume jewelry business name; and Littleprincessemma, dam of American Pharoah. Justin, a 2015 graduate of New York University, works closely with his father in the Zayat Stables business.[1] Race horse Justin Phillip was named for Justin. While residing primarily in New Jersey, the Zayats also have residences in New York, Egypt, and London.[5] The family are Orthodox Jews; Zayat's Hebrew name is Ephraim (אפרים), which is often used by family and community.[1][7] Zayat donates to Jewish schools and charities, including those that help special needs children.[6]"
 * DONE ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * DONE ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "Derailed by Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings he filed in 2010 to prevent a bank from foreclosing on his horses when they called a note due, and plagued by legal issues related to his penchant for betting large sums of money on horse racing, Zayat nonetheless emerged from bankruptcy and generated considerable positive publicity for his efforts to save his racehorse Paynter from life-threatening health problems, a sucessful struggle that earned the colt the 2012 NTRA Moment of the Year Award and Secretariat Vox Populi Award." -that's a massive sentence! I'm not sure you need to say all that in the lede anyway.
 * Rewrote a bit. The bit about all the bankruptcy and gambling stuff has been in the news  - someone called it "the New York Times' annual hatchet job on horse racing" and one of the lawsuits was only dismissed yesterday or early today, so it's hot.  See if my rewrite improved matters. ( Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * Early career
 * "in a suburb of Cairo called Maadi" =the southern Cairo suburb of Maadi
 * Can't verify "southern" from source, but I'll reword otherwise ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "He obtained a master's degree in public health administration from Boston University" -when?
 * Don't know. Another bit of dirt is that "his web site claimed for a time" that he had graduated from Harvard.  It's fuzzy.  ( Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "They purchased " -they? With Wolfson?
 * I think whatever that problem was, it has been rewritten (?) Is it OK now? ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))

I feel uncomfortable reading about his wife and kids before knowing anything about his horse career, consider moving this paragraph to a personal life section at the bottom and rename it Early life and career.
 * I can toss the bit on the horse names and move those into the next section, that is, admittedly, clunky. As for moving the rest to the bottom, I respectfully disagree, I've tried doing the "split the family from the early career and birth family" thing before, and it's really awkward.  Besides, to be honest, I think that knowing who the person is helps understand his notability and accomplishments better.  Split the difference and call it good?  ;-)  ( Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))


 * Zayat Stables
 * Avoid starting paragraphs with "His"
 * True, but trying not to start multiple paragraphs with "Zayat" - tweaked some, is it better now? ( Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * Todd Pletcher,Dale Romans -watch gap
 * FIXED ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "As of 2015 the operation stands 13 breeding stallions at stud.[14] As of 2015" -rep of as of 2015
 * Did a slight rephrase... Both numbers seem to change annually... Better? (  Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * "Zayat's Triple Crown race losing-streak was finally broken by American Pharoah, who won the 2015 Kentucky Derby and the 2015 Preakness Stakes." -significant wins, I think you should elaborate a bit more on this.
 * Waiting for the Belmont, this Saturday. Also, see American Pharoah
 * Litigation
 * "and he faced " -he has faced?
 * Prefer active voice to passive voice where possible. ( Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * OVERLINK of Chapter 11
 * FIXED ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * Gambling
 * Link New Jersey Federal District Court
 * Linked ( Montanabw (talk) 23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC))
 * A tad too much detail I think, seems to be more on his legal cases than horse work. Can you trim Litigation and gambling a bit if you can?♦ Dr. Blofeld  08:59, 3 June 2015 (UTC)
 * Tough to trim because the legal stuff is in RL also threatening to overshadow his horse racing stuff... he's been in the game only about 10 years and is trouncing people who have been at it for a lifetime. He's made some serious enemies... all part of being "flamboyant."  Drape just did another hatchet job on Zayat today, in fact:    I'm open to ways I can expand the horse racing section or anything that jumped out at you as needing to be chopped in the legal section, plus will do a copyedit of that section to see if I can see choppable stuff myself.  Give me about 30 min from my signature timestamp to tweak and then tell me if it's OK.   Montanabw (talk)  23:03, 4 June 2015 (UTC)

GA review – see WP:WIAGA for criteria


 * 1) Is it reasonably well written?
 * A. Prose quality:
 * B. MoS compliance:
 * 1) Is it factually accurate and verifiable?
 * A. References to sources:
 * B. Citation of reliable sources where necessary:
 * C. No original research:
 * 1) Is it broad in its coverage?
 * A. Major aspects:
 * B. Focused:
 * 1) Is it neutral?
 * Fair representation without bias:
 * 1) Is it stable?
 * No edit wars, etc:
 * 1) Does it contain images to illustrate the topic?
 * A. Images are copyright tagged, and non-free images have fair use rationales:
 * B. Images are provided where possible and appropriate, with suitable captions:
 * 1) Overall:
 * Pass or Fail:

Looks in good order for GA.♦ Dr. Blofeld  12:50, 5 June 2015 (UTC)