2006 Horse of the Year

[Silver Charm]

>we get a brilliant three year old colt, who goes undefeated, runs one of the
>fastest ky derby\'s in history, overcomes a horrific injury against all odds,
>and he\'s not even close to being three year old of the year.

>then we get discreet cat. goes undefeated, runs three of the fastest races ever
>run by a thoroughbred, and he\'s not even close to horse of the year.


This is where spacing your races can come back to bite you. Please like to Vote for things they can see.



>i love the idea of barbaro getting mention in the SI sportsman of the year
>category. that is probably the more appropriate award. why not give it to the
>whole barbaro crew?\"

Agreed

[bobphilo]

>then we get discreet cat. goes undefeated, runs three of the fastest races ever
>run by a thoroughbred, and he\'s not even close to horse of the year.

>This is where spacing your races can come back to bite you. Please like to Vote >for things they can see.



It\'s always exciting when one generation produces 2 great rivals like Affirmed-Alydar or Sunday Silence-Easy Goer. Sometimes people bemoan that the lessor of the 2 would have been an easy champion had he been born any other year.
In a sense this is what the Maktoums are doing with Bernardini-Discreety Cat. They knew that Bernardini was a cinch for 3YO honors and either him or Invasor for HOY, so they\'re saving Discreet Cast for his shot next near.

Makes sense from a business point of view and if you want both horses to get top honors, but it does deprive the sport of a great rivalry and potentially classic confrontations.  

Bob