Another point of view on HOY

[Dana666]

from Today\'s Racing Digest; I could happily live with this solution.

\"The Case for Horses of the Year

by Jack Brohamer

 

            Mere moments after Zenyatta completed her final quarter mile in the Breeders\' Cup Classic in a dazzling 22 4/5s seconds, the debate as to who deserves Horse of the Year honors was reignited in earnest.  Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey pleaded his case for Zenyatta and against Rachel Alexandra on national television during ESPN\'s coverage, faulting Rachel\'s connections for dodging the \"tougher\" Travers Stakes for 3-year-olds in favor of facing older in the Woodward while applauding Zenyatta for not just winning the Classic, but actually showing up, unlike the absent sophomore filly resting on her laurels and idly spending the afternoon in her stall or on a farm far from the festivities in Arcadia.

 

            These are the type of polemics both groups of supporters are likely to bombard us with in the upcoming weeks and, like Mr. Bailey\'s comments, most of the arguments will be flawed.  For instance, Bailey\'s assertion that Rachel can be knocked because she opted for the weaker Woodward over the Travers seems stretched.  Rachel had already beaten 3-year-old males not once but twice--in the Preakness and Haskell--and had nothing left to prove against sophomore boys.  Since the connections had already made up their minds that the Classic was not part of their master plan, they needed to defeat older males to seal their case for Horse of the Year.  That\'s why they chose the Woodward, not because it was an easier spot.  Did Bailey forget that Rachel was just the second filly to even attempt to enter the starting gate in the prestigious event and first to win since its inaugural running in 1954?  As for his contention that Zenyatta deserves credit for showing up on Breeders\' Cup day, surely we should applaud the connections.  But before we get too carried away with deciding Horse of the Year because of running in the Classic, it should be pointed out that Zenyatta raced five times in 2009 and just once ventured outside Los Angeles County – down the 405 to the 5 to race at Del Mar.  While Rachel was hardly amassing piles and piles of frequent flier miles, she did manage to compete in Kentucky, Maryland, New Jersey, and New York.

 

            Before I sound like I\'m advocating Rachel Alexandra as Horse of the Year over Zenyatta, I should point out that after pondering yesterday\'s Classic result, I came to the conclusion that, based on the entire record over her career, I\'ve never seen a better filly or mare than Zenyatta.  Though I never saw Ruffian, I\'ve seen many of the greats: Lady\'s Secret, Personal Ensign, Bayakoa, Go for Wand, Paseana, Azeri, and Winning Colors.  And of those, I think Zenyatta is best.

 

            What I am advocating, however, is this: Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta should share the Horse of the Year award.

 

            Let\'s face it, both equines have captivated the racing world in 2009.  Each has been sensational in her own right.  In this author\'s opinion, it\'s impossible to make a case that one or the other shouldn\'t be Horse of the Year.  We accept deadheats in this sport, and this is a deadheat.  It\'s not like it hasn\'t happened before either.  Horse of the Year was shared in 1949, 1952, 1957, and 1970.  If ever there was a time for a rigged vote, this is it.

 

            In a sport where probabilities are so prominent, the odds are stacked against us ever having a year like this one again.  Rather than exalting one horse at the expense of the other, let\'s celebrate both.  Sure, if the Turf Writers of America reached a consensus and agreed to name both Rachel and Zenyatta Horses of the Year, it could be construed as undemocratic manipulation.  But in this case it would be justified.\"

[miff]

The sharing of the HOY award would be cop out and detracts from an incomparable Rachel vs a great synth specialist Zenyatta. I believe Z was just as fast on dirt but would never be able to run down quality horses, every time,from that far back. Zenyatta had several opportunities to race on dirt,even against Rachel and declined.As far as Rachel not running in the BC, it was obvious that she was over the top after her last race.

JB really nailed it as did several other posters.The voters may get suckered into some confusion due to the \"last\" thing they saw, Z swallowing a field which were turfers or slugs on synth(see Summer Bird and many other dirt runners struggle).If you want to take visuals into account, watch all of Z\'s races and then Rachel\'s,not even close. For those who wish to ignore speed figures, it\'s noteworthy that Rachel was quite a bit faster than Z on ALL credible data.

Synths have advanced mediocrity and robbed brilliance. Just look at the Grade 1 winners in Cali since they introduced synths. With the exception of the great synther Zenyatta,many GR1 winners were nothing but common slugs or turfers who could never outrun a serious handicap horse on dirt.

All credit to Z but she\'s not horse of the year,it\'s not supposed to be that close but is worthy of discussion.

The West Coast has taken the lead on \"bias\" imo. Before I\'m accused of an East Coast bias, I know that Sunday Silence was faster than Easy Goer and Affirmed faster than Alydar, and no one was better than Charlie Wittingham as a trainer.

Perfect ride by Mike Smith!

Mike

[Funny Cide]

I think it\'s a cop-out too.  Vote just as you normally do and let the chips fall where they may.  Whichever wins will be a deserving winner, and whichever doesn\'t loses nothing in defeat.

[Dana666]

Even her opponents hail the queen
By Mike Welsch

ARCADIA, Calif. - Zenyatta\'s performance winning the Breeders\' Cup Classic not only elicited wild reactions from her thousands of admirers on hand at Santa Anita on Saturday but also praise from the connections of several of the horses she beat. Many of them believe the undefeated mare now deserves to be named Horse of the Year.

\"She beat the heck out of us,\" said Eoin Harty, the trainer of Colonel John, who finished fifth in the Classic. \"That was probably the greatest performance I\'ve ever seen. Fantastic. I\'m happy and proud for Zenyatta and glad I was here to see that. I never saw Secretariat run but I\'ve never seen anything like her. I\'m really torn when it comes to the Horse of the Year. I\'m probably Zenyatta\'s biggest fan, but it\'s also hard to forget what Rachel Alexandra did. If ever there was a year to split the award, this is it.\"

At the Tuesday post-position draw, Bob Baffert heralded his colleague John Shirreffs and the decision by Zenyatta\'s owners, Jerry and Ann Moss, to bypass the Ladies\' Classic to run her against males in the Classic. And the Hall of Fame trainer exuded similar emotions immediately after his Richard\'s Kid finished sixth in the Classic.

\"I was disappointed my horse didn\'t run better, but what a thrill seeing history made by Zenyatta,\" said Baffert. \"It was the only time in horse racing that I didn\'t mind getting beat in a race. If they don\'t reward her with Horse of the Year, it would be a travesty. Zenyatta made the Breeders\' Cup. And the way she won! I\'ve never seen a crowd so captivated. It felt like a horse winning the third leg of the Triple Crown.\"

Christophe Clement was extremely proud of the effort his Gio Ponti turned in finishing second in the Classic. But even a four-time Grade 1 winner like Gio Ponti proved no match for Zenyatta once she came rolling alongside in late stretch.

\"My horse ran very well and proved the decision to try him in the Classic was the right one,\" said Clement. \"She\'s just a freak. What can I say?\"

Aidan O\'Brien, whose Rip Van Winkle finished a disappointing 10th as the second betting choice in the Classic, had not seen much of Zenyatta before Saturday. But he was full of admiration after the race.

\"She\'s a great filly and a credit to all the people involved with her,\" said O\'Brien.

Jerry Hollendorfer is the fourth-winningest trainer in the history of the sport with over 5,500 wins and has not only seen but been beaten by Zenyatta on more than a few occasions over the past couple of seasons. And he says he\'ll remember the 2009 Classic for a long time to come.

\"This will be a standout moment for a lot of people,\" said Hollendorfer. \"I know it is for me. What she accomplished today was a great achievement and a terrific moment for horse racing. The fans came out to see her win and they got what they wanted to see. It was a very gutsy move for her connections to run her in the Classic and they really deserve this victory. Obviously Horse of the Year will come down to the two fillies. As for me, well I\'m partial to the West Coast so I\'d give it to Zenyatta.\"

Angel Cordero Jr. has ridden some of the greatest horses in the history of racing and has seen history being made in the sport for over four decades. But he said he\'s never witnessed anything like what he\'d just seen watching Zenyatta storm down the stretch to capture the Classic.

\"That was one of the greatest moments I\'ve witnessed in my life and I\'m not only talking about horse racing,\" said Cordero. \"She not only won but it was the way she won that made this so special because she did it with something to spare. We\'ve now been privileged to have seen two great fillies in the same year, and it\'s impossible to say one was better than the other. For the good of the sport, they\'ve got to give them both the Horse of the Year award because it just wouldn\'t be fair for one of them to lose. I know one thing, if they do split it, nobody will be mad.\"

[TGJB]

Everyone is writing and saying these things in the immediate afterglow of witnessing a great event. A few months from now voters will, in the cold light of day, hold up two sets of pp\'s and compare them. If everyone wants to see how that will look, buy them from the DRF and compare them yourself.

My understanding is that if a foreign horse runs here once voters are allowed to count their foreign races as well. By that standard Goldikova has a much greater claim to HOY than Zenyatta.

And again, this is NOT a knock on Zenyatta, and I\'m not even comparing the two in terms of ability. But there really is no comparison in terms of what she actually accomplished and what Rachel did. It\'s not her fault-- she just wasn\'t asked to attempt anything meaningful until the last one.

[miff]

\"My understanding is that if a foreign horse runs here once voters are allowed to count their foreign races as well. By that standard Goldikova has a much greater claim to HOY than Zenyatta\"

JB,
.....will you kindly give her a fig more representative of her ability,Beyer at 109 has her in TG neg-1 territory.


Mike

[Dana666]

Of course, all good points, JB. But one thing I find interesting, which may well factor into people\'s decisions, is that this year\'s voting is almost like a trial in which the defendant might have a prior record that is not admissible in court, and had the jury known about it, they might have ruled otherwise; in Z\'s case some of the sentiment for HOY honors is also likely going to be attributed to her complete career (which, of course, has nothing to do with this year per se, but if a voter is considering her, then how could they not have her entire career in the back of his/her minds?) even more than just what she accomplished on Saturday -- and that wouldn\'t be fair to Rachel, but I could see it being a factor, whether people say it or not. Additionally, I have always had the seemingly strange thought that Z would have been much better on dirt, which is another idea hardly ever mentioned in the discussion, but worthy.

It is. for me, difficult to compare what they did this year, with such different campaigns. Both had very crafty connections who always had an eye toward the best interests of their filly - and I think arguably both always picked spots they felt they\'d have a really good shot to win and avoided risky spots. Re: Rachel, the Preakness was a true test, significant in anyone\'s historical context, the Haskell a very smart move in a race that really suited her talents. The Woodward again was a nice spot to against some mediocre older males - the Jockey Club Gold Cup and Travers would have been much more severe tests, though that\'s no knock on Rachel - more a credit to her smart connections. Same thing with Z - they basically raced her very lightly, kept her fresh against easy competition and stayed at home with the exception of the ill-fated trip to CD. Going for the Classic rather than Ladies Classic was huge though, and it surprised me a lot. If Z doesn\'t get it, I would attribute that to the far less ambitious campaign, and as you say, no knock on her. Either way, I\'m not going to lose sleep over it, and I do think they\'ve both been so great for racing.

Even if they had met on the track, it might not have settled the debate. One thing is likely though ,we\'ll never see either kind of animal again for a long, long time. Maybe the debate will continue with their off-spring?