Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

big george t /md — Sat, 04 Dec 2010 21:11:53 GMT

The question is not "Should Zenatta be horse of the year". The question is rather "should Zenatta be HORSE OF THE DECADE". Lacking the proper category for this mare, I would vote for her to be Horse of the Year, Horse of the Last Two Years, etc...

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

OLD TIMER — Sat, 13 Nov 2010 20:53:14 GMT

Hey, I did not know that the blog allowed duplicate names. I see that someone else is now "old timer." Is it allowed because I am in caps?

Anyway I can see both sides to the debate. In the end it seems like it is good for the sport.

I do not accuse anyone in particular of bias. However I will always believe that Zenyatta should have been HOTY in 2009. If in 2010 we say head to head competition is the arbiter of HOTY, then the same logic says that Rachel did not show up last year for the head to head battle and Zenyatta should have won by default.

Not taking anything away from RA's great year, but the whole idea of the Breeders' Cup is to be a day of champions. The Classic really should weigh very heavily in the voting. Just my humble opinion.

In the end we have all been fortunate to have witnessed such great racing in 2009 and 2010.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

UCLinden — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:57:45 GMT

As they say, compare "apples to apples."

As we know, Zenyatta lost by a nose in the Breeders' Cup Classic to Blame in a TWELVE horse field, whereas the 1 loss Blame had this year he lost by 4 lengths in a SIX horse field.

Also, the distances were the same in the races where Blame & Zenyatta lost their only race this year.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Zookeeper — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:33:31 GMT

Leaving the award out of the discussion, how can someone say that Blame ran a little better in the Classic. He won the race, that's a fact, but he did not run better. He ran extremely well but what Zenyatta did was phenomenal and defies the laws of nature!

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Bajimari — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 22:33:07 GMT

Great first four paragraphs.Yes, many were disappointed the best horse in the field didn't win. Zenyatta is certainly deserving of the honors of Horse of the Year. On another note, Blame was promptly retired after a good year. Wish we could have seen more of him.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Soldier Course — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:46:19 GMT

Dakota:

Your comment about the survival of the sport depending upon the strength of its heartbeat hit the nail on the head.

I have been a devoted fan since 2002, but the pulse of racing is getting pretty thready for me. For the first time since I began watching the Breeders' Cup in 2002, I did not watch the entire program. In fact I didn't tune in at all until about 5:30 p.m. on Saturday. If Zenyatta hadn't been running, I would have skipped the whole thing.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Delrene — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 20:07:50 GMT

A great race and she was beaten only by a nose. She is a champion thoroughbred who deserves to be mentioned with all the greats- Secretariat, Man-o-War, Citation, Seattle Slew,etc. In my opinion she will be remembered forever. A magnificent horse surrounded by classy connections and an adoring public. Keep it in perspective. She is a winner. He just ran a little better that day and had a little easier trip.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Anne — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:10:12 GMT

I think Stall's comments on perfect trip etc...etc...made it clear that his horse only had to run. Zenyatta on the other hand had to be a real racehorse dealing with all kinds of obstacles to only be a whisker shy.

If the BC didn't count last year or her career over Curlin's the year before. Then it shouldn't now. There have been some excellent comments siding with the same angle as mine. Better suited for a vote than the author of this piece.

She did the flying this year and showed more guts than any male horse on that track. Maybe she should have carried 129 pounds as she had successfully carried twice in her career and won. That might have been why she didn't win by 10. Did Blame carry that weight?

Blame beat Gone Astray this year. He was in a win and your in race. Mmm, didn't see him in the BC Classic. Where were the Travers Horses? Other than Fly Down... where were the rest of them? You can make a claim for any horse but when it comes to Zenyatta, you don't have to say much as she has said it all in her 20-race career.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

JerseyTom — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 19:01:12 GMT

From the writer to Gary Tasich: Gary, you obviously didn't read the blog or the subsequent comments. I haven't voted for a few years because I dropped out of the Turf Writers organization; therefore, I couldn't have voted for Rachel Alexandra last year, and have no vote this year. So what's your point???

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Zookeeper — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:57:27 GMT

Tom - Since I refuse to engage in this futile debate, I'm going off the topic again.

I'm reading that Castellano was granted a stay of his suspension until who knows when. That's nothing new. It happens a lot and that is the greatest part of my beef.

It has come to my attention that Castellano has caused this kind of havoc in the past, several times. Is this true? If so, a 6-day suspension seems very lenient to me, and that's the second part of my beef.

We are talking about a life and death situation here, for all jockeys and horses involved. Repeated offenses should lead to stricter and stricter punishment until the jockeys who too often fail to ride safely are banned from the sport.

As far as I'm concerned, the fact that this is the way they earn a living, should have no bearing in the discussion. They can go earn a living somewhere else, where their cavalier attitude doesn't endanger the people and animals around them.

OK, now that I have gotten that off my chest, I'll get off my soap box! :)

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

ridersup — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 18:13:00 GMT

Great article. As someone wrote "Bravo'" It's all about the horses not some award that most people forget about 10 minutes after the winner is announced.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Gary Tasich — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 17:28:03 GMT

Tom...

You shouldn't be allowed a vote. You're part of the problem and probably voted for RA last year.

Your assessment is based on one race which demonstrates how one dimenional and sequesterd you are.

Too bad for the sport.

Simply put...Zenyatta is HOTY with or without your vote.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

christy tate — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 05:42:40 GMT

i agree with tom on everything but HOTY. there are some football teams that would love to have Zenyatta's record of 19-1 right now. besides, Seattle Slew, Secretariat, and ManO'War didn't win all of their races either, and they're still considered some of the greatest racehorses ever.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Randi — Wed, 10 Nov 2010 02:51:33 GMT

Your vote for "horse of the year" doesn't mean anything, it is just an opinion. We had never been to the Breeders' Cup races and one of biggest reasons we went was to see Zenyatta run. Her winning the Classic would have been a better outcome but it was a privilege to see her. We did not talk to anyone that had come to the races for the first, or many times, that were there to see Blame run. So, so much for your opinion on "horse of the year."

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

duchess — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 22:02:20 GMT

Thank you for your upcoming article/blog on Life At Ten and the Distaff. It was VERY upsetting to see a horse who quite obviously wasn't right being loaded in the gate and being asked to run in one of the toughest races of her career.

My teenaged sons and I were all watching in shocked disbelief and yelling at the TV - "WHAT IN THE BLEEP ARE YOU DOING?" at both her trainer and jockey.

Very very disturbing.

Gave the sport a nasty black eye on one of its biggest stages of the year.

Now back to the endless HOY bickering. ;-)

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

drfager01 — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:51:45 GMT

I THINK THE BIG Z HAS ANOTHER YEAR LEFT IN THE TANK. 2011 CAMPAIGN. 1ST THE BIG CAP] 2ND RACE THE HOL GP] 3RD JOCKEY CLUB GP] 4TH THE BCC. 4 CLASSIC DISTANCE RACES, THAT'S RESUME UNMATCHED. SHE CAN DO IT.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Gary Tasich — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 19:24:31 GMT

Zenyatta brought the crowd, increased attendance and handle. People went to see HER after the race. She's all the talk,a true champion and HOTY.

Blame can be called Breeder's Cup Classic Champion but his body of work doesn't compare. She was BC Champion last year. Neither Rachel nor Blame have met Zenyatta on her home court. Yet Rachel got HOY and the justification was the surface.

Zenyatta traveled across the country and ran spectacularly on dirt. There goes the argument for last year's boondoggle. Let's not forget Curlin got HOTY after finishing 4th in the BC Classic. Politics? Hmmmmm?

Zenyatta is a winner even in defeat. Blame barely beat Quality Road and Musket Man in the Whitney. He got beat by Hayensfield and only got Fly Down by a couple in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. He has a record of 13-10-2-2. Zenyatta put all those horses away at first asking and is 20-19-1-0. Blame had a couple of shots at them to beat them. Have Blame travel across the country and meet her on her home track then let's see what happens. If he wins, then he's deserving. Best older horse, yes. HOTY, no!

Even in defeat Zenyatta was the better horse. She got him a hop and a half after the finish.

Oh forbid we should consider intangibles like emotion to determine HOTY? What is HOTY anyway? It transcends the BC Classic. Seems like emotion is what the east coast dirt busters used to knock a great horse like Zenyatta last year.

People will remember Zenyatta not Blame. She brought more to the game and the Breeder's cup than any other horse that competed. Go back to my first comments and when you consider the totality of the horse it's an easy choice for HOTY. ZENYATTA...!!!!

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Bill Daly — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:54:36 GMT

Yeah, I say "hmmmm" too when I see what transpired on Friday with Life At Ten. It was pretty clear she wasn't right warming up ....and I'm watching her on TV!! Johnny V apparently expressed his concern about how she wasn't warming up well, yet the vets allowed her to run. Wouldn't you think they would have erred on the side of safety here? It's fortunate she didn't break down during the running of the race!

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Woodswoman — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 17:15:36 GMT

Thanks, Tom. This is beautifully said.

I adore Zenyatta and have traveled from my home on the West Coast to watch her race twice. She is the reason I returned to the track after a 34-year hiatus, including attending the Breeders Cup. No one is more crushed than I am that she lost. And I know so many of us feel that way. The heartbreak in the stands on Saturday was tangible.

Nevertheless, I agree that Blame deserves to be the Horse of the Year based on the fact that he beat her and a strong field. If she'd made it those last few inches and won, I would assert she'd earned the award. But unfortunately she didn't.

I agree with the viewpoint that the Eclipse Awards should honor the incredible impact Zenyatta has had on racing. A way to do that would be to give the owner and trainer awards to Jerry and Ann Moss and to John Shirreffs. This seems the best way to recognize what they have done for the sport, which is tremendous.

Zenyatta is one of the historic greats and belongs in that category. Lots of these horses have been beaten. Regardless of the fact that she may not be Horse of the Year, she clearly is a racehorse for the ages and her loss to Blame will never diminish that.

I will always feel fortunate to have seen her in person.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

tweety — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:57:44 GMT

Blame earned 2010 HOTY on the track. That is where you are suppose to earn it.

Draynay 08 Nov 2010 11:52 AM

Unlike last year where RA ducked the Breeders' Cup because her connections knew they had pulled off a fast one by going against weak older males and winning. RA had no chance of winning a Br. Cup race and they knew it. They bet their cards on ducking the best and hoping the east coast media bias would carry her to HOTY and it did.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Zookeeper — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:26:18 GMT

Oh good, Tom! I was really glad to see your article and I'm looking forward to the next "Hmmm". The silence was deafening, especially from the fans & bettors who can write comments a mile long but hardly said anything about the Life At Ten puzzlement.

I see that things are not improving on this blog. The battle goes on... very upsetting for people like me who realize that we (the fans) have no say in the matter. The voters will decide and life will go on.

Zenyatta's fans will continue to love her, no matter what happens at The Eclipse Awards. Isn't it all that matters in the end? We had her for three fantastic years and we will miss her terribly... but life goes on.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Convene — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:08:34 GMT

Exactly. Celebrate having been here to experience the things she did and forget the ones she didn't. Forget the east vs west thing. It's irrelevant. A good horse is a good horse is a good horse. She was what she was and she brought to racing people who had never given a d--n about it before. If the humans in it can be as noble as Zenyatta was and put the good of all ahead of the good of self, maybe we can keep most of those new fans and make 'em not just 'Zen' people but racing people too.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

Bladerunnernyc — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 16:06:57 GMT

@Saratoga Tony-

Blame as HOTY doesn't fly.

But for argument's sake, let's say the only thing that matters is what happens on track. Now, Blame is a very good horse, a cinch for champion older male.

But this year, he beat a Grade 3 field in the W.D. Schaeffer. In the Stephen Foster, Battle Plan, tore a suspensory in that race and was retired when it seemed he would easily win- I mentioned this already.

In the Whitney, Blame was getting five pounds when he beat Quality Road by a desperate head and Blame was crushed in the JCGC- your excuses are great, but they are excuses for the JCGC.

I never once gave Zen an excuse for losing- never blamed Smith, nor how she ran the race- THAT is racing- it IS WHAT IT IS- I ask everybody here to watch the 2010 Jockey Club Gold Cup and asked yourself; 'Is that horse getting trounced by a NY Breed the HOTY 2010?

For two years in a row Zen beat the best three year old males that would face her via the BCC- the best of two crops- no other female has even attempted this!

Blame won in a photo, but he sure isn't HOTY.

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

dgrayone — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:50:46 GMT

Hey Tom, I can agree that Blame is a good horse and deserves a vote for HOTY, but look who really is a great horse...Zenyatta !!!!!!!! Thank You Very Much, Do I get an AMEN? D.C. in Texas

re: Imperfection Can Be a Beautiful Thing

JerseyTom — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 15:34:56 GMT

From the writer to zookeeper: Absolutely a candidate for the next "Hmmmm."