Mr. Sealy,

     Well stated and written! "Simplicity of the racing. My horse is faster than yours", That right there is the bottom line!  I really cannot add anything to what you have already said, I will say this though, Let's see how quick someone will bring up who should get this overrated award and why, I will predict before ten comments are written, Someone will bring up this nonsense once more...

Again, Good Job...

Brovo Larry!! Your article says it all. I hope many of today's youngsters read this.

Nicely said.  However the solution is simple get rid of Poly rubber tracks.  We all know its going to happen and the sooner the better.  Horses have made their history on dirt or turf.  Making new history on poly and rubber is never going to be the same and tends to diminish the sport.  We want to know each year who is the best dirt and turf horse do we really care who the best poly rubber horse is ?

Some horses are not allowed to race.  Some owners and trainers are under assault by groups like Alex Brown Racing.  When sound, older horses are scratched due to this group's meddling and activism, how can we inspire owners to keep their horses in training?  They latched onto breakdowns like Super Frolic and George Washington, saying that these two fine racehorses should have not been racing.   Does this inspire owners keeping their older horses running?  Does this help spread the joy of racing?  Complain about them and you get their people pulling up legal documents about you and posting them all over the web.  Destroying humans comes easy to these "compassionate" folks.

Three year old Song, unraced and already in foal, just sold for $3+ million.  Do I blame her owners for not racing her?  No.  If she had run and had an injury she would have ended up one of the abused horse memorial walls or been an expose on "unsoundness and greed" at Alex Brown Racing's site.  I don't blame owners for getting their money or their thrills whereever they like.  With "fans" like these, I might do the same.

Support racing, support our older horses and their owners who keep them in training.  Don't help those who tear them down.

It would seem unimaginable to think that for 2 straight years the connections of the top two horses would not be able to sit down and iron things out to allow the horses to race each other.  The problem as I see it though is 1 set of connections feels that the loss would diminish the record of 1 horse enough to where Eclipse award voters would make their decision particularly based on this one race.  That shouldn’t be the case but it seems like it would.  In looking at the Curlin vs BB and the R.A. vs Zen arguments, there are a few things that bother me in both cases.  There are 3 camps in the middle of these two arguments, 1 camp campaigned the horses they had to be champions and the others campaigned to not lose, this is bothersome.  Either way you look at it, there were plenty of opportunities to allow for a race to take place, but the word race would not necessarily have to be used with regards to these matchups.  At the time that the Racing world started to clamor for these match up, the ntra should have sat down with both sides at the table and drawn up a 3 race series.  With BB getting hurt it wouldn’t have mattered but with the Zen vs R.A. situation, 1 race on the east coast, and then a neutral site (I.E. Churchill), and then because the B.C. was in Cali 1 races would be out there.  That would have settled matters.  Instead 1 set of connections does their thing focusing on prestigious races that are nationally known and the other connections raced in seemingly unknown races anticipating the Breeders Cup.  Each had their own ability to do what they wanted but they should have been thinking about doing what was right for the sport.  The ntra should have a 5 member governing body, this body of members should be able to look at this situation and the current schedule that each horse has underwent and put together a recommendation for meeting.  In the case of RA and Zen, in July both horses took time off. Rachel running on June 27th and Zen running on the same day.  At that point going forward their schedules should have mirrored each others.  Now JJ and many of Rachel’s fans would say it would be unfair due to at that time RA had already run 6 races to Zen’s 2, but from what we saw in the Haskell, Rachel was really fresh and on top of her game. They should have both been pointed towards the Personal Ensign on 8/30 at Saratoga going 10 Furlongs, and then ran in a special event at Churchill downs going 9 Furlongs, and then to the B.C. running 10 Furlongs against the boys.  Yes that’s 9 races for Rachel and if JJ wouldn’t have agreed to run her the 8th time at Churchill that would have been fine but if he would have ever been willing to run her on the synthetics the B.C. would have been it.  I personally have no issue with her sitting out the B.C. as basically all of the dirt horses should have sat out these races due to the total number of 43 or more starters not winning 1 race in 2008 and 2009.  That says something but that is of no consequence.  Racing should have been able to enjoy the build up to an exquisite race match up between these two brilliant champions…….

When I was a kid (I'm in my mid-30's now), there was still an excitment. I would get chills and tears would come to my eyes  just too see a good race, any race. At the time I didn't realize I was perhaps the last generation to still have that old-timey, good feeling about horse-racing. No one cares about it anymore, and sadly, even though I still tune in for the KY Derby and the BC Cup.. I now find that I can leave the room for extended periods of time. Hell, when I was a kid, I loved everything about the broadcast, and wouldn't dream of leaving except during a break. There's something different, something has changed, and something smells funny about the sport now. I will always remain a fan, but I miss being the horse nut I once was.

I agree with Draynay.  Is there any doubt that if CA still had dirt tracks we would have seen the race we all wanted.  Why would any owner want to have a championship race decided on a surface their horse in unproven on.  And for all we know Zenyatta may have been better on actual dirt.  So synthetic tracks have not only robbed of us a chance to have the race we wanted to see, but may have also cost us the opportunity to see Zenyatta's true brilliance.  

You could blame Team Z or Team RA for not making the race happen, but they both had valid reasons.  I can't really say they purposely ducked each other.  They raced on opposite sides of the country and in different divisions.  

I blame the BC for having it at the same venue two years in a row.  The only logical opportunity for them to meet was on Breeders Cup Day.  If it weren't at SA, it would have.  

Speaking of which....Wouldn't we rather have seen Gio Ponti and Einstein in the BC Turf?  Or Mastercraftsman in the Mile?

Well said!  The track is the only place it can be settled.  Let the horses duke it out. That would be preferable to all the bickering and silly arguments that have been posted on these blogs for a month now.  Bloggers posting the same things over and over again because they think they are absolutely correct in their assessment of who is better.  Nobody is allowed to think differently than the poster because everyone else is wrong.  When argued on the blog it is merely one opinion against another opinion.  It means nothing.  The horses have to face one another, not the bloggers. It has gotten so bad that Mr. Haskin shut down his last blog because of the kind of comments he was getting.  Apparently many had foul language and were very hateful in content.  I, for one, think that is sad and a waste of time.

Car racing has replaced horse racing.my car and brains and courage are better than you.

The guys that want to make money are running the horse racing game now(bad owners)-the sportsmen have gone somewhere else

Only If Permitted,

      First, What you wrote has "Zero" to do with Mr. Sealy's piece, "Zero"!  Second, What you wrote is complete and utter nonsense!  If you actually had a clue, Which it seems you don't, You would be aware of the over 3,100 horses ABR has saved from various venues, Most notably the Slaugterhouse.  I could list you numerous famous Thoroughbred racehorses that were helped due to the help of ABR and some Well-Respected Trainer's.  I will give you one example, "Tour of the Cat" won 21 of 79 lifetime races during a ten-year career, Had made over $1,106,955 in his career.  Then he fell through the ranks, He was racing at Presque Isle Downs in $5,000 claimers, A end that did not suit this Champion Gelding.  The people at ABR got wind of this, Then Maggi Moss got word of this through ABR, She stepped up and claimed him and donated him to Old Friends in Kentucky.  This is only one of many examples I could state for you my friend.  I will not even go into the starving, feeble ex-racehorses that have been rescued from auctions by some great people, Now these same horses that were destined to be slaughtered are or have been brought back to health and found forever homes.  I could list at least fifty Thoroughbred's off the top of my head that alot here would recognize by name that have been saved, But I will refrain.  Finally, Before you write your utter garbage, Do your homework, You honestly have no clue what so ever...

Sorry Mr. Sealy and Jason, I honestly could not let that remark go without responding...

Your point that Horse Racing has fallen from glory, was unwittingly illustrated by the L.A. Times the morning of the Breeders' Cup Classic.  Above the caption:  "PERFECTION:  Zenyatta works out at Santa Anita...", adorning the article entitled:  "It's all about Zenyatta at the Breeders' Cup",  they printed a picture of the WRONG horse.  The L.A. Times sports division did not even know what Zenyatta looks like.  But to their credit, they did get the exercise rider right.  This year, racing was handed an incredible gift that should have been utilized to promote the sport, but wasn't.

Alex Brown is an exercise rider who works for Steve Asmussen and is trying to end horse slaughter, a worthy goal.  He presides over a large unruly forum of diverse individuals and we don't all agree on much, not even a love of racing in its present form.  So thanks for injecting this nastiness into the conversation but a) you are wrong; b) what has this got to do with the author's premise that racing ain't what it used to be?  Do you really think a group created in 2006 to follow the travails of Barbaro is responsible for horses being retired to stud in the fall of their sophomore year?  Wake up.  And I agree with Draynay.  Didn't Steve Haskin say Zenyatta loves the dirt and only just tolerates tracks made of old tires and carpet remnants?        

Greg J, why is it nonsense for bloggers to state their opinions on HOTY, that's what blogs are for not just your sending pictures of a horse who is still a maiden.As for these 2 great horses Z& R running against each other -didn't happen, probably won't and any opinions on who would win are speculation.The industry certainly has become a business first and what a shame for racing fans who never got to see those great 3 yr old horses race at 4 because of retirement.When will you ever see a race again like Buckpasser, Damascus, Dr Fager running all out against each other .It's stricly a chess match, pampering and shadow boxing with most of today's owners.

Helbelles,

Printed the wrong picture. that's pretty bad. Someone didn't do their research.

Very well said!!!! Brilliant article.

Amen to that!

The championship and the location was known at the beginning of 2009.

Jess Jackson decided not to embrace it. Why we should we give an HOY honor three years in a row to an individual that doesn't bring his filly?

Last year he brought Curlin and still won HOY. Why didn't he bring the best filly to meet the mare?

This is why the argument between fans for HOY is so vicious this year.

John R. Gaines wanted to bring the best together at the end of the year for "THE FANS". Not the owners!!!

What do "THE FANS" get?

We receive no "sportsmanship" and get three organizations to decide "2009 Horse of the Year" on paper instead of a Championship race out on the racetrack.

It's disgusting where our sport has gone.

Completely agree with your thoughts Larry. This is an excellent blog that should be circulated throughout the racing community so that the powers that be can wake up and smell the coffee.  Unfortunately, horse breeding has become the pseudo-sport with horse racing evolving into nothing but a mere sideshow.  This mindset has got to change back to the simplicity you have offered in your model of "who has the  better horse?" It's as simple as that!

helsbelles.  Your story about the L.A. Times is hysterical.  I also remember some dippy T.V. commentator asking the trainer of Mine that Bird if he thought the horse was going to be retired after the race "like so many others."  Retired to what?  He's a Gelding.  Yes reporter the "g" in the program means something.  He's not passing the "goo rocket" gene on any time soon.  

In the defense of the L.A. media I will say that TVG has gone over the top in promoting Zenyatta from its studio off the 405 freeway.  I watched the Zenyatta video they made and loved Christina Olivares interviewing Jerry Moss in the walking circle prior to the race the day Zenyatta broke her maiden.  There was "back stretch buzz" to be reported on.  I think she also hit 3 pick fours in a row at Belmont so I usually turn the volume up when I see her.

Yes, I too grew up in a time that "spoiled" the fan with great "match races."  Who was better Ferdinand or Alysheba?  It took 4-5 races to figure this out and even these 2 got beat in the SAME race.  Who was better Sunday Silence or Easy Goer?  Which day?  which state?  

I really don't think 1 race could have decided the R.A.-Zenyatta debate.  Who was better?  Which day?  Which state?  

As far as I am concerned being an average fan... The fastest horse was determined as Zen took on the best the world had to offer in the breeder's cup classic and not only came from behind, but blew them all away in the process... The excuses are being set forth by Rachel's owner and crew who were, instead of being true champions according to Mr. Gary Player's definition of a true champion, too afraid to take her on and instead used the type of track as their excuse.

In my view, the demise of racing began when people began to breed for the sales ring and not the track.

Get a G1 and go to stud. (Witness the exciting Zenzational retired, and the apparent plans to reitre Flashing when she's just rounding into form.)

So many horses have limped their way into the breeding shed it's a wonder we have durable horses like Rachel Alexandra. She makes eight starts and we're falling all over outselves in wonderment -- because in this day and age it is astounding that a top-flight horse would make so many starts in one year.

Think how wondrous next year could be if the stars and potential stars stick around -- Rachel, Summer Bird, Mine That Bird, Gio Ponti, Macho Again, Bullsbay, Richard's Kid, Friesian Fire, Musket Man, Sara Louise, Evita Argentina, Carlsbad, Life Is Sweet, Lethal Heat.

Too bad Colonel John and Kodiak Kowboy are being retired. I think Einstein and Zenyatta are the only ones I don't mind being retired, given their ages.

Very, very nicely done Mr. Sealy.  You hit the nail on the head.  In the "old days" it was about pride and competition.  It was about campaigning your horse, taking on everyone, everywhere.  Last year we heralded Jess Jackson for his campaign with Curlin, he tried every surface and dodged no one. A rarity in the sport these days.

Then this year alot of people threw Jackson to the wolves for deciding to put away his superstar rather than run her on synthetics at the Breeders Cup.  Jackson's synthetic track experiment was over, and whether that was a right or wrong decision is subject to endless debate.  But I believe the negativity surrounding that decision does not exactly encourage owners to keep their stars in training beyond a 3 year old campaign.

And while it may be true that if California had not mandated the synthetic surfaces to begin with, and/or had the BC committee not foolishly allowed the event to be held at SA in consecutive years, we would have had the race so many fans clammored for.

But then what?  Yes, it would have been great for us fans no doubt.  And it would have likely put an end to what I agree is the silly, tiresome debate over the HOY award.  But, without the proper promotion by racing very little of mainstream America would have tuned in.

We'll never change the fact that racing is driven by the more lucrative breeding end of it.  The changes to the sport because of this have been far reaching. The face of the sport will never be what it was.

What racing needs now is a new "marketing manager" to promote the sport we have today, not the sport of yesterday that many of us still yearn for.  The industry has to be able to marry the remnants of the past with todays reality.

I didn't say I could do the job, nor am I sure who can.  But its time to accept that the sport we love has changed and figure out what we can do to move it forward.  Otherwise we will all watch it disappear.

Thanks again for a very nicely done piece.

loved this article!

PS Who won that first race?? LOL!

too much racing, too many black type events steers owners to events that do not require leaving their own back yards. Reduce the nr of overall stakes programs/races and watch who falls in line to race.

Helsbelles,

      Hello, They really put the wrong picture of Zenyatta?, How sad...

2 time valley player of the year,

      Did you even read Mr. Sealy's piece?  His quotes(Which I agree on 100 percent), "As this comical Horse of the Year debate rages on, it has never been more apparent how far racing has fallen from its glory days" and "...a shallow and silly debate over a meaningless and overrated award."  If you want to repeat the same arguments over and over on this blog, Go for it, That is your perogative, I am almost positive everyone here is bored with the same arguments, If you are not, Then write whatever you want, lol...

Unfortunatly Larry it isn't just horse racing that is losing it's appeal. When I read your blog all I could think about was the good ol days..not just in horse racing, but in most aspects of life. You say we need to return to the simplicity of racing. I agree however it will never happen. Gone are the days of anything simple. Horse racing has just followed suit. We live in a world of greed.  Synthetic surfaces have been a bandaid for a much larger wound. But it will never change. I think that is why so many were upset to see the Lady's Secret changed. We are losing our sacred history and although history is still being made...it just can't compete with the days of long ago. People have been so caught up in this horse of the year debate. Arguing and literally being so down right rude to one another, Steve Haskin had to shut down a blog. Until people change their ugly ways....things will only get worse. Life in general has been reduced to a game of politics.

Karen2,

    I also agree with you 100 percent, It is all about Greed and Politic's, What a shame...

Lets have a match race for HOY, make it 3 way, the two girls can face off against California Flag going 6-1/2 down SA the hill - we'll find out who's fast...HOY ain't about which is fastest, its about which is most impressive. Head to head Z couldn't beat RA at 1-1/8, RA couldn't have beat Z in the 1-1/4 classic, or that's what the tote board would say....

Synthetic tracks have nothing to do with this situation. RACHEL ALEXANDRA won at Keeneland, a synthetic track, and there's no reason she could not have come to Santa Anita for the Breeders Cup. There was a time and a place for ZENYATTA and RACHEL ALEXANDRA to meet, and that was at Santa Anita in the Breeders Cup Classic, and by staying in the barn RACHEL ALEXANDRA not only didn't settle the issue of "My Horse Is Better Than Your Horse," she didn't even engage in the argument. Non-participation is not how you settle such things.

I don't quite understand how anyone could say with a straight face or an ounce of credibility that the Mosses and John Shirreffs placed Zenyatta in races she could not lose.  She beat the eventual BC Ladies'Classic winner 3 times this year and they entered Zenyatta in the BC Classic against the best horses still running in the game.  She was able to overcome a pace scenario not to her advantage and she simply blew them away in the stretch with effortless ease.

Jackson pulled RA from the BC because his excellent filly didn't have a shot in beating Zenyatta at any distance beyond a mile and a sixteenth regardless of the surface.  BTW, Zenyatta's largest winning margin came on the dirt in the Apple Blossom where she easily beat the reigning distaff champion, Ginger Punch.  Every horse that finished behind her that day came back to win it's next start.  Meanwhile, the field in RA's Woodward have hardly excelled since them.  Macho Again was a dull 9th in the Clark and Bullsbay ran up the track in the BC Mile finishing 2nd to last.

Sure, the argument for HOY has become tiresome, but especially so when ridiculous or unsubstantiated statements are made.

I'm with Larry Sealy, bring back the days of true sportsmanship and the glory days of racing before the 1980's changed the game entirely.

Very nice article but even if the horses ran against each other, excuses could still be thrown out.

'my horse didn't take to the track',

'my horse had a bad trip',

'post position was bad',

'my horse gave up too much weight',

'my horse was rank',

'it was the poly',

'it was the deep dirt',

'it was the shallow dirt,

'it was the time of day,

'it was hot',

'it was cold',

'whatever it was, that made us lose'

ad nauseum.

The retiring of young sound and fit horses to the breeding she is based on money.  Also, horses like George Washington coming out of retirement (being virtually sterile) is based upon money.  This is how the market and racing culture places value on its equines.  A whole lot of greed going around and the sport is moving ever so farther away from being just that, A SPORT.  What do we expect? A group of wealthy people willing to lose money on their "investments"... not going to happen.

Racing was pretty fun until the new millenium. We still had some mighty fine horses running. Some great records being set in the Triple Crown races and so forth.

BUT one thing we need to remember is the Eclipse awards have ALWAYS been political.

As far as my horse is faster than yours? We still do that, why do you think we run them?

Owners, all but the richest of the rich, are barely paying the bills. Even some of the bigger trainers can barely make ends meet. Trust me if it wasn't for that competitive fire, the hope for that one BIG horse? There'd be no racing at all.

What with disposable income for betting non-existent, only the super rich being able to buy at auction, television costing more than anyone can afford to pay in order to consistently broadcast the races on national TV, national organizations like PETA and all the rest of it, well I think the fans are lucky to even have it to watch at at all at this point in time.

I really feel racing will be here in some form or another. Remember when it first started as the my horse can beat yours it was the landed gentry ranchers or the poorest of the bayou running.

Sort of like nowadays with the middle class disappearing, the 'middle class' of racing is disappearing.

Although the breeding game is about to get a HUGE adjustment, even more than has already started.

Larry Sealy you have the true spirit of horse racing running in your veins. Thank you for saying the truth!

I have 3 thoughts from reading these posts.  1.  If racing had anyone in charge, they should contact April, interview her, and try to do whatever it would take to bring her back to being a strong fan.  2.  Racing has nobody in charge.  Maggie Moss would be the perfect CEO for USA Horse Racing Association.  A governing body for all tracks, with across-the-board rules and a central location for all paperwork horse related.  She should also oversee a nationwide MARKETING plan.3.  Greed kills and that is what is happening all over America.  Technology and lack of parenting will be the death of our society.  Mankind is at a crossroads.  One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness.  The other path to total destruction.  Let us hope we have the wisdom to choose the right path.  Now, back to the RA and Z HOTY debate.

Fantastic column! You have captured the very reason I put away an 18 year career to go clean stalls,hot walk,roll bandages, feed and groom these wonderful creatures. It has fired my soul for as long as I have been alive, the essence of two horses competing, looking each other in the eye as they fly along the rail, neither giving an inch.  The best advice I was ever given was from a gentleman who worked with me who said one day "You never know where the next great one will come from."

Good point SteveStan.  Just think of all the movie producers like A. Broccoli, sports team owners like Eugene Kline, silver barrons, like Hunt, hip hop artist like MC Hammer, and now wine makers and record producers who play this game.  Yes the rich are very different...they have more money.

Cascapedia, we give the award each year to the best horse THAT YEAR.  Not because we like the owner, nor because a horse won a popular race.  It is given as an award for the YEAR, not one race.

One horse raced 8 times, in 7 different states, on 7 different tracks.  Beat horses in own gender, males and older males. Was the only filly to win Preakness and Woodward Stakes.  Won both female and "male" classic races.  Won in slop, dry, and deep.  

The other ran 5 times on 3 tracks, never leaving California, never running on an off track.  

I believed Zenyatta should have won last year, but this year there was a better horse running, and that is Rachel Alexandra.  She danced every dance longer, against better, more often, and in different dance halls.  Not to mention with different trainers...

How much money..."contribution" did the Mosses give the Govenor of California for his Zenyatta speech at Hollywood park on Sunday?  Now that's connected.  

Well Said Mr. Sealy. To James B: I think Gio Ponte acquitted himself fine in the Classic! I'd like to see 'Gio' run in the Big 'Cap.

The bottom line is the BC is horse racing's Championship day and the fact is Zenyatta not only showed up but won. For this historic accompishment, I think Zenyatta should be rewarded. Like "Woody" once said, "A good horse can run on any track." Based on the BC results, to me it appeared that U.S. based turf horses fared better on dirt than the Euros.

Thank you for the column, sad but true, too true.

Greg J, your the greatest.  

Even though racing is not what it use to be...I am still one that gets nervous,crazy and cries like a baby when I see these horses run. I guess it runs so deeply through my veins no matter how disgusted I get with the politics..when these noble animals step on the track...I forget about all that....if only for a minute or two... I would be lost if I couldn't follow racing and my favorites (and my blog buddies)year after year....It has become like an extended family...dysfunction and all.

You know folks, I am not on here today debating on the HOTY, I don't even want to go there, so I won't, because I don't care. I did today go back on YouTube.com, and watch QR upset at the track that day, and you know, how did any of the horses run as good as they did with that upset, I don't blame the horse, he was just upset, but that had to have tore all the horses nerves up. I thought to myself, how on earth was Zenyatta able to still come from behind so far, and with all the upset and still manage to win, I have to say that she showed pure heart and triumph that day, not too many horses could have gotten back on track and pulled off such a feat that she did, and on top of it all she was up against males and a larger field, but how she came from so far behind (typical Zen style) after so much confusion starting out.  I must say, she is a superhorse and she deserves every award and rewards that she gets.  I give all the horses their credit and not knocking any of them,but we have to admit that Zenyatta overcame alot that day and still she won...

well average joe, you are clueless.

THEY BOTH AR1E GREAT!!!!!GIVE IT TO BOTH OF THEM!!!

ZENYATTA DID LEAVE BUT WHY RISK YOUR HORSE ON A SLOPPY TRACK??ITS DANGEROUS,AND RACHEL SHOULD HAVE COME BUT SHE DID DO SOMETHING OUTSTANDING,AND SO I THINK THEY SHOULD BOTH GET IT,JUST MY OPINION NO OFFENSE TO ANYBODY ELSE'S THOUGHTS.

That fake conversation is hilarious, especially the part about racing on plastic and shipping / detention barns!

Maggi Moss? Not until she dumps Steve 'I'm not guilty' Assmussen.

Don't think Jerry gave Arnie anything. They know each other from the Special Olympics work they both do.

We need a marketing person who knows how to sell things to people. Like gambling your life savings away in Vegas, add to that a retired horseman and maybe one other. What we don't need are more corporate types who don't understand the game or lawyers that nobody trusts.

Larry, did I miss something.  Wasn't there a Breeder's Cup Championship a couple of weeks ago. And wasn't it the powers that be that invited Rachel Alexander to come, race against the best (Zenyatta) and even was willing to pony up another million dollars to the purse if she showed.  That was "my horse is faster than yours moment".  She didn't show up.

Also, you said "It has now be reduced to a game of politics, with owners, trainers and supporters trying to sway voters."

WRONG! It's all about East Coast biased turf writers feeding the rest of us slanted garbage about how great their East Coast horses as compared to their West Coast counterparts - case in point is Bill Finley of ESPN.com and formerly of the New York Times who could't even wait for the 'Official' sign to go up on the board after the Classic to send in his PR piece on Rachel Alexander.

Sorry, Rachel fans - but you're horse missed the "my horse is faster than your horse moment"...

Match races are usually won by the most brilliant runner (horse that has the most speed or is trained to show speed at the start of a race).  I wasn't there in person, but I watched the Ruffian/Foolish Pleasure match race on TV and it sure took the wind out of my sails.

I don't care to see a match race again.

As far as taking the Synthetic tracks out of California, I was at Hollywood Park shortly after moving to Los Angeles to see the Swaps stakes where Seattle Slew was soundly beaten by J.O.Tobin, who probably would have beaten any horse that day.

The coast vs coast spin then was that California dirt tracks are hard and fast and aren't like the East Coast tracks.  And yes, Slew had just finished the TC campaign, etc.

The complaints against West Coast tracks are not new.

Blogs arguing for a change of the rules for voting HOTY is not a negative. It was an idea that had merit. Larry, while you see it as ridiculous, some of us saw it as an opportunity to build upon interest in the sport that was generated by two phenomenal horses. It was about solidifying fan bases. But the powers that be could not think outside the box.   You consider it silly, I consider it a lost opportunity.

Yes, you are right. Titles and honors are becoming meaningless i.e the Nobel Peace Prize. But at one time they actually meant something. Great horses defy quantification IMO. They simply ARE. Nothing will ever take that greatness away from them. We all know it when we see it.

There was a time when horses ran for more than a year or two and the public actually had time to build interest in a horse and horse racing. Now they are gone in the blink of an eye to the breeding shed, out of sight, out of mind. It is not good for the sport at all. It is also exactly why Zenyatta was good for the sport and why Rachel Alexandra will be good for the sport a second year in a row. Her fan base will be back in droves. I also think that the public perception of horse racing is that it is cruel. I have heard this again and again when I tell friends I love the sport. This includes people who own horses. In the old days, PETA didn't exist (I am a member of the ASPCA by the way). Besides letting the horses run,  racing needs to invest in Public Relations big time.

Hmm, I thought that was why the Breeders Cup was started.  For the best to be racing the best and the winner of the best is crowned the Champion.  

I applaud the issues raised in Mr. Sealy's column. My dad grew up following the big horse names of his time and as a kid I remember watching all the Triple Crown races on TV. But those horses usually stayed around long enough to develop a following. Now, it seems like many have a successful 3-year-old season and poof, they're whisked away.

I wish more of the big races were televised on regular channels to reach a larger audience, and I agree horse racing could use better marketing, too.

Now, I've got to jump in and defend Alex Brown Racing from a vicious attack.

@Only If Permitted

I'm afraid you're simply ignorant about the mission of Alex Brown Racing and the related group Friends of Barbaro. To date, they have saved 3,100 horses, mostly Thoroughbreds, from the slaughterhouse. Alex is an exercise rider, for God's sake. Racing is his life and he has NEVER attacked anyone in the racing industry.

One of the things this group does is keep track of older racers who are running and losing in cheaper races until they become in danger of getting sold for slaughter. They arrange to retire these animals and find good homes for them. Educate yourself before you make false allegations.

@Draynay

Honestly, stop whining about polytrack. Funny, but I suspect if there hadn't been a Rachel Alexandra competing this year with an owner who screamed loudly about synthetic tracks, the issue wouldn't have even been on your radar. You've hated on Zenyatta all over the Internet calling her a "poly horse." Stop it. You are demonstrating your own smallness, not hers.

Once again, there are differences between synthetic surface tracks just as there are differences between dirt and grass surfaces.

Turn loose of the idea that dirt tracks are "natural" just like God made them. They don't come from someone's back yard. They're as carefully blended and tended as any other surface.

A rich man is nothing but a poor man with money.

It seems to me that important issues have never been discussed in all these endless discussions about R and Z and HOY consideration.  One pertains to the physical welfare of the horses involved.  

The connections of Zenyatta clearly felt it best for their horse and her racing agenda to give her a long break after the 2008 Breeder's Cup.  Accordingly she did not race for a prolonged time after her Distaff victory on 10-24-08, returning seven months later on 5-23-09.  During that same seven month interval Rachel, on the other hand, ran seven times.  Following her start on 10-17-08 (one week before Z won the Cup in 2008), Rachel ran 11-1-08, 11-29-08,2-15-09, 3-14-09, 4-05-09, 5-01-09,and 5-16-09. That is SEVEN starts while Zenyatta sits and waits, readying for her campaign directed to winning the Breeder's Cup.  Following her Preakness start on 5-16-09 Rachel continued to run about once per month, on 6-27, 8-02, and 9-06.  Effectively, then, Rachel ran ten times during the same time interval that Zenyatta ran three races.  This leaves little doubt about who was taking the more conservative route to their respective objectives.

How about the consideration that Rachel's campaign, the objectives of which were outlined very shortly after her purchase by after the Oaks by Jackson, was geared not for the Cup but for the challenges she brilliantly undertook.  Following the Woodward is it not reasonable that her ownership considered enough was enough, that they had a tired filly dearly in need of a rest? She had given everything on the track and it was time to stop and take a deep breath, time to allow undetected injuries to heal and this 3 year old filly to grow and mature without the continued stress of racing.  It seems unreasonable to attempt to have it both ways, that propose that she could complete her arduous campaign against the boys then still be fresh enough to compete in the Cup.  That was NEVER her objective as was clearly stated by Jackson after he purchased her.  

Little is said about Zenyatta's connections scratching her from her scheduled race in the Louisville Stakes at Churchill Downs on Oaks day because, supposedly, of a slightly wet track,a surface upon which three races later Rachel shattered the Oaks record and threatened the track record while eased at the wire.  Consider also that entered that day to start against Zenyatta was a very talented rising star, a filly named One Caroline who, coming into that race, was unbeaten and in fact untested. She was a filly of apparent brilliance who figured to be lone speed, and quality speed, in the race.  I strongly suspect Z's connections were well aware of the danger posed by this filly with lone speed on a wet track and, after contemplation, decided, "Let's just put this off and do it another day!" One Caroline in fact did not win the race and I have no doubt Z would have been victorious had she run,but the betting public were impressed enough by One Caroline's record coming into the race to make her odds-on favorite at 1/2 over a very talented field including Unbridled Belle.  Again, I am not suggesting that Zenyatta would not have won the race but, and this is supposition, I think we would be foolish to think that Zenyatta's connections were unaware of the danger this speed filly posed for Zenyatta in her comeback start, especially on a wet surface.

It seems pretty simple to me.  Z's connections had set as their goal winning the Breeder's Cup and her entire campaign was directed towards that end.  Her victory over the males in the Classic was outstanding to say the least. She has an excellent claim to HOY.  Rachel's connections, to the contrary, immediately stated they did not wich to compete on a synthetic surface and would not be going to the Cup, and thus set upon an arduous campaign that raced her frequently and challenged her to the hilt.  When they won the Woodward they had accomplished their objective for their filly.  Accordingly, they figuratively said "Enough!  She's done enough and she deserves a rest."

So there it is.  Two brilliant distaffers, both of whom could most deservedly wear the mantle of HOY.  Unfortunately only one can do so.  The decision comes down to Zenyatta, with a powerful campaign in California culminated by her great Classic win, against Rachel, who carried the banner for our sport all year long and who displayed her brilliance and courage while racing once per month for eleven consecutive months. HOY for one brilliant race against HOY for sustained brilliance over the entire racing season.  If Rachel not competing in the Breeder's Cup is of paramount importance to you, then Zenyatta is your choice.  If, on the other hand, Rachel missing that race is no more important in your mind that Zenyatta withdrawing at Churchill on Oaks day, then it is very difficult to deny Rachel the garland.  Your choice, my friends.

But enough of this talk of them intentionally ducking each other.  Both horses owned by excellent sporting men, both displaying that on numerous occasions.  Simply, different agendas by ownership that, unfortunately, prevented their meeting on the field of battle.  

Look, everyone can make their remarks about synthetic, dirt or turf but the point is still the same, if you think your horse is better then it doesn't and shouldn't matter what the surface is. Riddle did not want to race in the West so Seabiscuit came East, Riddle also did not want that new fangle contraption from California called a starting gate and he got his way, Seabiscuit made all the concessions and still won. Draynay may wish poly tracks to go away but California isn't the only state that has them. As much as I admire Jess Jackson he was wrong to stay away from the Breeders Cup and Zenyatta because of the surface of the track as we all know that RA ran on a synthetic surface and won now if he simply would have said that she was a tired horse after the campaign that she had then we all would have understood that, we would have known that her lose if she had lost would have been suspect. I've been riding since I was a kid no older than 2 and it was always "my horse is faster than your's" so let's go back to basics and see just whose horse is faster than whose.

Afleetalexforever: "Instead 1 set of connections does their thing focusing on prestigious races that are nationally known and the other connections raced in seemingly unknown races anticipating the Breeders Cup."

You're telling us the Lady's Secret, Milady, Vanity and Clement Hirsch are "relatively unknown".  To whom?  Someone who doesn't know anything about history and racing?

I would guess that must be the notion, because all of those races are prestigious as was Zenyatta's triumphs in each.  

U HAVE SAID MORE THAN A MOUTH FULL...THANKS...EXPOSE THE GAME...TAKE GOOD CARE OF & RACE THE HORSES...PLEASE...& BY ALL MEANS...LONG LIVE THE KING!!!...

In the late 60's and early 70's I was drawn to Thoroughbred racing by the speed and beauty of this breed.  You're right my interest boils down to the basic question "whose horse is faster?, let's race."

The plight of Thoroughbred racing and horses in general just breaks my heart.  I bought my own horse when I was a kid, I earned the money carrying newspapers, doing odd jobs, mucking stalls and working at the local stable.  Today an ordinary middle-class citizen like myself can't even afford a pleasure horse much less a Thoroughbred.

As a horse-crazy kid my friends and I settled the whose-horse-is-faster-question almost every day when we raced our horses against each other's.  We settled other competitions in 4H shows and games.  Some days I won, some days I didn't.

Secretariat's career captured my imagination.  During the 1972 Triple Crown I was rooting for Sham!  Three years later the ill fated match race between Ruffian and Foolish Pleasure drove me away from racing for over 30 years.  Oh, I'd watch the occasional Triple Crown race, if I happened to notice them in the t.v. schedule, and every time I watched it was with a catch in my throat and tears in my eyes.  I would breathe a great sigh of relief at the end of the race if all the horses made it to the finish intact.  

In 2006 I happened to watch the 2006 Preakness.  It was horrible to see.  I didn't join FOB, or jump on the Alex Brown bandwagon I just started reading the BloodHorse, The Thoroughbred Times, and the NTRA sites daily.  I was hoping that veterinary medicine had come far enough to allow Barbaro to feel the sun on his back, and know the peace of the pasture again.  Watching his horribly crippled walk as he started to recover was too much to bear, and I was actually relieved when he was euthanized.

In the past three years I have continued to read the web sites every day.  I have frequented the local track; Canterbury Park, and I traveled to San Diego to see the Pacific Classic.  I have read shelves of books on Thoroughbreds.  

I became aware of the slaughter issue, and the various unpleasant ends that are the plight of the horse that isn't faster than yours.  It appears that the Thoroughbred has been diminished by breeding for speed and precociousness. I have followed the careers of horses that I personally like, and I have placed small wagers on those horses.  

Just yesterday, I was thinking that I might walk away from racing again.  I love the horses and watching them race is one of my greatest joys.  

My complaint is that the Thoroughbred industry does not have central leadership, and so nobody is in a position to maintain a consistent standard of integrity.  

I maintain that horses are going to break down, no matter what.  I have said it before, and I'll say it again, somewhere a perfectly healthy wild horse runs and breaks a leg, that is the nature of the herd animal, the flight animal, the horse.  In nature the horses that break down are less likely to pass on their genes, and the wild horses have bred themselves for soundness.  

I don't consider myself to be well informed enough to enter the great debates on the blogs, but like everyone else I am entitled to my opinion.  My opinion is that the Thoroughbred industry has become just that, an industry, and it is the industry part that will lose this fan if they do not remember that it is the horse and the race that matter.

Good article.  There is also another conversation that virtually does NOT take place in the realm of horseracing...even and especially among the owners/breeders/trainers of the greatest equine athletes.  That conversation begins with: "Where is (add any TB's name)?"

Too many horses are raced down and down, then are sold and sold. We can trace their ancestry and records back hundreds of years...but we can't keep track of in who's hands they have been entrusted now. All too many THOUSANDS end their days neglected or in the slaughter pens.

This is a dirty little secret of our industry.  WHERE IS THE CONVERSATION ADDRESSING THIS? Please Greg, for the sake of the horses...Help us to begin the conversation...ASK!

Lmaris, what a GREAT point you brought up that I haven't seen anyone else mention...right in the middle of training she gets moved to a new barn and doesn't skip a beat as she is moved up to a much harder class of races...wow! That is not only the icing on the cake, but the celebration candles, too!!!

oso7, your post cements the argument by those who say Zenyatta was put in races she couldn't lose when you said she beat the winner of the Distaff 3 times that year...one can only surmise she would beat her every time.

As far as margins of winning...RA holds those...as far as Beyers...RA holds those...plus JJ said all year he would not run on "plastic" again...as did a number of other owners and trainers.

Billy D,

What was Cigar's record on turf?

Still want to stand by the "a good horse can run on any track" statement?

Greg J, nowhere have I  posted who should be HOTY, I merely stated that blogs are for opinions which I notice you have a lot of .If your bored don't read them but respect their right to express it.Apparently you only read or understood parts of what I wrote, reread it.Oh by the way thanks for giving your ok for all of us to write our opinions and glad to hear your a mind reader that is almost  positive everyone is bored, though I believe some bloggers here disagree with your assesment.Of course the real culprits are the greedy owners with their course of actions.

In a race track vs breeding shed..I

have to wonder just how successful the business of breeding actually is.  It takes me back to Seattle Slew.  His prep races, the Derby, and the Preakness were just 2 weeks apart, and yet he won the Triple Crown...undefeated.  It's been 31 years since we had a Triple Crown winner.  Why?  Are we overly breeding the thoroughbred

and weakening genetic strains.  Why are there so many breakdowns and injuries.  Horse RACING is supposed to be the sport...not horse breeding.  I have been a passionate horse racing fan since I was a child.(a long-long time...I remember Citation).  My children couldn't care less about the sport???? They've seen tooooooo

many break downs to enjoy it.

The Bel Dame was bidding for an encounter between RA and the Zen...it never happened.  Why???

I was hoping for a BC Classic where

I could watch Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra and Sea The Stars run against each other.  Sometimes I think we have totally lost a true appreciation for the horse itself.

The grace, the beauty, and the power of such a magnificent animal

has been lost to metal hunks with big "horse" power.  Perhaps the owners of horses and tracks, and the NTRA need to seize opportunities for the big promotional campaigns like the ones NASCAR pushed to get noticed.

great reading and so very true..the synths like it or not have changed racing..i find it ironic that there are several lobbying even here for horse of the year.but it isn't even just a surface thing. in the ''old'' days a neutral place would be the place to settle scores .

Great article.  I'd like to add a few points regarding match races.  The great match races of the eighteenth century had more to do with location (North vs. South) than the actual horses involved, although they were some of the greatest races run of all time.  Secondly, the War Admiral-Seabiscuit race took some time to pull off, as Samuel Riddle was reluctant to race his colt against a horse he considered inferior (despite both of them having Man O'War's blood).  And third,  Ruffian's break down in her race with Foolish Pleasure has attached a stigma to match races that many of us who saw it find hard to shake.   I agree however, that the focus should return to racing, but that racing must get more proactive with the media.  Literally take back what it's lost to football, basketball, and the like.  I also don't believe that we will ever lose racing altogether.  It's survived many historical disasters (in England, Cromwell banned it and had most of the horses slaughtered before Charles II returned to rule and re-establish it).  Racing has also survived many betting bans.  We all just must work harder to see that it comes back to its former glory.

This is sad.  I graduated with a degree from a racing program at a major university nearly 20 years ago.  At that time we were talking about the industry, it's decline, and what needed to be done.  We are in worse shape than ever, and have the same problems.  Namely:

* More than 90% of Americans associate horseracing with gambling, and problem gambling at that.  It is NOT viewed as a sport, just a gambling product.

* More than 80% of Amercians wouldn't know which end of a horse to feed anymore.  There is little interest or fascination with the animals themselves outside of a core group of dedicated folk.

* "Fans", including many who have posted here, are either ignorant (graded stakes races are not "unknown" events) or holding fast to illusions that very wealthy individuals that count horseracing among their many varied interests will voluntarily pass over opportunities to maximize their returns in order to provide the rest of us with entertainment out of a sense of gallantry.  Let's face it, that isn't how they got rich to begin with.

* The CEO of a major thorougbred racing organization told me last year that they have to pay money for every moment of TV coverage, cannot draw advertisers or sponsors, and barely break even on their on-track operations.  

* Somehow, people breeding dogs to improve the characteristics of the breed, showing them in a ring, and then retiring them to breed is acceptable.  Doing the same with Thoroughbreds is just greed.  There cannot possibly be anyone that likes the breeding aspect just to see whether they can produce a superior horse in spite of the fact that many, like my former employer the Maktoums, breed to race and track bloodlines and nicks religously.

The entire discussion is a drag.

The entire discussion is a drag.

This is a great article and it hits some fundamental problems with today's racing as a spectator sport. But, as a owner and trainer, I take umbrage with some of the comments about doing what's "best for the sport."  This is something that is brought up every time a horse is retired early and sound, every time an owner chooses not to pursue the triple crown after winning the Derby and every time we feel two champions have differing schedules which never allow them to meet.

All trainers and owners must only think about one thing: What is best for the horse.  Not what we "owe" the fans or the sport.  Don't get me wrong, we owe the fans plenty, because without them, there is no racing, no superstars.  But we don't owe them a race our horse can't win, a campaign that is too difficult or a breakdown just to get "one more win because the fans want it."

And we owe the sport nothing--we ARE the sport.  We provide the product, the spectacle.  Our duty is to the horse's heath and success.  If I have had bad luck on synthetics or with shipping mares or in a detention barn, can you blame me for shying away?  I want and need to win, not just to show up. That is what the sport is all about.

I admire owners of horse like Rachel, Zenyatta, Summer Bird, etc. who are willing to take a big chance and run their horses out of their comfort zones.  When this works, people wax on about your courage and brilliance.  When it doesn't those same people have a million reasons why you never should have run against males, older horses, better horses, longer distances, on different surfaces, on opposite coasts, in other countries...the list goes on (remember Eight Belles?).  Fans and critics are fickle--the horse is not.  The horse wants and needs conditions which suit it, whether it be a claiming race on dirt or a stakes race on synthetic.  The horse is the heart of racing, not the competition itself.

It's not as simple as "get rid of the rubber band track surfaces".....I was around, way back in '03...I was there at the Breeders Cup at Santa Anita....back then, it was more like "I'm not running on the West Coast dirt tracks cuz they're not like my tracks back East".....same people, complaining about the same thing...

Good post Dawn...and yes, you are correct.... unfortunatly when you own horses, they break down. I had a beautiful 3 year old buckskin gelding shatter his leg just running around playing with his pasture mates. They run through fences, step in holes, take a mis step, get sick, come up lame for no apparant reason and we have found on two separate occassions a dead horse laying in the pasture. Even the vet doesn't know why. As big and beautiful as they are...they are really quite fragile.

Well, they voted, and there won't be a "share the vote" option for this year's HOY award--that means Zenyatta will lose for the second year in a row---and she never really was beaten on the track, was she?...you have to ask why they didn't offer that option for the vote this year--would it have peeved the powers that be so much to have included Big Z?

Murray, it sure isn't true that little was said about Zenyatta scratching out of the race on Oaks day.  Her connections have been ROUNDLY criticized on a number of blogs for that decision.

And as far as comparing Zen's scratch that day to Rachel's not being pointed to Championship day?  I don't think anyone is doing that because there's no comparison.

Slew,

You are absolutely spot on!  All thoroughbreds descend from 3 stallions.  The gene pool is very small and coupled with the fact that we have been breeding more for speed than stamina has made the horses more fragile.  They just can race as much as they were able to years ago.  Lady's Secret raced like 45 times.  That is simply unheard of now, especially at the level she raced.

jamesb,

I'm going to educate you a bit on the following comments you made:

1)Is there any doubt that if CA still had dirt tracks we would have seen the race we all wanted.

2)You could blame Team Z or Team RA for not making the race happen, but they both had valid reasons.  I can't really say they purposely ducked each other.  They raced on opposite sides of the country and in different divisions.  

It's a known fact that Zenyatta's connections had made all the arrangements to ship her to the East Coast and race in the Beldame if RA would only show up. RA's connections chose to duck the race.

They weren't going to face Zenyatta no matter where it was or on what surface.

As for your 1st statement that alone tells you even if there were dirt tracks in Cali. it would not have mattered. They weren't going to let their horse get whipped by Zenyatta.

As for the second statement RA's connections indeed did duck a matchup with Zenyatta. I find it extremely relavant that Zen's connections were the ones willing to ship all the way across the country to beat RA. They were willing to go wherever it took to prove they had the best horse. All the BS about Zenyatta being a poly only horse and RA a "traditional" dirt horse means nothing when considering HOY because RA's connections refused to race against Zenyatta on dirt anyway.

  Even older than "my horse is faster than your horse".

 I know more about horses and horse racing than you.

I always laugh at these statements.  I am sure any race horse trainer knows more than me. Yet I still watch and cheer.  I am sure those that post know more than me, yet I still try to donate to rescues with little money I have.

 I am sure owner know more than me, I still become emotional at the passing of a beloved horse whose career I tried to follow with limited resources.

Yet, I have never drugged my horse. I have never ran my horse hurt. I have never dumped my horse at an auction just to get them off of my feed bill.

 I am just the ignorant fool who just loves to watch em run.

Face it no matter how much people here love the sport Horse Racing will never be a major spectator sport in America. More people watched poker than the breeders Cup? Not surprising since poker has more constant action. They play a hand more than twice an hour. We live in a fast paced world and quite bluntly there is too much time between races to expect to be able to build a following beyond where it is at now. People want action, they don't want to listen to 20-40 minutes of pre-race analysis from people who are wrong 70-90 % of the time anyway. They don't want to come to blogs where the nay nay's of the world belittle them for having an opinion different than him even when he's right less than 2% of the time. If people wanted to listen to blowhards wrong almost all the time they'd tune in to fox news. It's virtually impossible to build on a fan base when it takes most of someones day to watch 8 or 9 races that last only a minute or two each. I'm a gambler so I like time between races but "joe the average horse racing fan" just wants to see them run. You lose his attention with all the time between races spouting information that he cares nothing about.

da3hoss:

Since Steve's blog is now closed, I wanted to let you know that I was mistaken about Julie Andrews not mentioning her grandfather in her new poetry anthology.

She did provide the information about Arthur Morris, in the introduction to the section where his poem "A Pit Pony's Memory of the Strike" appears. I had missed reading this introduction.

Thanks, Jason.

Horse Racing is being destroyed by the people that claim to love the sport. You have always had to many cooks in the kitchen and none want to give an inch when it comes to what is best for the sport.

They have the sport in the stone age and with each passing year Horse Racing becomes less popular with the public.

In order to change you need some kind of National body with authority to watch over the sport. You also need some fresh thinking and ideas to bring the sport into the lives of the young that will decide if Horse Racing grows or continues to fall to where Poker is watched on TV more than the BC.

Matthew W,

I'm not sure Zenyatta won't win.  You shouldn't be either.  It would seem the concensus is in her favor if you read the recent polls and the blog posts.  I realize that the people putting her in the front are not the ones who vote but we just have to wait and see.  Zenyatta is very popular and rightly so.  Her BC win was fantastic and the perfect end to a perfect career and many people think that the championships are decided at the BC.  I was at the inaugural BC in 1984, an exciting day.  26 years of the BC now decides the year-end championships according to some.  If that is true, then Zenyatta is HOY.

L.P.,

That was a great post!  You are so right!  So many on here have grumbled about what owners should do for the sport when it's the owner's money at risk as well as the horse. I would say that most of the bloggers do not make their living through racing, they are just fans but who are we to be telling anyone what they owe the sport?  You are correct, you ARE the sport and first and foremost comes the horse and what is best for the horse should always be the first consideration not what the fans want.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Wow. Agreed, entirely.

Karen2, I don't feel so embarrassed now, since now you have admitted to the same thing I go thru. I get nervous and cry when these horses run, I thought I was going to have a heart attack the day of the classic, I was so nervous, I had to get up and leave the room and come back a second later, just to catch the finale. I don't feel like I am in a world by myself now.

Draynot,

Would you race your horse who had run 8 races, the last one being the most grueling back again in 4 weeks when her competition had only raced 3 times?  I wouldn't.

Zenyatta will be honored at Santa Anita tracks on Dec. 26.

L.P. That was a great post. The owner gets to do what they want with their horse.

Soldier Course, thanks for that update. (and thanks, Jason, too!)

I'm going to look at Amazon for it...put it on my Christmas list...

Monica V...I see the hardknockers running 50,75,100+ races all the time...the big time runners run straight to the breeding shed, LOL! Look at grand old Better talk Now...51 races.

I commend you on your post, LP. It is simply wonderful to see someone within the industry feel the way you do.  I just wish every trainer/owner held the horse in the same esteem and care for their welfare.

DA Hoss:"oso7, your post cements the argument by those who say Zenyatta was put in races she couldn't lose when you said she beat the winner of the Distaff 3 times that year...one can only surmise she would beat her every time.

As far as margins of winning...RA holds those...as far as Beyers...RA holds those...plus JJ said all year he would not run on "plastic" again...as did a number of other owners and trainers."

Saying Zenyatta was able to beat Life Is Sweet 3 successive times proves your theory that Zenyatta continued to run in races where she was guaranteed a win is illogical.  Let's see, the fact she beat Ginger Punch at Oaklawn and then again in the BC means Z's connections knew they could trounce the reigning champion whenever they wanted to?  Lol.

Beyers have always rated West Coast races lower than they do in other states.  It's a given.

As far as margins of victories go, I assume you are largely referring to the truly over-matched 3 year old filles RA met.  Until Flaashing's recent win, there was not one notable filly she faced that amounted to anything.  Granted, Gabby's Golden Gal did go on to win a G1 after being soundly beaten by RA, but someone had to win that race and earn a G1.  GGG hasn't been heard from since.

And do you really expect me to believe Jackson wanted anything to do with meeting Zenyatta in any race beyond 1 1/16th?  Do you think the hard closing Macho Again in the Woodward wouldn't have gotten by RA in another furlong.  She was all out getting to the wire, she doesn't have the stamina yet to win a Classic distance against quality competition.  She may next year, but would not have beaten Zenyatta this year--dirt or synthetic.      

All Zenyatta did was race against all that entered against her. She completed her career on racing's biggest stage, sans The Kentucky Derby, and finished undefeated. Any other horse that laid claim to a championship, barring injury, should have been in what is considered the championship of thoroughbred racing. How much different are the Euro tracks? Yet they traveled many miles to prove who had the better horse(s). Racing surfaces should not be an excuse or at least until the horse goes thru a training regimen and proves a distaste. Shippers win everywhere and most of the time the best horse wins. It is just another excuse for trainers, owners, and Jockeys.

I love how Zenyatta fans can and will take anything that they see and try to spin it, they are better than politicians.  Dear "Connie",

Are you going to try to tell me that the

Milady – virtually unknown, Vanity- virtually unknown, Clement L Hirsch – known, Lady’s Secret – well known, compare to the Ky Oaks, Preakness, Mother Goose, Haskell, and Woodward? If so you are very much mistaken or possibly a new fan of horse racing yourself.  Its unfair to Rachel A to compare her season to Zenyatta’s, so lets compare Summer Birds Season instead.  He ran in the Arkansas Derby, Ky Derby, Belmont, Haskell, Travers, JCGC.  So looking at that tell me who ran in more prestigious and nationally known races?  But since you opened the can of worms, are you trying to tell me those 4 races are comparable to the Ruffian, Personal Ensign, Go for Wand and Beldame?  If so you might want to go back and take a look at who has run in these races for better clarification.  And further let’s look at this; if you take away the biggest race each horse of the 3 ran in R.A. S.B. and Zen, remove the biggest win and you please oh please tell me whose schedule was HOY material, or whose schedule was tougher?  If you remove the Preakness from R.A. the JCGC from S.B. and the BBC from Zen’s, well there you pretty much have it.  Summer Bird has a Triple Crown win, a Travers win a runner up finish in the Haskell.  R.A. has a KY oak by 20, a Mother Goose by 19, a Haskell against boys by 6.  Zenyatta is left with a Vanity where she carried 129 lbs, quite an accomplishment, but a less than stellar over all season of work, because well basically it wasn’t much work.  Furthermore, and remember, you Connie opened this can, if you look at who these three horses beat for the year, the entire year while we take out that 1 race still where do they measure up.  Zenyatta in 4 races that are very important according to you nationally beat 1 horse that won a Graded stakes event this year. Hmmmmmmmmm, does that make you think that maybe you bit off more than you can possibly begin to chew. Yes maybe it does huh; Zenyatta beat LIS who is the only horse to win a graded stakes this YEAR. The other world beaters, Anaaba’s Creation whom she was life and death to beat by a nose still had conditions to work through, there were plenty non-winners of 2 races and allowance and optional claiming type horses that lined up next to her (Hot n' Dusty, Modification, Gambler's Justice, Briecat, just to name a few), therefore the mid 90 beyers that she posted, well these gave an indication that she was running down to her competition.  Rachel hasn’t posted a double digit Beyer since she was a 2 year old, if you look at the 108, 108, 110, 111, 116, 109 that she posted, (most while being geared down 1/16 from the wire, or actually in hand like the FG Oaks, Fantasy, Ky Oaks, MG and Haskell) those are monster efforts which means she doesn’t run down to competition.  She blows them away leaving the track before many horses she's faced finish the race, beating A Grade 1 winner in Flashing, who came back to win the Grade 1 rich in competition and history Gazelle in a romp, or Gabby's Golden Girl.  And please don’t talk to me about the connections, it was cowardice to scratch from the Louisville Distaff and even worse for Mr. Moss to say in DRF on 6/27 they would come East to face Rachel and then come back 2 days later and state they would stay in Cali with her.  What changed his mind, hmmmmmmmmm, could it be the 1:46.33 that Rachel ran at Belmont that day, and then 20 mins later Zenyatta ran a 1:48.15 in beating an allowance field in the Vanity, earning her another mid to low level 90+ beyer.  For those of us who understand horse racing that puts Zenyatta 7 lengths behind Rachel at the end of 9furlongs.  Yes go calculate that and how that equation works.  But lets get back to your point about how important on the national scene the Milady and Vanity are, please tell me which horses of significance have run in those races, and how many horses of top level significance ran in those races in the last 10 years in comparison with races in the East and MidWest?  I would love to hear this spin you put on your argument.  I hope you will address my questions and not just disregard them as most of the Zenyatta fans do.  As a matter of fact I would love for any Zenyatta fans to respond to these issues with legitimate thoughts.  No ranting and raving just low key comments.  

Wow Monica, you are one who gets it.

I know there are a number of owners on here, trainers too. We usually get tired of posting because we get beat up.

Yes it's our choice to own or train horses, but most of us love the horses and the business. Like a HOF trainer said not long ago, it's fun when we're winning, it's even fun when we're losing and none of us want a real job. (think he was sleep deprived when he said that about a 'real' job). It is really a tough business, always has been but is getting more difficult each day.

We do it for ourselves, but also for the love of the animal and also to see the fans get immense enjoyment from it.

But it comes down to the fact that it really is a business when all is said and done, at least for trainers. Owners, it's just so tough to keep going some times.

Sonny, tell me who was running racing when it was so popular?

The horsemen and the front line of the game. NOT some guy with an MBA that wouldn't know the back end from the front end of a horse if you walked up to him at Harvard or wherever the most prestigious MBA programs are and asked him.

Then add people who don't pay the bills and the activists all telling us what to do and putting it down constantly? Any wonder why it's not popular?

Hey lets make it a video game where you can blow up the trainers, shoot jockeys with lasers and have the horses transform into mechanical monsters. Then we could sell it to the younger generation.

The question is Zenyatta versus Rachel Alexandra. Who is horse of the year? This should not be a simplistic debate. There are some merits on both sides. I do have a strong opinion about which horse deserves the award but let’s look at some other things first.

The first question is how good is Rachel? The answer is she is great. She is among the best 3yo fillies to race on this continent that I have seen in 37 years of watching the races. Leaving the immortal Ruffian's tragically aborted career out of the discussion for the moment, let's compare Rachel's 3yo campaign with the best 3yo North American fillies over the last thirty plus years. I believe Rachel compares favorably in many ways with all of them.

I selected five of the most ambitious and accomplished campaigns by three year old fillies run from the seventies forward. For sake of argument I selected all of the 3yo fillies that have won a Triple Crown race (Rags To Riches 2007, Winning Colors 1988 and Genuine Risk 1980 and added the undefeated 3yo season of Dance Smartly in 1991 and the year of the brilliant but ill-fated Go For Wand in 1990 as well into the mix. The comparisons are interesting to me. Here are some observations.

First it should be pointed out that Rachel was the only three year old filly to remain undefeated and win a US Triple Crown race during her three year old year. She also was the only 3yo filly amongst this group to defeat older males. She also did this in a grade one stakes race.

As for Rags To Riches one could argue that the Belmont winning filly beat much better horses, Curlin and Hard Spun, in the Belmont then Rachel did winning her Preakness. She also beat a considerably better field in the Kentucky Oaks then Rachel did. The only race she lost as a 3YO was when she was injured in the Gazelle while finishing a close second. However her season was shorter than Rachel's and she only beat colts one time. Additionally you can't blame Rachel for the quality of the Preakness field that she beat and she overcame the bad thirteen post to do it as well. Her overwhelming victories in the Mother Goose and Kentucky Oaks are partially related to weak competition but the dominating ease of those victories are remarkable and historic nonetheless. Her Haskell domination in the mud over the wonderful Summer Bird strengthens her resume even further. Some might argue that Summer Bird being close to Munnings meant that he was not at his best or didn't like the track but that is mere speculation and not easy to know with any certitude. Her less than dominating win in the Woodward was a testament to her heart, class and fire that is inherent in all great horses. A lesser horse could not have survived the pace pressure she withstood and would have folded when a decent stakes horse like Macho Again came alongside her. This is especially impressive when you factor in her relatively long hard campaign.

Like Rags to Riches, Winning Colors ran in a great year for three-year-olds. Her Kentucky Derby victory came against a remarkable group, beating among others Forty-Niner, Risen Star and Seeking the Gold. She also dominated colts in the Santa Anita Derby and competed in all three legs of the Triple Crown including a good third in the Preakness after being pressed on the lead. While she lost all three of her races against older horses and never ran against older males, two of those defeats were narrow losses to the legendary undefeated Personal Ensign. That includes the nose defeat in the Breeder's Cup Distaff which many consider the most exciting race run in Breeder's Cup history. However no one can argue that, while her campaign was possibly more ambitious and challenging than Rachel's, Rachel was undefeated and far more consistent with her brilliance than Winning Colors. Also Rachel had an ability to rate or come off the pace that, the one-dimensional front running, Winning Colors did not.

Dance Smartly was just as consistent as Rachel. She also was undefeated going 8 for 8 and could win on or off the pace. She won her eight stakes at distances ranging from six furlongs to a mile and a half while defeating males four times. She easily swept the Canadian Triple Crown, won the Molson Million, won on grass as well as dirt and finished up the year by dominating the best older fillies and mares in the Breeder's Cup Distaff. She never produced Rachel like speed figures and many question the quality of the horses she beat in Canada. Also, she did not travel all over to race like Rachel did. However she showed up for all of her dances and was never seriously threatened in any of her victories.

Genuine Risk like Winning Colors had a very ambitious 3yo campaign. She ran eight races, never finishing worse than third while winning four times. She ran against 3yo colts in four of her starts. She competed in all three legs of the Triple Crown, as well as the Wood Memorial. After running third in the Wood, she won the Derby, had a rough trip second in the controversial Preakness to Codex and ran a good second in the Belmont to the 3yo champion male Temperence Hill. She finished her year racing older females with a nose defeat, to the hall of fame 3yo filly Bold'n Determined, in the Maskette mile and winning the Ruffian Hcp at Belmont. She was hard as nails and consistent, but except for her outstanding Derby victory did not have as dominating a year as Rachel.

Go For Wand like Rachel was brilliant. She was a champion and Breeder's Cup Juvenile Fillies winner at two. As a 3yo she ran nine times from seven furlongs to a mile and a quarter. She won seven of her first eight starts with an uncharacteristic dull second in the mud in the Kentucky Oaks as the only blemish on her record. After dominating older females by easily winning the Maskette and the Beldame, there was much excitement about her taking on the boys for the first time in the Breeder's Cup Classic. Ultimately her team decided to stay within her own sex and run in the Breeder's Cup Distaff. There she hooked the older Bayakoa, the previous year's Distaff winner. Their exciting head and head battle that went on for more than a mile, turned to tragedy when Go For Wand broke down in front of the horrified Belmont grandstand. Her legacy will be debated and one can only wonder what would be her place in history had she not broken down.

Although all of these horses were wonderful in their own right and Rachel may very well be superior to all of them, it is also true that none of them were horse of the year. The results:

2007- Curlin won the Breeder’s Cup Classic and Horse of the Year even though Rags To Riches beat him in their one head to head race.

1991- Black Tie Affair's campaign ended with a Breeder's Cup Classic victory and was voted Horse of the Year over Dance Smartly and her, mostly Canadian, undefeated season.

1990- Criminal Type who defeated both Easy Goer and Sunday Silence during his campaign was chosen over the ill fated Go For Wand.

1988- Alysheba's brilliant campaign ended with his exciting win in the Breeder's Cup Classic, this won him horse of the year over both Winning Colors and the undefeated Personal Ensign.

1980- Spectacular Bid easily won horse of the year. He totally dominated with a season where he was never challenged in any race and went nine for nine. He ended the year and his career by winning the Woodward in a walkover. Genuine Risk was voted the three year old filly title with her tremendous exploits against colts during the 1980 Triple Crown.

Even the immortal 3yo filly Ruffian did not win horse of the year in 1975. Her tragic breakdown in her match race with Kentucky Derby winner Foolish Pleasure ended a career where she dominated racing as no other three year old filly has done before or since. She lost out in the voting to three time horse of the year Forego. Ruffian was the highest rated North American female horse to race in the twentieth century according to the Bloodhorse list of 100 greatest thoroughbreds.

In fact no three year old Filly has won the Horse of the Year since the mid 1940s when it was done in back to back years by Twilight Tear in 1944 and Busher in 1945.

The main reason for this is despite some occasional aggressive campaigns for fillies in this country they often do not take shots against the colts in the biggest race events against the strongest fields. One needs to go back only one year to look at the 3yo filly Zarkava dominating European racing and winning the Arc to finish off a powerful undefeated career. She won Europe’s accolades as best horse because she dominated and ran on the biggest day in their biggest event and won as much the best. In fact running top fillies against top colts and having them do well is commonplace there.

Thankfully a purchase by Jess Jackson allowed Rachel’s season to happen the way that it did. Otherwise it is likely that her most compelling moments would not have occurred at all because her previous ownership did not believe that fillies should race against colts period. Mr. Jackson should be commended by putting Rachel in the spotlight and allowing her to rise to some significant challenges.

As for Zenyatta, I want to start by saying I am an East Coast guy. I grew up walking distance to Belmont Park, for my money America’s greatest racetrack. I have been to every Belmont Stakes since 1976 and don’t plan on missing any until I am dead. I have seen, live and in person, almost every significant racehorse that has run in this country over the last thirty seven years. Most of them I have seen right there at beautiful Belmont. I have had a growing passion for this sport since my first day at a race track in 1973 when I saw Secretariat beat Champagne Charlie in the Bay Shore at Aqueduct. I refer to Belmont Park as “home” and was hoping to see Zenyatta come there. Unfortunately that never came to pass.

I have also personally attended seventeen Breeder’s Cups. I believe it is the absolute definitive horse racing event in the USA in spite of its recent dilution due to over expansion of its card to a fourteen race format. However, more than any other reason I made the trip to California was to see Zenyatta live. Even on TV she had shown me something I had rarely seen and was dying to see her up close and in person. Her brilliance had captivated me and I was really hoping to see her try the Classic. Other top American fillies Personal Ensign, Ladies Secret and Go for Wand had all passed on trying the biggest test. I never understood if top European fillies could do it, why Americans could or would not.

When I attended this year’s Breeder’s Cup it was my first chance to watch racing over a synthetic track. I like dirt and was skeptical about Pro-Ride. However let’s dispel some myths here. These horses are not running over Legos, Bubble Wrap, Grass or Astroturf. I went out in the mornings during the workouts and one day walked onto the track and scooped up some Pro-Ride and took it home in a zip-lock bag. I can’t tell you yet about Polytrack, Cushion Track or Tapeta but Pro-Ride feels like dirt, looks like dirt and plays more like the main track at Belmont Park than the old Santa Anita dirt course ever did. For those who blame the bad form of eastern dirt horses on Pro-Ride. Go look at your Breeder’s Cup history. The 2003, 1993 and 1986 races run at Santa Anita on the dirt have all had East Coast horses vastly under achieve. Home court bias is built in on both coasts for the Breeder’s Cup (Don’t even get me started on the long list of horses that can’t handle Churchill Downs). From the first time Capote defeated top east coast two-year-olds Polish Navy, Bet Twice, Gulch, Demon’s Begone and Kentucky based Alysheba in the first Breeder’s Cup race run at Santa Anita the home court trend was apparent to me and has not changed. The fundamental nature of having a championship event anywhere will always skew in favor of a horse that can run well over a particular surface. Some of it is timing. Sky Beauty needed to run in the year when the Breeder’s Cup was at Belmont Park. Her bad timing was Hollywood Wildcat’s gain. Does anybody think Brocco was going to beat Dehere at Belmont Park? Does anyone think that the greatest Breeder’s Cup training feat, Richard Mandella’s four win day, would have happened at Belmont Park. There are tons more examples of this kind of local bias. It is not relevant because it was clear where the championship of 2009 was going to be when the year started. There was no more of a home court edge this year then there ever is.

Did this play into Zenyatta’s low risk strategy of never leaving California this year? I am sure that it did. However she still would have had no chance of winning horse of the year unless she not only won the Classic but won in a dominant fashion. She did both in spades. Also her case was significantly aided by the fact that her much criticized form, by some skeptics, was bolstered greatly with the authoritative win of her stable mate Life Is Sweet in the Lady’s Classic. Their connections knew what they had and they were right. You must give kudos to them. For those so-called experts who were wrong, sour grapes are not convincing arguments for anything. Conversely Rachel Alexandra’s people hitched their star to this year’s Woodward. It turned out to be a negative key race and her form has not been flattered by the group that she beat. That is unfortunate and mostly unknowable before they chose to run there. They probably were less able to plan out a course that was going to lead them to championship day because they did not even have their horse until she was half way through her year. In hindsight it might have looked better on her resume, if they waited and ran in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, beat a better field and won at a mile and a quarter. However I am sure that the decision that they made to run when they did was influenced by how long and hard she was in training already. You have to respect connections that were acting in the best interest of their horse.

Zenyatta clearly mapped out a less ambitious overall campaign then Rachel did, but in the end she attempted to do something far more difficult then anything that Rachel did. What is more significant is the ease in which she dominated a world class field. In the span of about a hundred and eighty yards, she blew by the entire classic field like they were tied to a post. She did the same thing that she always does and now I believe we know with certainty that she can do it against anyone. Her stride is enormous, her acceleration devastating and when you watch her live she is an amazing sight to behold. If you had never seen a horse in your life and you were at Santa Anita on Breeder’s Cup day, you could still pick Zenyatta out of a crowd. She is visually stunning, truly a horse for the ages

Winning horse of the year with a light but undefeated campaign over a top three-year-old has recent precedence. In 2004 Ghostzapper raced only four times beating a total of only twelve horses in his first three victories before dominating the Breeder’s Cup Classic. Despite his short campaign he was voted horse of the year over Smarty Jones. Smarty was the toast of the nation after dominating the Derby and the Preakness before being caught in the late stages of the Belmont and being denied the Triple Crown by Birdstone.

In fact there is good reason why the BC Classic often determines Horse of the Year. As racing careers get shorter and shorter. Horses are handled much more conservatively. Our grade one stakes often get fields of four or five horses and or weak fields. This unfortunately makes the racing season throughout the year less significant. The Breeders Cup takes on greater weight because it often is the only time when most of the top horses are not ducking each other. So not always, but often the Breeder’s Cup Classic provides us with the answer of who is the best horse in America. I think this year’s answer is clearly Zenyatta.

I believe in year’s to come history will define this year’s Classic as the absolute definitive moment in the racing year of 2009. Zenyatta became the first horse in history to win two different Breeder’s Cup races. Additionally she completed an undefeated season as well as an undefeated career of fourteen races without a loss. For me, next to Ruffian, she is the greatest female horse of my life-time. At the end of my Breeder’s Cup day at Santa Anita I saw Gary Stevens leaving the track. I asked him what he thought of the big race. He said, “It was incredible! I wept; she is the greatest horse I have ever seen.”

The biggest problem with American racing this year is that no one in the sport saw ahead to what should have been obvious from early on. Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta needed to meet. This was huge. When I was leaving Belmont after watching Rachel’s Mother Goose I ran into DRF’s Steve Crist. I told him how excited I was to see Zenyatta and Rachel race each other. I said this is the only thing that truly matters in racing this year. It might very well be the race of the decade. He said that he was pretty sure that it would not happen and that these two horses would never meet.

What was needed here was the fictional Tick Tock McGlaughlin from the movie Seabiscuit who compelled the American Public to get War Admiral and Seabiscuit on the same racetrack on the same day. No one trumpeted loud and hard for this to happen with Rachel and Zenyatta. The apathy within the industry was pathetic. As fans of the sport we deserve better. We do not need Easy Goer to duck Sunday Silence; we do not need Alydar to duck Affirmed. The moment has passed and we are left with only emptiness, speculation and argument.

Well, this year we all got to see  two magnificent females do what Throubreds do best--- Run.  The filly did whatever was asked of her whenever she was asked and she did it well.  The mare (females are mares at 5 yr of age) did well, also.  The Filly and the Mare are not going to meet, due to their owners' personal likes or dislikes.  Horse of the Year Honor will go to one of them and it's a shame that the two of them won't be so honored.  They both deserve the honor for what both of them accomplished.

Whirlaway- nice post.  Thanks!

Paula Higgins- a belated thanks for the kudos about the Dorothy Parker comment.  Thanks for appreciating her!

Very well spoken Whirlaway, I agree 100%.

Wow Whirlaway, the is 6 minutes I am never going to get back.  We give HOY to horses that run on dirt and turf not poly fiber rubber.  Zenyatta had a great race and Rachel had a great year.  Rachel is HOY plain and simple really.

Whirlaway,

Thank you for a very well thought of response to a very contentious debate.  With all the negative responses(No Rodney King, we can't all get along), it makes you want to never read another article, but you and a few others seem to have a level insight to the game and give me hope. The one thing I would like to ask you, and I am hoping you may agree at least partially with this is, I don't think we can compare

Rachel Alexandrea and Zenyatta to the rivalries between Affirmed/Alydar and

Sunday Silence/Easy Goer.  We have created the the rivalry between these two horses in our heads.  The others were born on the track where rivalries should begin, not in manufactured races.  I don't feel like one race between the two of them would have really answered any questions except who was best that day, and I emphasize day.  It doesn't mean the next time around the outcome would have been the same, it wasn't with the others.  Do you think fans today are more dependent on superstars than in the past (ie only interested when a super horse is running),and why do we not pay more attention to the other divisions.  The way people treat sprint and turf races, you would think they are only run on Breeders Cup day. There are so many horses out there that run race after race with little or no recognition, yet their owners/trainers think no differently of them than the Moss' or the Jackson's do of their horses.  I think we need to do more to support the horses that never make it to the graded stakes level because they are the true backbone of this industry, and you can still see an exciting race, you just have to be watching.  Your thoughts?

P.S.  I was also at the Breeders Cup, and I did not know it was possible for my goosebumps to have goosebumps.

P.S.S. (this is not directed at you Whirlaway) Put more racing back on network TV including the Breeders Cup races!! I know it's hard to believe in this day and age but not everyone has cable!!

P.S.S.S. Mr Sealy, after looking at the list of past Eclipse Award winners, equine and human, and knowing that they were picked by their peers, I think it was a slap in the face to all of them to call their accomplishments "meaningless and overrated".

When the Eclipse award for HOY was given to Curlin last year after he was crushed multiple times despite the seasons that Zenyatta and Big Brown had...how can you get worried about this year's award? Or any year's award.  

Like it or not the Breeders' Cup is the champioship now.  This is the only answer.  The answer is already there.  Its been there for 26 years now.

Actually, I was taken in by that catchy phrase "my horse is faster than yours."  NICE TITLE, Larry!  Great article too..

In the Phiippines, they have jokes that goes like "my grandfather is stronger than yours.." or "our ___ is bigger than yours.." LOL.  And they brag for hours about it, until they finally bet or DO something..to DECIDE the debacle.

It is the quintessential racket, that sucks in every sucker, every time-- the chance to assert superiority over the guy next door.  Funny really, but it is very true and extremely OLD.. as old as time itself.

Good article about racing, though.

KAY, you are sadly right.  Most people associate Horse racing with GAMBLING, and gambling with VICE, and vice with misery, and misery with trajedy, etc.  For Horse Racing to go MAINSTREAM, it should address this issue, and market it in a more "user-friendly" way, with as little of the "gambling stigma" on it.  

I think that one way is to make betting easier, by explaining the TERMS like trifecta, or re-naming it so it doesn't get mistaken for coffee (Arabica) or Starbucks by the YOUNGER fans.  Also, video terminals showing races SHOULD be a must-- YOUNGER fans need to see the horses, BEFORE they can be encouraged to bet.  Most fans know how to use the I-phone and the GPS that goes with it, but they wouldn't know which end of the horse to feed, and with what..LOL.

Times have changed a lot, but Horse racing has remained as ARCHAIC as my old grandfather remembers it 60 years ago.  If the sport should survive, then it must CHANGE with the times-- do away with the "Defenders of the Past," and use as much New Technology, and be "Pro-modern" and "Pro-People" (not just Pro-animals).

The audience nowadays is unlike those of 30-50 years ago.  Information sharing is the norm.  Technology means I-phones and Terrabytes.  Events are broadcast via Broadband, via Live Feed from Satellite.  Gene-splicing both enhances and determines bloodlines.  DNA-typing is available everywhere.  E-purses are used by everybody.

The Bottomline is still the same: "My horse is faster than Yours" but you have to find a MORE MODERN WAY to say that. Until you do, you aint gonna find any takers.

DRAYNAY:

You may be right.  Polytrack is not as safe as it should be.  More studies should have been done on it, BEFORE they made the BREEDER'S CUP run on it for two years in a row.  Sorry about those horses that had to be euthanized...

I have to take exception with Joe Schmoe...I'm an average horse racing fan.  I've always been disappointed to find very few races televised nationally...but this year, I extended my cable input, and can watch races every day.  I actually enjoy the pre-race banter.  And despite what handicappers say (though I am listening for past performance records) I need the post parade to actually choose my picks.  I really fell in love with Slew before I ever saw him race; it was his independent, fractious attitude in the post parade that endeared me...biting a groom, rearing up on his hind legs...wow, what a magnificent presence!  While everyone else seems to worry about a rank horse, I sort of like them. (Think of Big Drama in the Preakness..he actually finished well)...or Rachel in the Woodward,

tossing Borel off.  Win or not, the horse that impresses when he/she runs is the horse I'm watching....like Einstein.  I'm impressed by the horse itself, not by all the politics.

All I know about synthetics is...a Breeders' Cup without any catastrophic injuries.  That singular voice is loudest in my head.  And for everyone who wants to scream "dirt vs synthetics", all horse first started running, playing, and racing on grass.  

Wouldn't all of you prefer to get

national coverage on ESPN, rather than the spelling bee or chess matches.  As far as poker goes...like fishing and billiards I'd rather do it than watch it.

As far as RA and the Zen go, I love them both and find it too difficult to choose between them.  I'm all for a dead heat (and it does happen in racing, so it should happen in HOTY).

The only thing that would really, truly bother me is someone voting for or against a horse because they like or dislike the connections...or want to reward or punish the connections...

MonicaV,

I'd rather see less excuses and the guts to run against the best. I'm not fond of the ducking RA's connections did and the excuses people make for it. She was in great form and there have been plenty of horses that raced more than 8 times in a year. It was plain and simple ducking a challenge they were afraid of.

I give much credit to Zenyatta's connections for trying to make it happen. The blather spewed about her being a poly only horse means nothing in respect to HOY honors since her connections were willing and tried to face RA on the dirt but Ra'a connections blinked.

Furthermore, Zenyata's connections put it all on the line at the Classic when they could have taken the easy route in the Ladies Classic and they proved who the best this year was.

SteveStan,

I really envy you your job.  Even though it is tough, really long hours and often not lucrative, I think it would be a job that makes you glad to be there.  I watched Charlie in an interview about 25 years ago when he was asked if he would ever retire and he replied that he would train until the day he died because he loved it so much.  He said he jumped out of bed at 4 AM and couldn't wait to get to the track and start his day.

I realize he was one of the most successful trainers but there wasn't anywhere he'd rather be.  I've been to Santa Anita many times in the early morning and it's such a great experience to see the horses on the track for their morning exercise or workouts.

Horses are such wonderous creatures and so beautiful and with a way of going that is mesmerizing.  They truly do fly without wings.  I wish I could have been involved in training, even the parts that are tedious and probably make you want to quit at times.  To be around those animals and nurture them to become race horses.  

I'd like to thank all of you who have a hand in this sport at making it happen for us to enjoy, for taking care of these gorgeous creatures that give us goosebumps as they do what they were bred to do. Also, for having to go through the pain of losing a horse to injury or illness, for loving them lke your children and giving your all.  I don't think many of us realize what you go through but don't think your efforts aren't appreciated because they are.  Every last one of you who toils and works at the tracks, from trainers to grooms to hotwalkers.  Thank you for your care of these glorious animals.

Beautiful and well thought-out post, Whirlaway!  I really enjoyed it and your thoughts.

Draynot,

I have no arguments with you concerning the Z vs RA but RA was a very tired horse after the Woodward and I, personally, if I owned her, wouldn't have put her against Z until she had a rest.  I don't know that they were ducking but one could surmise that, I suppose but in the end, it really doesn't matter.  Both horses are healthy and that's all that counts.

They are both great and whatever the owners decide is their call.  I have no problem with it.

Joel Rosario does not cheat-He's just not a very good rider on the grass-i see him on my grass pick-i have to then look for another pick

Whirlaway...Thanks so much for sharing...your post was AWESOME!!!!!! There really isn't anything else to say after that is there? Except maybe that Dray is a really slow reader...I mean really...Six minutes Dray???

Money to be made at Hollywood 5TH race today if you throwout 1 and 2 on win end-suspect grass riders and the one post

"The only thing that would really, truly bother me is someone voting for or against a horse because they like or dislike the connections...or want to reward or punish the connections...

da3hoss 03 Dec 2009 11:08 AM"

Review the picks over the last 15 years and be prepared for being bothered a lot.

I know of one Trainer of the Year, loss was TOTALLY for that reason.

Also a delay in selecting someone Owner of the Year.

Wow, I just went back and watched the Mother Goose again...all alone she "galloped" a mile in 1:33.6 and then was "eased" to set a stakes record time and winning margin of almost 20 lengths...

Damn, with all this bickering,we should all be grateful if this blog continues on w/the Triple Crown Talk. lol

afleetalexforever:

For someone who claims to 'understand horse racing',you sure have left yourself wide-open for scrutiny.I don't even know where to begin,but I'll try and make it short-and-sweet.  If you're really THAT much into the 'Beyers' and you REALLY think that RA is 7 lengths better than Zenyatta after 9f,..then you need help and you're just as dumbfounded as Andy Beyers when it comes to synthetics racing/horses.Remember,he said Zen's final times were too slow and the competition was too tough for her to have any chance in the BCClassic..What happened? Sometimes, silence IS golden.

GhostTown wrote: "P.S.S.S. Mr Sealy, after looking at the list of past Eclipse Award winners, equine and human, and knowing that they were picked by their peers, I think it was a slap in the face to all of them to call their accomplishments "meaningless and overrated".

Really? The equine Eclipse winners are selected by their peers? If in fact they are, (and I doubt that very much) then the awards would have far more significance. I am tempted to define the word peer but I will refrain from doing it. Perhaps you should look it up.

Secondly, the article refers to the Eclipse awards as meaningless and overrated not the actual accomplishments of the horses. A horse that does the business on the track does not need a statuette at the end of the racing season to vindicate his or her accomplishments. No one remembers Eclipse Award winners. Quick - who was HOTY in 1984? ..... What was that? Wrong answer. No one cares, but everyone remembers the 84 Classic or the 84 Million. How about the Eclipse turf champion in 1990?......Wrong answer again. HOTY 1990?......Still wrong. Juvenile champ 2008?.......Wow! I can't believe you got that wrong, it was only last year. On the other hand who can forget the 90 Derby or the 90 BC mile or Classic. I have never met a race fan who said, "Gee I'll never forget the night Ghostzapper was crowned HOTY." They don't talk about his Eclipse award, they all talk about his race in the Classic or his race in the Met Mile. I'd love to see an owner or trainer or jockey who places an Eclipse award above a Triple Crown race win or a win in a major race. I hope you finally get the point.

Friesan Fire makes his comeback bid in about 15 minutes! (Fairgrounds, race 8)

Well written, interesting article.  I really enjoyed it.  And it does voice something that we have lost in most every aspect of life, not just racing.  That is simplicity.  Everything these days is just too complicated.  For me, a large part of the attraction of racing is that it is a throwback to a more simple time and it's pleasure comes directly from the speed, courage, spirit and heart of the horses.  

Mr. Sealy,

     Exactly!  Our memories of these Races and Champions last forever!  The Awards and Trophys are quickly forgotten over a very short period of time...

Whirlaway,

     I must say, Thanks, Great post and perfectly stated, Bravo!  I think I read it twice in six minutes Dray...

Wow, FF did not look good at all...in fact he didn't even look like FF...was anyone there?

Awesome post, Whirlaway. Perfectly stated.

Didn't take me 6 minutes to read it either, Draynay. Maybe you should practice reading more than writing? ;)

@afleetalexforever, who said..."No ranting and raving just low key comments."

Alex, do you read your own mile-long, tirades denigrating Zenyatta? They are the very definition of "ranting and raving."

How about heeding your own request?

Driving south on 65 South Tuesday at the Kentucky/Tennessee border I saw 5 big beautiful Creech Trucks.  Anyone know where they were going ?

Dray, this "we give HOY to horses that run on turf, or dirt-only..." style of talk reminds me of the Southern sherriff who tells ya how you're gonna get along in his town---c'mon! Fact is, Rachel could have won The Classic--I mean, Quality Road scratched, Zenyatta was slow to settle and way behind--Rachel WOULD have been right in the thick of things---but we'll never know cuz she didn't show up on the rubber track! HOY is just an award--fact is we'll never know if Rachel could've beaten her cuz they didn't show up---maybe Rachel can win the Classic next year, do ya think?

Mr Sealy, I very much enjoyed your article but your reply in this comments section is even better.    

Draynay, it took me 11 minutes to read the post you mentioned so you're a speed reader in my book.  

Afleetalexforever:

Your ranting putdowns of Zenyatta are really getting tired.  Go on all you want, say all you want, spout off as much venom as you want.....You will never change the fact that during her career, ZENYATTA, like RUFFIAN and PERSONAL ENSIGN before her was PERFECT.....I'll say it again so you get the message......PERFECT.

Those three were nothing short of sensational and are definitely in the top five fillies or mares all time when measured against a stellar group that includes Gallorette, who raced against males more than 20 times, Lady's Secret, Two Lea, Busher, Regret, Shuvee, Gamely, etc. and etc......Maybe some day Rachel will be included in that group though I don't think she is quite there yet.  She missed her chance to be included and to possibly be the better horse by STAYING HOME.

Your constant badgering and putdowns are putting you on the spot because you are going to have a lot of egg on you face if Rachel doesn't run the table next year.

Have a good day ALEX.

Steve S I disagree with ya--Rosario rocks! He finishes as good or better than anyone I have ever seen! Turf? Smurf! I've cashed plenty of nice hits with The J Man--plenty! He moves up a horse, on any surface....

THANK U JOE SCHMOE...CEPT ONE MISTAKE...THE GAME WILL COME BACK TO THE TOP OF THE SPORTS WORLD WHEN IT GETS THE RITE HORSE...A TWO LEGGED ONE!!!...EXPOSE IT & THEY WILL COME!!!...

Whirlaway,

Truly tremendous synopsis, you clearly recognize current and past greatness in this wonderful sport.

AAF--my name isn't Connie, that's my sister.  Spend 12 minutes of your time and read Whirlaway's post and see if you might truly learn something.

"Driving south on 65 South Tuesday at the Kentucky/Tennessee border I saw 5 big beautiful Creech Trucks.  Anyone know where they were going ?

Draynay 03 Dec 2009 8:21 PM"

Horse Haulers?

South on 65 from Louisville to 40 to 30 and Oaklawn Park, Hot Springs

Whatever big outfits are or were still left in Louisville are heading out now. Some are already at the Fair Grounds some are splitting their stables between the two.

Doubt anyone is hauling to Florida at least going that direction if at all.

"The focus shifted from actual races to the lucrative breeding industry. Owners began to covet the next great stallion instead of the next great horse. The truly great runners became scarce, as horses were hustled off to the breeding shed."

That's exactly what I said on one of these blogs here at the Blood-Horse several months ago. The tail is wagging the dog!

There are too many stallions at stud, the top stallions are being bred to far too many mares, and not enough horses stay on to race at 4, 5 and 6.

I would love to know how many of today's top studs raced successfully past 3 or 4. And then I would love to know how many stallions that raced successfully at 4, 5 or 6 became top stallions.

My guess is that, because people are breeding for success at ages 2 and 3, top handicap stallions may not be getting the respect they deserve once they retire.

Anyone have stats on that?

Matthew I think Rachel has the chance to equal what Spectacular Bid did as a 4 year old.  Another year of perfection with a Breeders Cup win on dirt would make her the greatest female ever and perhaps the best ever period.  We shall see. I would pay good money to watch her take on Quality Road.

Whirlaway:

Home field advantage is a slight factor,but I think you've underestimated the brilliance of both Capote & Brocco as 2yo's.There's no doubt in my mind they would've also won back East if that were the case.

Capote also handled the so-called 'beast from the east' Gulch,when he shipped from NY for the local BCJuvenile prep the 86' Norfolk(I was there) in only his 3rd start,2weeks after breaking his maiden by 14+ lengths.Capote was simply better than the rest of that year's crop,too bad he came up with Colic later that winter and was never the same horse,as the late-great Woody Stephens predicted...Brocco also was a tremendous horse and I believe would've won the BCJ regardless of the track's-site.Again,tragedy struck when Brocco was injured while training for the Triple Crown and was off that whole year.I remember the Cali horse Gilded Time shipping all over the country as a 2yo,going undefeated,culminating w/his BCJ win in Fla.Same thing with Steviewonderboy when he rolled past the 2 East coast 'monsters' First Samurai & Henny Hughes @ their home track,Belmont Park. Likewise,the east-coaster Chief's Crown took the inaugural BCJ @ Hollywood Park because he was the better horse. My point is, the best horse usually wins no matter where they run when dealing with top-class horses.

Carlos in Cali...dumbfounded as Andy Beyers is right.  I Want Revenge had no chance on dirt in New York, Pioneer of the Nile was going to lay down on the track in Kentucky, and Zenyatta was not fast enough!  Please...enough.  She set a track record for 1 1/16th.  Her black type includes the 1-2 Breeder's Cup Distaff winners Ginger Punch, Hyserical Lady, as well as other Grade I winners like Santa Teresita and Life is Sweet.  It should be Andy Bias.  I'm not sure what form he's reading.  Come on...POTN had won over a Million Dollars prior to the Derby.  That's worth 2 bucks alone Andy.  

I can't believe I just spent over a half hour going thru these comments. The HOTY rantings are silly because we don't have a vote and no one who does is listening to us.

Sadly, the whole world is greed motivated these days so what chance does the horse have.

I certainly don't have a solution but here is a possibility. Two of my favorite horses are Cloudy's Knight and Old Man Buck. Cloudy runs distance and Buck jumps hurdles.

A sprint in the old days was 2 miles. A real race was 5 miles. By breeding for endurance it would be much easier to find homes for retired racehorses. More gelding would ease a lot of problems.

Now my comment to annoy everyone. We should not be campaigning against horse slaughter but "for" humane slaughter.

I love horses - they are my passion but let's get realistic. And if anyone thinks I'm a young know nothing type - I sobbed at age 13 when Man O' War died.

Thanks for the ramble space.

Ah wake boys one can't say that RA had not run on syntetic track when she already had won on it at Keenland and she liked it enough to win on it so there was no excuse not to contest the Breeders cup, and Zenyeta also ran on the dirth at Oaklawn park Arkansa where she ran probably the best race in her life,if JJ wanted to show the world that he had the best horse they had plenty of time to get R.A. ready to test the better horse of 2009 specialy after the long rest she had after the Woodward, A good horse should be able to handle all type of surface if they are going to be call great. for now Zen in my opinion showed that she was the best, it is a shame that R.A. didn't have the chance to show us if she would have been able to beat Zen. I doubt it.

Guess who's back...opening day of the Santa Anita winter meet.  Bo, Arnie, Moss, and Zenyatta.  Then she is off to the Rose Parade.

Nancycb- Old Man Buck is doing steeplechases now?

Go easy on Afleetalexforever, he is just very passionate!

FYI,

   Delta Jackpot is about to be run at Delta Downs, It was snowing earlier!  Rule should Rule, But, I am holding out for my longshot Derby hopeful, Grand Slam Andre, Looks tough, How about a GSA, Rule, And Gallant Gent box tri?

Mr. Sealy,

I would like to address your complaints to my response to the last sentence of your article.

Let me start by saying "whoa cowboy, settle down".  Geez Louise, you would have thought I told you your mama wore army boots.

I probably should have  said "racing industry" instead of "peers" (I forgot horses can't vote), but I probably would have been berated anyway.

I realize your article was only belittling the award and the voting process, not the accomplishments of the horse.  Is the voting process flawed, probably so, but what award doesn't have its critics.

John Henry.  I do not remember who won the 84 Classic, but John did not run due to injury.  John Henry.  I have no idea.  I have no idea.  Midshipman (I still remember last year).  I do not know who won the 90 Derby, Mile or Classic. I rarely remember which horse won what race in which year because I do not have that type of statistical brain capacity.  But I do remember moments in racing. I remember Genuine Risk running in all three Triple Crown races, winning the Derby and placing second in the Preakness and Belmont. I remember The Tin Man when he won the Arlington Million at eight and the sudden remembrance of John Henry. I remember Affirmed and Alydar nose to nose all the way down the Belmont stretch, and I unfortunately I remember all of those who never crossed the finish line.

Now please don't get me wrong.  Past or present Eclipse winners have no bearing on my life. But these particular awards are for the people connected directly to the horse, not the fans.  I realize there is no comparison to winning one of the classic races, in fact I can't even begin to imagine what that would be like.  But, in article after article "Eclipse Award Winner" precedes many horse, trainer, owner and jockey names just as often as "Hall of Fame, Kentucky Derby or Breeders Cup Winner" does, and considering all I have heard the past five months is "Horse of The Year, Horse of The Year, Horse of The Year", it must matter more to people (fans included) than they are willing to admit.  It is only my opinion, but I doubt Penny Chenery, Laz Barrerra, or Frances Genter would have ever considered their Eclipse Awards meaningless and overated.

First, I have to admit that this is an incredibly difficult decision and I'm glad I don't have to make it. However, for the record, I believe that based on their 2009 records, RA should be HOY. While Zenyatta's BC Classic was truly amazing, her overall record in 2009 doesn't compare to Rachel's. To all those who believe that HOY should be determine on the track I agree. However, it has to be a neutral track. Zenyatta has spent her career racing on synthetic tracks in California and was lucky that the BC was held at SA for a second time this year, so she could run in the BC Classic on the track on her choice, without traveling. And, to those who say that Zenyatta beat the best that the world had to offer by winning the BC Classic this simply isn't true. Because dirt horse did so poorly in the 2009 B8 at Santa Anita, many trainers of dirt horses (some of which are among the best horse currently running) were not sent to the BC this year. So, Zenyatta did not beat the best horses the world had to offer; she beat the best horses that trainers decided to run on polytrack. HOY shouldn't be determined by one race. It should be determined by a horse's record over the year. In my opinion, RA beat the best horses the world has to offer by winning more Grade 1 races (both against females, and males (3 year-olds and older horses) than Z did. RA was the first filly in 85 years to win the Preakness. She was the 2nd filling in 42 years to win the Haskell. She nearly broke the track record in the Mother Goose. She was the first filly to beat older males in a stakes race of more than a mile on dirt since the commencement of graded stakes races in the U.S. While Zenyatta kept her perfect record, she generally raced against small fields of fillys and mares, and generally didn't win by huge margins (with the exception of the B.c.). Maybe, Zenyatta does deserve to win HOY. However, her connections didn't place her in challenging enough races to make that determination. I love Zenyatta, but I think looking at RA's record over all of 2009 she clearly deserves to be HOY. And, I look forward to her winning the BC Classic next year at Churchill Downs.

RACHEL is the best racehorse in North America, and all stats on paper and victories on record proves it.

Zen won ONE RACE, Rachel won ONE YEAR's worth of races.  BOTH ARE PERFECT, and BOTH are UNDEFEATED in 2009.

But Rachel is the TOUGHER HORSE, and she deserves HOY 2009.

Jason.  I love this article.  

You are absolutely right.  There is no way that this debate between RA and Zenyatta will EVER truly be reconciled.  After all, they both need to get on the same track and race.  Kinda like skating.  The Olympic Games.  The skaters all have to get on the ice to see who is the best and so forth.  If they don't show up, no medal, no podium.  It is actually quite simple.  We all have our favorite horses and we will NEVER know (at least for now) who would have been the greatest of those two beautiful gals........... :)

Ron Turcotte

I like your post.   I don't think anyone on this blog can dispute your words.  They should have raced.  THEN we would really and truly know who would have been the fastest horse.  :)  There is NO OTHER WAY.

Kinda like saying "well SS would have won this IF".  NO the FACT is SS did win them all (except for one) because he RACED and RAN them all.  :-)  

RACHEL still has a lot of catching up to do to be on the same level as ZENYATTA.  Of course, she had her chance to prove it, but intelligence won out and she passed.

Regarding her historic Preakness win......Only Take the Points has come back to win a stakes this year and that was on grass.  MTB was closing fast on her and yet was approximately a pole behind Zen in the Classic.

Regarding her historic Haskell win.......Only Summer Bird has come back to win a stakes this year and Rachel’s connections absolutely refused to take him on in the Travers and the JCGC.  Of course, Summer Bird was no challenge to Zen in the Classic and for those who say that it was the synthetic track, SB’s time in the race was good enough to win the Pacific Classic and was just off the time in the Hollywood Gold Cup, both on synthetics.  The biggest laugh is that to her supporters, it was alright for Rachel to duck out in those races, but they keep on showing their desperation by trying to make a point out of Zen scratching in Kentucky.

Regarding Rachel’s historic Woodward win........None of that group has managed to come back and win a stakes race this year and those two formidable opponents, Macho Again and Bullsbay, can’t even make the top three anymore.

Of her other competitors, only Flashing has shown that she has improved since her meeting with Rachel and would now probably give Rachel all she could handle.......However, I tend to compare Flashing to Careless Jewell and we all know what Zen’s stable-mate, and number two in the barn, did to her in the Lady’s Classic.

The competition in most of the races Zen won this year was superior to the many of the horses that Rachel faced.  To many, Zen only ran in one important or big race.  However, it is plain and simple that that race far surpassed anything that Rachel did this year.  Those horses were like putty to the Big Mare and Rachel could only dream of defeating the competition in the Classic.

When it comes right down to it, you have to compete against the best to even have a chance of being the best.  Zenyatta did so without hesitation.  Her connections stepped up to the plate in the toughest race in N/A this year and took on the challenge, head on.  Simply put, Rachel didn’t.  From the strictest sense and without showing bias, but simply sticking strictly to the facts, the best horse by far in N/A this year is or was Zenyatta........PERIOD!

P.S Draynay......I don’t think that Spectacular Bid would lose any sleep over Rachel challenging any of his records next year.

To answer James B: Sure I'll stand by the remark that a good horse can win on any track. Just see John Henry and Perrault. 'Nuff said!

LAZ, as always you are absolutely correct, 100%. You know,after reading whirlaway's post, he put the truth up there plain and simple, No, no one can actually justify that RA is better than Zen and earns HOTY, because she doesn't , Macho Again, goodness he about had her, and he hasn't won since. Maybe as a 4 year old RA will show more signs of greatness, but right now, she doesn't compare to Zenyatta. Zenyatta has already excelled RA in her two years, Zen has amassed both classics, yes, Life is Sweet won this years ladies classic as well. now that proves what Zen is made of, her competition wins the ladies classic, while RA stiffest competition in the woodward can't win anything left in the year. Zenyatta  is a much better horse than Ra is, and she rightfully has proven she is the better horse for 09. she deserves the HOY. I think when a horse goes up against the world and wins for our nation, dammit, that is HOY material. Anytime animal or human represents our country and wins it,takes on the world,and defeats the best, that is our nation's champion and we honor it. We honor our other sports figures when they compete and win don't we? same here. We love it when our tennis and golf players win against the world, we love it when our olympic champions win agaisnt the world, same here with horse racing. RA fans are just upset that it wasn't Ra this year that won this classic, and it was Zen instead. Maybe next year RA can win a classic.

LAZMANNICK your argument is tired and old.  Zenyatta did this Zenyatta did that.  Excluding her Breeders Cup win what would you talk about? Yes we all saw her win on the poly rubber track but outside of that what did she do ? Any meet records ? Zenyatta was the best horse in California.  Outside of California she did nothing and last time I checked we don't give out awards for being the best in California.  And by the way maybe you better watch Rachel in the Mother Goose again who easily could have topped the track record had she not been wrapped up long before the wire. Spectacular Bid was the best horse I ever saw at 4 and I expect Rachel to be every bit as good. I have never seen a better 3 year old then Rachel. I have the highest hopes for her at 4.

Laz,

    What filly that Zenyatta beat came back to win a stakes race, other than LIS? Not Annaba's Creation, not Briecat, not Lethal Heat who has gone 0 for 8 this year, at least Macho and Bullsbay can win. Cocoa Beach hasn't come back to win anything after being beaten this year by Zenyatta, neither has Dawn after Dawn who has gone just 1 for 8. The only thing Allicansayiswow could win this year was allowences, going two for six.

About the two Birds, tell me where MTB has finished in his only two tries over Pro-ride. Has he ever won? Oh wait, no, he never even came close to even hitting the board, finishing sixth and dead last in his starts over the surface prior to the Classic, which would tell me that he hates that track. Oh, but he won on synthetics, he won on woodbine which does NOT have pro-ride. Summer Bird's time was enough to first in the Pacific Classic and do well in the Hollywood Gold Cup. Wow, you know that would actually mean something if the tracks out their weren't so different! The Pacific is run at Del Mar, one of the quirckiest tracks in Cali, while Cushion Track is at Hollywood and plays more like dirt than turf, like Pro-Ride does.

You also say RA has to catch up to Zenyatta? How? I don't remember Zen ever traveling to seven different tracks, racing in six different states. I don't remember her ever winning five grade ones in a row. I don't remember her running as a three year old and beating up on colts, let alone older males.

You can cut it anyway you want, you can try to say RA race in weak races, but except for just one race this year, none of the second and third place horses that finished behind Zen EVER came back to win a stakes. Now if you want to come back and throw that statistic in my face by saying her comp did it last year, I say, big deal, I'm counting this year, since when looking at HOTY that is what you count, just this past year.

Rachel has had quite a few horses come back to win after she pummles them, Gabby's Golden Gal, Summer Bird and Flashing are among those. Zenyatta hesitated the whole year until Moss' hand was forced, and then and only then did he enter his mare in the Classic. Something tells me had RA lost the Woodward or the Haskell Moss wouldn't have felt the need to showcase his mare in the Classic and would've been content to stay with the ladies.

Your arguments hold no water at all.

Draynay and LDP

As always Carolyn knows what she's talking about.......Just read the first line of her post.......it says it all....LOL

This is called a "SPORT" and in a sport, we all have to play, and when we play, we play for the big prize, We play in the championships, no excuses.  I'm sorry, but all the races RA raced doesn't compare to the BCC. It's the grand scheme of it all, it's the major league of horseracing, it's the biggest stage where competitores meet, it is the "My horse is better than your horse, it is the "My country has the better horse than your country does. How the crap do you think the owner and trainer of RVW, and the other euro horse's felt in the BCC, that their top colts got beat by a filly from the U.S. not too great, I bet.  Zen=Spirit for the USA=Pride and Glory. My gosh, instead of you all putting Zenyatta down compared to RA, what has RA done in a race for the USA against the darn world. NOTHING, yes,she is a great filly, but darn she didn't beat the world this year either, Last time I checked, half of us bloggers live in the US, right?  My god, no wonder our country is going to hell in a hand bag, when we don't stand up for anything that stood up for our country and wins and has won.  Tell all our Olympic champions and our other great athletes we represent, that hey, our country is probably rooting for the another team and country, thats what it is like when we put down anything and anybody that wins in our name. God help this dying nation we live in.

LDP and Draynay:

When listening to you two I’m starting to get Broken Record Syndrome.

First of all I’m talking about the male horses Rachel raced against, not the weak 3 y-o filly crop that take turns beating each other in 3 y-o G-1 races, but can’t win against and are afraid to try older fillies and mares.

I already mentioned Summer Bird (who Rachel's connections DID NOT WANT TO FACE IN THE TRAVERS OR JCGC) and who, by the way, ZEN easily defeated in a real championship race called the BC Classic......I already mentioned Flashing who still only defeated 3 y-o fillies, but who would probably give Rachel her toughest test now and would have a good chance of beating her.

And as far as LIS, LDP would like to exclude her by saying outside of LIS.  That’s a typical excuse for some Rachel fans, but unfortunately you can’t exclude her.  She defeated the toughest field of fillies this year in the Lady’s Classic.  As far as I can see, that counts.

In an earlier post LDP tried to dismiss Macho Again and Bullsbay’s recent efforts by saying that they are over the top after tough campaigns......What tough campaigns?  Macho’s race in the Clark was his 8th this year and only his third in 3-1/2 months......Bullsbay’s race in the Clark was a little tougher, his 11th race, but once again, only his 3rd in 3 ½ months.

This bit about traveling to seven different tracks......so what?  What did Rachel face in the majority of those races?  The quality of the competition alone in the Classic was far superior to the quality of all the horses Rachel competed against combined.  Of course, the next point would be, yes, but it was only one race.  True, because she only had to compete in that ONE RACE to show how sensational she is......what the Rachel fans don’t seem to get is the manner, the ridiculous ease, in which she defeated the toughest field in N/A this year.  It wasn’t as a long shot fluke.  She was favoured.  Don’t you think it suggests that she could do it anytime she pleases?  Funny, but I believe that Zen is that dominate after her Classic victory and would do it anytime she wanted, but I think I will need a lot of convincing to believe that Rachel could win the Woodward again anytime soon, not after the life and death panic that she went through to defeat horses that haven’t even made the board in any race since.

As far as synthetics, sorry but that doesn’t hold up.  Zen is actually better on dirt which is SCARRY.

As far as the time in the Mother Goose......give me a break.  Belmont was a super highway that day.  $7,500 claimers approached the track record in their race.  Etched ran a faster 1-1/8th in the Meadowlands Cup, but was humbled by Einstein in the Clark (and where was Einstein in the Classic).  I personally believe that in any race 7-F and up Zen would run faster than Rachel because of her stride and unbelievable closing ability.  About the only thing that I will rate them close in is in their will to win.....Rachel would not give up in the Woodward and Zen never gives up no matter how bleak it might seem for her.

Simply put.....MY HORSE IS BETTER THAN YOUR HORSE.

Laz,

    You say we sound like broken records so do you. You claim you are unbias, but yet when I stay away from the blogs and just observe I see you harp on rachel, while raising Zenyatta.

Laz,

    And no offence to you at all carolyn, but she has stated that she still has a lot to learn, and yet you use her as an example to push your oppinion? Carolyn I would say know more than you, at least she doesn't ream RA at every chance she gets.

It's funny how every blog deteriorates into a HOTY debate, with the same people making the same points over and over about who they think should win. lol

GhostTown are you kidding me? This is a joke. You remember John Henry won the 84 Eclipse Award for HOTY but have no recollection of the first BC Classic. I find that impossible to believe. You don't know that Unbridled won both the 90 Derby and 90 Classic, but still you talk about Frances Genter's Eclipse Award. Nice try, but I'm not fooled by this. Anytime anyone that follows racing hears the words Frances Genter they automatically think of the 90 Derby. You are the first person I know that remembers Awards but not actual races. As far as I know they have never been any memorable or unforgettable Eclipse awards. It's horse racing for crying out loud, not the horse awards. For me these awards are something less than meaningless, they are B......T. Who cares what 300 turf writers and racing secretaries think. Give up trying to make these awards seem more important than they are. No one is buying it.

LDP

I can't help it if Carolyn said that I am 100% correct and know what I am talking about.  What do you think I did, pay her to say that?  As far as knocking Rachel, I'll just state this......Whatever I say is only a drop in the bucket to the amount of slamming that many bloggers do on Zen, mainly because they don't want to admit how totally awsome she is.  

Amen to this article. Somehow we've lost the woods among the trees. So many people breed for the sales ring, not the track and so many people think any fertile horse, mare or stallion, MUST visit the breeding shed even if his/her race record reads 0-0-0. "My horse is faster than your horse. Let's race!" is now, "My young horses look nicer and have better catalog pages than your young horses." And we wonder why horses are breaking down and why ever fewer people go to the races! Added to the increase in people so far removed from living creatures (NASCAR races something everyone today knows about: cars), it's another nail in the coffin of a great game whose demise would break my heart.

LAZMANNICK,

By your logic, Secretariat's Belmont Stakes time isn't that great because Belmont Park was probably like pavement that day, so it doesn't count. We should just dismiss Dr. Fager's mile record because the track was tightened to speed it up. You really think that most stakes/track records are set in the slop?

And let's see how Zenyatta does if she runs her first quarter in 22 4/5 seconds. I guaranteee that in a match race Rachel would go at her own easy clip and Zenyatta would be at least ten lengths behind and there would be no way she would catch Rachel because Rachel would take off again as soon as she saw Zenyatta.

In a match race, RA would beat Zen, you say, Probably, but, surely, Highly doubtful, lets say 1 mile and a quarter, do you still think Rachael would beat Zen now? I don't think so. Zen works by Mike's shaking of the reins, not by the beating of the whip, these two work like a ball and a glove, a nut and a bolt. she waits for his command, even in a shorter race , when Mike shakes the reins at her and when it's time to excelerate, she does.  No, RA will never win against Zenyatta in any race. Do you recall after the BCC, Zen wasn't even blowing hard, after Ra last race at shorter furlongs, she was. RA would be no match for Zen. RA fans, I'm not knocking this great little filly, but she is no comparison to Zen, and Zen showed us all that longer distances is better for her and she loved it, I would love to see Zen run in bigger and longer races if she hadn't retired, I think she would be amazing at six years old, I also think she would be running in races all by herself, due to the fact that everyone would not want to compete against her after the BCC win she had. I know JJ wouldn't face Zen even on dirt. He would continue to duck her, with his lame excuses, actually he would probably  retire RA before he would go up against Zen, especially since her win in the classic.  Now, he and the world knows just how good Zenyatta really is and what she is made of. If you look at Zen's body frame, she doesn't have the skinny legs like most thoroughbred race horses do, she is built like a mack truck, she is a strong built machine, she can win on any surface at any time, her body frame allows for her not to be so fragile as others, to me she is built like Ruffian was and just as good, especially if she would have another year, to show the world what she can do. She is that good. I believe Zen can tear up any surface, dirt and synthetic, glass if needed, If you think she is scarry on plastics, could you imagine if she ran on dirt all the time or perhaps another year just on dirt, Lets say, the Mosses decided to run her next year, only on dirt, my goodness, that would really scare some of these trainers and owners to death, wouldn't it? Who would take her on even on dirt after her mighty win in the classic. She has proven that she is just as dangerous on dirt.

Laz,

    I don't care if it's a drop in the bucket you've become the Draynay for Zenyatta, unreasonable and bashing every horse she has beaten. Just because other bash one does not mean you must bash in return, and honestly, how many times recently have you seen me bash Zenyatta? Go to my blog and read the most recent entry, it's anything but bashing. I may get angry, but I come out with facts that normally hold quite a bit of water. Your first post I responed to was like you stuck it in a closet full of little fabric eating bugs or something. You respondence to us about Carolyn, was still off, seeing as how she was not talking about the post I responded to but one even earlier. You degrade every male or female she has faced, yet they have come back to win stakes after being pummled by her. None of Z's competitors, except for LIS have done that. That is a mere one horse to RA's multiple, and you can come up with excuses all you want for that but fact is her comp did win afterward and flattered her while Z's did anything but. You went on about times, when you and I both know that times at different tracks can't be compared, especially on synthetics, which have the potential to vastly differnt from one another. You picked out MTB, who hates the Pro-Ride form of synthetics to prove a point, which again was deceiving. You pick out Careless Jewel who raced at Woodbine, and like MTB failed on the Pro-Ride.

I love Zenyatta, though her owner not so much, even though RA is my favorite, and think the two are very close but RA is better. You come on with, yes, crazy statements like RA has catching up to do, that really make no sense when if you look at the seasons side by side an objective and unbias person would choose RA, saying she has accomplished more. You have said that in on one forum that RA would finish last in a field against the best, dead last, yet place Zenyatta above Ruffian. I understand you love this mare, but you in your defense of her never cut RA slack at all. Whether you mean it or not, your post contradict what you say, by portraying you as completely bias and irrational.

Sometimes the mouth gets to moving before the brain, or in this case the typing hands.  Did Lazmannick really state that the competition in most of the races Zen won this year was superior to the many of the horses that rachel faced. LOL. Seriously did you even watch any of these extremely competitive races that you are referring to.  How good was Anabaa's Creation or Hot N Dusty.  Let's look at the four races before the B.C. in those four races she faced how many graded stakes winners this year. I'll Wait -----------------------------------Yeah 1, she faced one graded stakes winner to the many that Rachel faced.  So its LIS that’s the graded stakes winner Zenyatta faced before the classic, compared to

Rachel beating, Four Gifts, Just Jenda, Gabby’s Golden Girl, Be Fair, General Quarters, MTB, Pioneer of the Nile, Take the Points, Musket Man, Papa Clem and Friesan Fire, Malibu Prayer, Flashing, Munnings, Summer Bird.  And you were saying something about competition again.

Lazmannick, did you get confused and mean to say you were talking about How Rachel faced much more.

funnycideoflife

By my logic?  All I’m stating is that Rachel’s time in the Mother Goose was on a super fast track.  I know for a fact that when Secretariat ran his Belmont, the dirt track was not particularly fast.  Here are the times of the dirt races when Secretariat won his Belmont:

• 1st – 1-1/16M - MSW – Trk Rec – 1.40.3  Race times – 1.43.4

• 3rd – 1-1/16M – AL NW2 – Trk Rec – 1.40.3 Race time – 1.43.1

• 4th – 1-M  - AL NW1 – Trk Rec - 1.33.3 – Race time – 1.35.1

• 5th – 1-M – Al NC – Trk Rec - 1.33.3 – Race time – 1.36

• 7th – 1-1/16M – AL NW4 – Trk Rec - 1.40.3 – Race time 1.40.4

• 8th – 1-1/2M – Bel. – Trk Rec 2.26.3 – Race time 2.24

The seventh race was 1/5th off the track record and in the 8th, the Belmont Secretariat broke the track record.  However, the times in the other races were average and these were all allowance horses, not $7,500 claimers. (By the way, the horse that ran the 1-1/16M in 1.40.4 was FOREGO.  The race was an allowance but was named the Phalanx Purse.  He came from behind and the 6-F time for a race of that stature was only 1.10.1, not particularly fast.  Forego did the rest on his own, the track didn’t help him).  Secretariat’s performance speaks for itself.  He did it himself without a rabbit or a super fast track.

Don’t compare Rachel’s Mother Goose to Dr. Fager’s world record for the mile.  True, AP was a pretty fast track in those days but remember that Dr. Fager led virtually all the way and ran his first 6-F in 1.07.3 while carrying 134 lbs.  He did not have two horses going all out at the beginning and setting fast fractions for him.  He did it himself.  Also, his preceding races on dirt were also extraordinarily fast including two, sub 1-1/4M efforts.

As far as Rachel defeating Zenyatta.....I doubt that would ever happen.  Zenyatta ran a 1.40.4, 1-1/16M in only her second lifetime race and she came from way back off a 1.10 6-F and still cruised by 3-1/2L.  In the 2008 Lady’s Secret at 1-1/6M she ran it in 1.40.1 off a 1.11.2 6-F and still won by 3 1/2L.  Both those performances are pretty darned good.  In her first start at 6-1/2F she got the distance in 1.15.1 in spite of being 8 1/4L back at the top of the stretch and she still won by 3L.  If you believe that she couldn’t run Rachel down at any distance from 7-F and up is wishful thinking.

Lazmmanick your horse Zenyatta is done and she is a California poly rubber champ and that is it.  She won nothing on dirt all year and doesn't belong in the same sentence as Rachel.  A horse that wins all her races but one on a poly track is a poly specialist pure and simple.  What races did she win outside of California this year?  How many wins does she have in her entire life at Churchill, Belmont, and Saratoga.  You know the most famous tracks we have in American racing.  NONE... NADA...ZERO.  A great poly horse but in the grand scheme of things 30 years from know all her poly wins won't mean a thing because you can't compare them to the other 150 years we have of racing on DIRT.

funnycideoflife- Laz would not put Secretariat's Belmont into that category because of the way it was done.  Negative splitting every quarter for 12 furlongs is unreal.  And Dr Fager was consistently a very fast horse and he was carrying alot of weight that day.  But you do have to be careful about times.  First and foremost is whether it is around one or two turns.  It makes a big difference.  Second is the pace.  And third is the condition of the track.  I was at Buckpasser's and Dr Fager's WR runs at Arlington Park.  The track was a freeway, the pace was extremely hot and it was around one turn.  All conditions for a very fast time. An Arizona horse just set the NA record for 6 furlongs.  I don't think it puts him in the elite sprinter bracket even though he has a Continent record.  

As far as match races are concerned, War Admiral's connections and most East Coast press thought that War Admiral had too much speed for Seabiscuit.  Seabiscuit's trainer trained his horse to run a different style, and the rest is history.  Many match races have been won by the horse that surprises the other with a whole different running style.  You can't assume that each horse will run the same style they employ in other races.

We are all split up the middle here!

RA fans, I can think of a thousand reasons why I think Zenyatta is better than RA, not knocking this great little filly, herself. But, what zen has amassed over two years. Now, I know RA has another year to go, so be it, she has some more to prove. Longer distances for one.

RA fans, You can think of a thousand reasons why you think RA is better than Zenyatta, I realize that.

I, like all the rest of you will will judge our own favorite horse compared to the other one, because we are all set on our own horse, and we aren't going to change either side's minds.I was following Zenyatta since last year. I expect Laz, footlick, vic s. mike relva and others have too. I have come to a conclusion that we are all like a one legged man is an ass kicking contest.

We are all going to remain the way we are now, nothing is going to change, at the end of the day, we still are going to be say? My horse is better than your horse!!  

If you really want to be fair and unbiased, then be it.  Admit that both horses ran basically against the same level of competition with the exception of LIS.  If you take her out of the mix, any one of Zenyatta's fillies and mares she ran against would be competitive with any one of the fillies that Rachel Alexandra ran against.  Admit that Rachel Alexandra ran two gutsy races against good company.  Admit that Rachel Alexandra ran a great race over a speed favoring track and had Summer Bird at a disadvantage in the Haskell.  Admit that Zenyatta ran the race of the year in the BCC.  Admit that Summer Bird was a much different horse in the Travers, JGC and BCC than in the Haskell- which is also supported by thoro-graph and ragozin numbers.  Admit that the BCC field was deeper than any field that Rachel Alexander ran against.  Admit that Rachel Alexandra was campaigned to win the HOY, and campaigned well for that purpose.  Admit that running style and pace play a big part of how the race unfolds and the final times.  To all of you who talk about reords, admit that Ruffian set or equaled more records in her shortened career than Rachel Alexandra has, and Ruffian did it running from 5.5 furlongs to 12 furlongs, and that she was a speed filly not a distance filly.  Admit that Genuine Risk's 1-2-2 finish in the Triple Crown, three races in 5 weeks, is as impressive as anything Rachel Alexandra has done, and the only filly she lost to that year was Bold n' Determined, who is in the Hall of Fame.  We can go on and on being biased, or we can realize that you can always find horses as or more impressive than the current horse in fashion.  If you don't think Zenyatta can beat Rachel Alexandra, you don't.  If you do, you do.  All I know is that we should be happy both horses didn't end up injured and retired sound.

And yes, Zenyatta retired sound.  Hopefully Rachel will too.  Just in case everyone is going to tell me Rachel Alexandra isn't retired.

DRAYNAY

I think it's a joke that you rail on Zenyatta when two months ago you gave her ZERO CHANCE in winning either Breeders' contest. You will never admit it,but she would have beaten your girl Music Note if she raced in the Ladies that day. Zenyatta has amazing talent and won last yr. ON DIRT against Ginger Punch. She can run on anything,without a doubt!

AFLEETALEXFOREVER

You are one to talk about "the mouth gets moving before the brain". Cause if you had a clue to anything in the "real world of racing" then it would be crystal clear that Zenyatta is a great horse! Almost in every post you slam her,when people in this game like Simon Bray,whom helped train the great Cigar,states she's one of the best he's encountered. Having a favorite is great,but slamming the other horse to raise RA is an example of poor sportsmanship! Do you really think for a sec that Zenyatta's connections really care or waste time being concerned what you and others' think about their superhorse? I HAVE GREAT RESPECT FOR RA also and defended Jacksons' decision not to run her in the Breeders',but the same respect hasn't been given to Zenyatta by many. So called fans of the game lose sight of the fact of a great gift we received by having two great horses to cheer for in Zenyatta and RA. Then some of the same idiots wonder why racing is in decline? Being a huge Zenyatta fan hasn't prevented myself from cheering for RA. The difference is I CAN APPRECIATE THE AMAZING TALENTS OF BOTH!

Mike I was 100% wrong about horses on a poly rubber track.  Great horses can run on anything? Not true. Zenyatta was a fair weather horse she never once ran on a off track and when she had a chance to prove herself on a off track they scratched her.  Rachel did it several times on a off track including against males in the Haskell.  Zenyatta proved this year she was the best poly rubber horse in the country.  She proved NOTHING on dirt this year.  She didn't win a single race all year on dirt or turf so you want to give a poly rubber horse an award like HOY?  Mike it's just plain silly.  She had twice as many G1 wins this year on that surface then all the other horses in the race combined in the Breeders Cup.  She took them on but on her own home track.  If she did it on dirt then you could talk but she didn't.  She beat a 7 year old Einstein and CJ who had not won on the surface all year.  Great! But tell what else did she do to win HOY.  What other spectacular performance did she have in a major race ?  Do you think this is the last time we will see a 5 year old horse go 5 for 5 for the year ?  Is that what you think?  Be honest what are the odds of seeing any horse do what Rachel did this year as a 3 year old filly?  All you have is one race over a poly rubber track to hang your hat on.  Every single year after the Santa Anita Derby I have to hear from California people how great the winner was and how he is going to tear up Churchill and every year since I can remember I have thrown out the winner of that race because I know he has no shot.  Zenyatta never won a single race at Belmont, Churchill or Saratoga and you want me to be impressed?  The greats win at the tracks where history has been made for 100 years.  Your poly specialist Zenyatta has no resume on dirt to compare to the all time greats so she will forever be remembered as a great California poly rubber horse and nothing more.  Her entire career is 14 races? Please.

Hey Mike Relva:

Hope you're having a good day.

LAZMANNICK

Hello,how are you? Just returned late Saturday nite from Calif,had a blast! Thanks for your loyality.

afleetalexforever

Rachel beating, Four Gifts, Just Jenda, Gabby’s Golden Girl, Be Fair, General Quarters, MTB, Pioneer of the Nile, Take the Points, Musket Man, Papa Clem and Friesan Fire, Malibu Prayer, Flashing, Munnings, Summer Bird.  And you were saying something about competition again.

Lazmannick, did you get confused and mean to say you were talking about How Rachel faced much more.

afleetalexforever 05 Dec 2009 10:26 PM

Alex......take the horses you listed above and any others that you might have missed and insert them into the BC Classic.......then try to calculate what their odds would have been and where they would have finished (you can even try to imagine at what point in the race Zen would have flashed by them).......You can even switch the Classic to dirt if you want and still include MTB and Summer Bird.  If you think that any of these would have defetd Zenyatta or even remotly give her trouble LOL.....Then take the fillies and insert them into the Lady's Classic (again on dirt if you want to).  Do you honestly think they would defeat LIS.  AGAIN LOL.

Lazmannick, Zenyatta didn't run on dirt all year.  And good thing the Breeders Cup wasn't run on dirt because if the track came up a little muddy we all know Zenyatta would have scratched !!!  To suggest a horse with no wins on dirt all year would suddenly take on the best dirt horses in the world and win is silly. I guess she would have won the turf races too.  Wow, neat idea let's just claim Zenyatta could win every race because of her fine performances on a poly rubber track in California all year.  Geez, whatever.

DRAYNAY

I won't try and dispute what you think regarding RA,cause I also like her and think she's something very special. I agree w/your opinion that we won't see a horse do what she did as a three yr. old. But,Haskin believes and many others' that Zenyatta can run on anything. It would have been nice to have seen her on dirt this year,but didn't happen. All I know is it's not her fault that the Breeders' was held on poly. She beat everyone in the gate that day.

All the negative comments on Zenyatta, I have to say, it shows pure jealousy. Why? listen folks, We Zenyatta fans don't call RA names like some of you call Zenyatta. It's stupid and childish. I respect RA, yes, I do, to me she hasn't met up to par against Zen, maybe at the end of another couple of years. If Ra gets the HOY, so be it, she ran in more races, but that doesn't make her better than zenyatta, no she is not.  The Mosses weren't chasing after a HOY, JJ was.

I highly honor the way the Mosses campaigned their gal, they love her and she is not just a token in a silly game, They were not after a HOY, or all the fame and glory they are recieving with Zen's accomplishments, it just came to them on a silver platter with the purchase of the silver charm herself, the mighty, the beautiful, the BOLD,...Zenyatta...!

Draynay:

I know where you can get a good video......the history of Zenyatta.  When it is released nationally you won't be able to miss it.  It will be titled........PERFECT!

CAROLYN

Well stated!

Carolyn,

    Despite what you think, RA fans aren't the only ones name calling. I've seen it on both sides and their extremists. I personally will not attack either on of them. I do disagree that Zenyatta was not pointed for HOTY, otherwise Moss wouldn't have raced her in the Classic. Had Rachel lost the Woodward or Haskell Moss wouldn't have felt the need to have Zenyatta run in the Classic. I could very well be wrong in that assumption, but the way he campaigned her all year, carefully and preservativly indicates that.

Mike I have nothing against Zenyatta at all.  Nothing.  But the history of racing in American is vast and deep and its on DIRT. With great races at Belmont, Saratoga, and Churchill.  The greatest horses in racing history have won races at these tracks.  Zenyatta not 1, Zero.

She won every race this year in California on a poly track.  Could she win against males on dirt?  We will never know.  Her times suggest no.  Could she do this or that?  Maybe but we will never know because she never tried.  She never even ran in mud but yet you think she can run on anything ? A five year old horse wins 5 races and you all go nuts.  A three year old filly wins 8 doing things no horse has EVER done and you want to ignore that and praise a older horse who is hanging its hat on 1 race ?  Terrible.

RA fans, I am sorry, but you are all overrating RA, she hasn't begun to race at 4 yet. all you can do is hope for the best. She may not be as good as a 4 year old as she was at a 3 year old. I'm sorry, but until she has proven to the world like Zen has, I'm not putting her on a pedastal, she has not yet earned her honors.

Say what you want about Zenyatta, but hey, she has earned hers and highly so at that.

Yes indeed, Ra is a great filly, and has had a great campaign in 09,with some great races, but we don't know what next year will be like for her. I will rate her at the end of next year, after that we will see if she is as good as Zenyatta, until then she is just a great filly with one great year.

Mike Relva,

These folks know how good Zen is, thats what has them scared,

Zen has nothing left to prove, and she has ended her career on a damn high note, high as it can be for a filly,

On the other hand, they are scared to death, you see they have got to hope and pray RA ends her career next year on a good note too. Except for the fact that RA has so many more hurdles to face.

This is why they continue to diminish Zen, they know she is PERFECT in every way,

They are running scared, they are fearful RA won' t be as good next year as this year. In most instances, they aren't better the next year.

I won't care if RA gets the HOY, her owner bought her with that intention, thats the only reason.

NO, the Mosses were not chasing that so they didn't ship her all over the place.

Mike, these people on here constantly putting Zen down, overlook them. Zen don't have nothing left to prove, she is Perfect as Perfect can be.

Lets see, after RA gets the meaningless statue and piece of paper, will that make her better than Zen, Hell No.

The next day, Zen will still be the Perfect creature she is and she has already amassed so many rewards and awards that hey, I don't believe the Mosses have much room left on the mantle after the awards she has already got.

On the other hand, we will always remember Zenyatta every year because her race "The Zenyatta" starts next year.

Ok so HOY may not be EVERYTHING. But fans of either horse has to admit that it would sound NICE. Plus, it is just FUN to discuss it, wouldn't you say? (Gives us something to do with our Monday nights)

On that note, here is my video argument for Rachel Alexandra for HOY:

www.youtube.com/watch

Dray, please don't say anything about Zenyatta and figures, If it had been up to beyers, Zenyatta would have never made it out of the gate in the classic, damm , and she won it.  Zenyatta proved that beyers is a crock of sh-t. I wouldn't put nothing on what he has to say ever!.  And if I'm not mistakened, Zenyatta ran her best on dirt.

LDP

I saw your latest bash at Zenyatta on your BLOG......Ventura for older Filly or Mare award......LOL

draynay

Your california/poly only win crap is far beyond old. Get some new material. You completely ignore the fact that Zenyatta was all lined up to be the one to take on the burden of travel and come east and face RA in the Beldame but RA's connections chickened out and ducked it. I realize its convienient for you to ignore that fact in order to continue your rants about Zenyatta racing in california only. There was no reason outside of facing RA for Zenyatta to leave california. They made an honest attempt and RA ducked the invite. Your rants ignoring that point are ridiculous. They knew Zenyatta would have whipped RA and it would have ruined any chance of HOY. RA's connections failed to put it all on the line by facing the best out there. Zenyattas connections had the confidence and courage to go to the next step once ducked by RA and put it on the line against the best oot there by going in the Classicand we all know the result. Anyway it shakes out RA will NEVER accomplish what Zenyatta did when she became the first filly or mare to win a Classic and RA will never retire undefeated. In fact RA was whipped by 8+ lengths by Sara Louise who lost the Ladies Classic by 20-30 lengths to a horse Zenyatta whipped 3 times!! Career wise that says it all.

Draynay we have heard this from the East before.  "Polytrack Champ!"  The question is not that Zenyatta failed to leave California but rather how many times did RA race in California?  Just ask Music Note where the competition was...or did she just not take to synthetics?  It's funny how the East just dismisses horses like I Want Revenge and Pioneer of the Nile as being "Polytrack Champs" as well.  Now tell me why this calaber of horse from California has no problem shifting to dirt and at the same time the "same" calaber (Music Note) can't seem to take to synthetics?  That my friend is the Eastern bias.  Sorry the Eastern, and in particular the New York, based horses continue to loose on Breeder's Cup Day.  But come on.  What is Pletcher's record on dirt or sytnthetics come BC or Triple Crown Time.  To call Zenyatta a "Poly Specialist" is like calling Easy Goer (who never won a race outside New York) the "New York State Champion."  Perhaps he would have done better if they had had Poly.

Laz,

    Did you see Zenyatta One in a Zillion, I'll bet not. Why not read before you speak. Also tell me where I bashed her? Did I say she was a poor racehorse anywhere that I'm not aware of NO! I stated an opinion, because Ventura has traveled more and has faced better, while Zenyatta stayed in Cali all year long. Ventura took on others at their best, while the best Zenyatta face was on her home surface that not every horse likes. Seven furlongs on synthetics is ID's best, Gio Ponti is best on turf, and she was beaten by them that way. Exuse me for having an opinion, which is by the way not bashing.

DRAYNAY

One thing I've learned from you is that many instances you have much knowledge on racing. As far as horses of the past,you've done your homework. But,like I told you I have much respect for RA and owner,(not trainer). I'm a fan of RA's also.

CAROLYN

Hi,I don't ever listen to anything that Andy Beyer writes!

THUMP!!!.....

Down goes the eastcoast biased Zenyatta haters--Down goes the eastcoast biased Zenyatta haters!!...7-8-9...ding,ding,ding.

DRAYNOT

It's most appreciate your comment you posted a few weeks ago about my loyality for Zenyatta. Thanks!

What don't you people understand? How many wins does The Bid have on a poly rubber track?  What about Secretariat ?  How about Alydar ? All the top 10 greats of all time have ZERO wins on a poly rubber track.  The entire history of California poly racing is 4 years. In the 4 year history of California poly racing Zenyatta is the best.  But our DIRT racing history is 150+ years and the greats have won at Churchill, Belmont and Saratoga.  You all claim what Zenyatta did was earth shattering but is it really.  Zenyatta is the first Mare to win the Breeders Cup on a poly track and probably the last. We can't really put into scope what Zenyatta has done because we have very little history to go on.  Her claim to fame this year is 5 wins on poly tracks.  Rachels claim to fame is historic wins on numerous tracks at various tracks around the country winning races on dirt including the Woodward that even the great Secretariat could not win.  100 years from now if we still have poly California tracks it is then we will be able to see if what Zenyatta did was all that amazing.  As it stands now half the time the Breeders Cup is run on poly a female wins.

The "Bald Eagle" only put 2 races (both 1 1/4) into Sunday Silence between his second place finish in the Belmont and the Breeder's Cup Classic.  That's a span of about 5 months.  5 months with only 2 races!  What a master horseman.

Rachel Alexandra is overrated? A horse that was the first fily to win the Preakness in 85 years, the first filly to win the Woodward at all, and a filly who ran faster than Ruffian is overrated? Carolyn, how can you say that she is overrated because she hasn't run at 4 and isn't undefeated? Zenyatta never ran as a two-year old! Secretariat lost FIVE times and never ran at 4, and anyone who calls her better than Secretariat needs to check their medication. If you compare both Rachel and Zen at the end of their three year old years, you CAN'T compare because Rachel towers over Zenyatta, and you can't deny it. As long as Rachel maintains her interest in racing she has no where to go but up, and based on what I've read about her morning jogs during which she is bucking and rearing, any horse that dares to step in the starting gate with her in 2010 better watch out!

What DRAYNAY doesn't seem to understand is that the Bid and Secretariat and Alydar and Affirmed.....all the greats would have excelled on the California synthetics.  I'll also bet that if there was a Breeders Cup back in their day they wouldn't have taken the day (or the rest of the year off) either.  They would have been there front and centre like all true competitors.....no whining or complaining or making excuses for them.

LDP

Of course I saw One in a Zillion.  I read a lot of what you write.  Having a BLOG like yours it's appropriate to pay respect to all, mainly because you're caught between a rock and a hard place.  You have to try and be fair to every horse.  That said, why say one thing that is kind of condescending (so you can drive your point home) and then ome back with something else that condradicts what you said in the first place?  That's the bash.  How can you say that Ventura, who didn't even win on BC day, is more worthy of the award for older filly or mare than Zenyatta who one the biggest race on BC day? The excuse of course is the tired one that it was only one race.....what else did she do?  And then after you say it, you pay tribute to Zenyatta.  It's like you have your tongue in you cheek and you're paying tribute only because you have to otherwise you would be construed as being biased.

Householder are you kidding me?  Horses have been bred forever to run on turf or dirt.  Horses have not been bred to run on a poly rubber track.  As a percentage very few horses can run on the poly surface and even fewer trainers train on it.  The number of dirt horses is much greater therefore Rachel faces a much larger pool of horses.  Deny it if you like but facts are facts.  Easy Goer ?  What year did he win HOY ?

It just gets more laughable everytime I read this blog.  Laz, Carolyn, Mike et all- they are never going to give Zenyatta any respect.  I won't even comment on it anymore.  It's becoming foolish.

Householder- I agree.  He was one of the great trainers of all time.

LDP

What horses did Ventura face that were better than the field that Zenyatta humbled in the Classic?  Rahy's Attorney is over-rated for sure.  Do you honestly think he would defeat Gio Ponti?  He raced tough in 2008, but not this year and their camp is so desperate that they changed jockies to try and improve him and it didn't do much.  Fernely, who was second in the Woodbine Mile, finished well up the track in the BC Mile.  Sterwins who was third in the Woodbine Mile is a G-3 at best.  Also, Gio Ponti defeated Ventura and Gio was defeated by Zenyatta and don't give me that crap that he is best on turf.  He races well on synthetics and has proven it.  I could go on and on.  And guess what, Ventura only raced six times this year and outside of a trip to Keenland with a swing up to Woodbine, her season was confined to California.

RA won on dirt only this year. Zenyatta won on three (3) different types of surfaces, Cushion Track, Polytrack, and Pro-Ride. Only an uneducated boob would think those 3 are the same surface. They may be artificial surfaces but they are different. In that respect Zenyatta won on a larger range of surfaces than RA.

Oh how we all would have loved to see a race that included both these great horses. The fact of the matter is that Zenyatta was all set to come east to face RA in the Beldame until Ra's connections decided they wanted no part of that scenario. In my book they lost HOY right then and there. Rail all you want about Zenyatta racing in California only, the truth is they were willing to do the travel but RA ducked the race so they stayed home and went after bigger and better things by winning the Classic.

Easy Goer never won outside of New York State ? Lol... you have to be kidding. Unreal.

draynay,

Let's look at "history" in another perspective. Dirt racing has a long and storied history. Horses have been bred seemingly forever to run on dirt and in alot of cases bred for stamina. RA is one of those bred to do both. In reality what she accomplished is only to do what she was bred for. That in itself is not out of the ordinary. There have been legions of horses who were bred to do just that and have been champions.

Artificial surfaces like those in California have been around only a few years. There is not enough history to fall back on to breed specifically for those surfaces and I know of no horse bred to do just that. Certainally Zenyatta wasn't bred specifically to run on fake crap. In that respect Zenyatta has accomplished another thing RA has not. Zenyatta has dominated on a surface she was not specifically bred to run on.

RA has done what many before her and many after will do. Bred to go a distance on dirt and win most of the time. Taken out of that element she's been whipped at 4 1/2 f, 6f, and at a mile on her preferred surface.

Zenyatta's never been whipped by another horse and never will be on any surface or at any distance. She's even won at 6 1/2 f which is a very tough thing to do with a dead closer, not to mention going a career as a dead closer and not being beat.

Looking at the history of racing Zenyatta has bucked her specific breeding to go outside that element and dominate. RA hasn't.

Mike let me make this real easy for all of you Zenyatta fans.

Rachel at 3 went undefeated winning at Saratoga, Belmont and Churchill.  Name another horse in the history of racing to do that.

Well Armed is another California based "Polytrack" champion who could transfer his form.  A 15 length winner in Dubai!  

"You all claim what Zenyatta did was earth shattering but is it really."

"As it stands now half the time the Breeders Cup is run on poly a female wins."

Draynay 08 Dec 2009 7:49 PM

draynay,

You spend way too much time putting down Zenyatta with ridiculous statements like those above. The same ridiculous ideas can be spun and used against RA too.

Before I go on I'll make an emphatic statement that I believe both Zenyatta and RA are extrordinary animals who did some remarkable things this year.

The following is just an example of what one could say about RA by using the same twisted logic (if you can really call it logic)that you use against Zenyatta.

One could say that you claim what RA did was earth shattering but is it really?

As it stands now only 4 Filles in the last 70 years have run in the Preakness and 3 of them (75%) finished in the money. Using your logic nay nay that's no big deal either then what RA did.

Furthermore only 2 three year old fillies have ever run in the Woodward so half the time a 3 year old filly runs in the Woodward a 3 yr old filly wins. Same twisted logic as your female on poly in the Classic crap (1 for 2). The crap you spew most of the time is ridiculous and it's predictable just like a little kid.

By the way Mike Relva,

Your are welcome, I'm surprised you caught that statement. What's more to my liking is that you stuck by Zenyatta without going the route of a nay nay and ridiculing others accomplishments.

Draynay

Close with regards to Easy Goer.  Of his 14 career wins (incidently that's the same number of wins that Zen has) only the Swale was outside of New York.

Give it up Draynay....know when to fold 'em.You Zenyatta bashers/RA fiends(not friends) are getting more desperate by the day.The truth hurts,and the truth is: What Zenyatta accomplished in taking the BCClassic is more 'dynamic' and 'difficult' than anything your beloved Rachel did the whole year.She's going down in history as one of the Greatest horses of All time and you're to knuckle-headed to recognize/admit it.I'll bet if she was east coast based and raced exclusively @ Saratoga,Belmont & Aqueduct you  would be praising her as the next best thing to Carne Asada Tacos.

Also,Zenyatta at 3,4 & 5 yrs.old went undefeated in her WHOLE career racing @ Hollywood Park,Del Mar,Oaklawn Park & Santa Anita,where 'Champions' run.Name another horse in the history of racing to accomplish that,if you're playing that card.Seeing is believing,and by watching RA barely hold-on against....wait for it.....MTB & Macho,it's only logical that Zenyatta would have no problem running her down.JJackson & crew knows it and they didn't want a piece of the Amazon.He went for The Trophy instead.

Zenyatta has never been whipped blah blah blah.  Would you like to compare Zenyatta's accomplishments at 3 with Rachel's ? I didn't think so. She wins one big race all year and you guys are all mouth.  Zenyatta averages less then 4 races a year and somehow you think she should be crowned Queen.  It really is laughable.  What did Zenyatta do at 2?  What did Zenyatta do at 3?  Compare it to what Rachel has done and then get back with me.  Draynot if you're going to come to the table don't come empty handed next time. You got nothing as always.  Trying to compare Easy Goer to Zenyatta is a joke.  Zenyatta doesn't even compare to Azeri.

Carlos let me fill you in. Zenyatta is going to go down in history as the best poly horse ever.  Don't think for a minute anyone is going to place her top 10 in history.  Her one win against males is just that one win.  2010 will be Rachel Alexandra's year all over again and your poly specialist will be nothing but a distant memory.  With no wins at Saratoga, Churchill, or Belmont she is just a glorified Peppers Pride.

Draynay

Try Personal Ensign, (BEL, SAR CD), but at Churchill she won a real chmpionship race against actual G-1 winners(incidentally so did Zenyatta).  It was called the BC Distaff.  (Actually come to think about it, Zenyatta also won the Classic so I guess that puts her into another league).  LOL

DRAYNAY

I've stated many times that I greatly respect RA and think she's truly a "superhorse". BTW,Simon Bray thinks Zenyatta is one of the best he's ever seen.

Geez Draynay

I was just looking at Rachel's line in the Woodward in the DRF PP......It read Rachel Alexandra 1st, Macho Again 2nd, Bullsbay 3rd and Fully Extended 4th.....Fully Extended?  I looked at Zen's PP to see if she had ever raced against that horse Fully Extended.  Guess what?  I couldn't find any such horse.  Then it dawnd on me, Fully Extended isn't a horse, it's a description of Rachel's frantic finish against Macho Again.

Unbelievable!...

If you really think that Zenyatta doesn't compare to Azeri or that she's a glorified Pepper's Pride,then you're in worst shape than I thought. Neither I nor the Dalai Lama can help you now. I give up! You can lead a horse to water,but....

www.time.com/.../0,28804,1945379_1944649_1944662,00.html

Need I say more !!!

Lazmannick Personal Ensign did not win at all 3 tracks as a 3 year old but thanks for playing.

Draynay

Your little ditty about Rachel said 5. Phenominal filly.  Does that mean she was fifth?

I also read where is stated "held off a furious push from Mine That Bird to win the race by a length."

It seems to me that I read somewhere about MTB suffering from a severe case of SONIC BOOM when Zenyatta took off and decided to thrash that stellar group in the Classic.

People: Enough with the Rachel/Zenyatta stuff. Seriously. It's old and boring. You have each made your points a thousand times. Its done. Move on. I am ending this stuff once and for all, for my sanity. Go to a new blog if you feel the need to write the same garbage over and over again.

Lol....

Draynot,

I couldn't agree more with you. Pay no attention to the man behind the nay nay. First of all you don't need his permission to come here and second of all he doesn't even know who he's talking at most of the time. I didn't miss the fact that he railed on you about Easy Goer when you never even mentioned that horse anywhere. The man is a very confused individual.