Fielding Candidates for Broodmare of the Year

(By Scot T. Gillies)

The Blood-Horse MarketWatch special Broodmare of the Year issue comes out in March, and frankly, I can't wait. In addition to being one of our most popular editions, the subject is one of my personal favorites. What's not to love?  Stories about 10 mares that had a major impact on U.S. racing last year, with their histories and statistics and photos--and the intrigue of a contest to see which one earns the title of Broodmare of the Year.

One of the reasons I enjoy this issue so much is that it allows me to work with some of the best minds in Thoroughbred pedigrees, and our "2010 Broodmare of the Year" issue will be stronger than ever. Alan Porter, Avalyn Hunter, and Ann Ferland return to profile top mares, and they're joined by top pedigree thinkers Anne Peters, Christine Wittmer, and Ian Tapp. The writing line-up is completed by Blood-Horse editors Eric Mitchell and Evan Hammonds plus MarketWatch staffers Tom Hall and me. Watch the blog for a Broodmare of the Year download--coming March 10--and make sure to cast your vote for the broodmare with the best record in 2010. As we did last year, we will have a Fan Poll on the MarketWatch Blog. The Official Poll will be a benefit of subscribing to the professional newsletter or downloading the Broodmare of the Year special report.

I'm not bringing up all of this just to get you as excited as I am about Broodmare of the Year--we're still more than four weeks away from the big vote, after all. I'm actually looking for MarketWatch Blog readers to play a more active role in the process.

We've decided on most of the nominees, but we want your input to help decide which mares make the final slots.

Here are the rules:

1. You can nominate as many mares as you'd like, but only one per comment. If you mention muliple mares in a single comment, only the first one will be counted.
2. Mares should be nominated for their progeny accomplishments in 2010 rather than for "lifetime achievement."  (Personal Ensign was a great broodmare, but since she didn't have any stakes-winning runners in 2010, she's not eligible.  And Zenyatta hasn't had any foals yet--so no fair nominating her as a great "potential" broodmare.)
3. Simply naming a mare is weak. To convince us that she deserves a spot on the list of nominees, pitch us your specific reasons. (Did she have multiple stakes winners in 2010? Did she pass $3 million in progeny earnings? Did she have a stakes-producing daughter or a good stallion son in addition to a 2010 stakes winner?