Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

derbyfan — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 13:26:55 GMT

I don't feel HOY should go to Goldi only because she raced here once. Do you think the Euoros considered an American horse for their HOY award? Call me prejudiced, but I'm for an American horse for HOY. In the BCC, Blame won by a headbob. Z won in 2009, and still didn't get HOY. Who's to say the horses she ran against are any better than the horses Blame ran against. Blame is a great horse, Zenyatta is a greater horse. Give her her due credit.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Livesoutwest — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 04:48:49 GMT

Goldikova's crushing win over a quality field was an absolutely memorable moment. But Blame gets Moment of the Year for his thrilling win over Zenyatta in the Classic. It was his day, as shown by him striding away from Zenyatta on his own after the finish line, he wasn't tiring at all. I just don't think she catches him on that day, regardless of whether she hadn't had the bad start, minor traffic woes or any of the the other variables fans have pointed out.

So does that also make Blame HOY? Sure you can make a case for him - a strong case. But I still give it to Zenyatta due to the clunker Blame threw in the JCGC. If he had made any sort of competitive run at Haynesfield at all down the stretch, I would go the other way and vote for him. But at the end of the day, Zenyatta won or nearly won every race she ran in this year including the one against Blame and he did not. He's still at least the Champion Older Male and that's a proud accomplishment. I wasn't expecting Goldikova to make the ballot in this category and I'm wondering which of the two favorites she'll take more votes away from.

And Todd Pletcher is hands down Trainer of the Year. And no, I won't take it away from him for his mishandling of Life At Ten in the Ladies Classic. And I personally have good cause to hate the guy, she was my key bet for the whole BC! Nevertheless, his overall year was by far the best of any trainer. And if he does win, I don't want to hear any nonsense about "East Coast Bias" from the conspiracy nuts. Two of the three Trainer Of The Year finalists are West Coast-based this year.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Householder — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 19:39:25 GMT

The Breeder's Cup Classic does not decide HOY.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Virgil — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:20:18 GMT

Sports Illustrated Top 10 Female Racehorses of All Time: sportsillustrated.cnn.com/.../content.10.html

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Scenceable — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 00:53:37 GMT

I would love to see Zen win HOY but won't be surprised if she doesn't. She ran in grade 1 races all year so the opinion that she ran against "nothing" is exaggerated.

The thing is, the Mosses ran Zenyatta in the exact same races she ran in last year. They knew those races weren't good enough to get HOY, even if she won all of them. So even if people think the races she ran in were against good competition, based on last year, we can conclude the voters didn't think so. It wasn't good enough last year, and they knew that. So they can't complain if they lose this year. If they wanted HOY, they should have run elsewhere. It doesn't matter that she ran in grade 1s, that she did so well, because last year dictated those races weren't good enough. They were basing a lot on chance- that zenyatta would win all the races like last year, AND no horse would have a decent campaign to compete with her. Neither of those came to be, so they can't whine about HOY.

Yes, she was campaigned appropriately, and taken slowly, allowed to develop. None of these things are bad. The owners shouldn't be pressured to race in spots they don't think are right for their horse. So it's stupid she loses horse of the year for being "conservative", only racng in 6 grade 1s (only...) but oh well.

They knew the criteria last year and ignored it. The races she ran in 2009 weren't good enough for HOY and they ran her in the same ones again. What do they expect.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Stacey — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 19:55:06 GMT

Rowner,

That's the problem, isn't it? Zenyatta might in fact be the better horse but her connections never let her prove it on the track. And now we'll never know.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Fran — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 22:42:09 GMT

It is a very difficult decision for horse of the year. There is no criteria other than at least one race in North America. The question comes up with regard to the choice because do you vote for the horse that one believes can beat the competition or do you vote for a great horse who has also made a massive contribution to the industry which seems to be failing at a great pace because of a lack of leadership. The voting is left to ones opinion and some of those voting may have their own agenda. Just as the people who blog, everyone has a strong opinion. It is apparent that a horse does not need to nor is required to win the BC. The 2009 Horse of the year did not run in the BC nor was she entered. Then there is the issue of the Eastern tracks vs the Western tracks. It is my opinion that whether the horse runs in the East or West is not a factor. Running on dirt, turf, asphalt, flour, wet, dry, rain filled tracks, or snow makes no difference. Mare or stallion or gelding-I don't care. What I care about is a horse who won five grade 1 races, beat most of the top boys in racing (except one of course) and a horse who has made a massive contribution to the racing industry. And, there is no question that the racing industry needs mega stars. Therefore, I don't see how there could be any question regarding Horse of the Year. Her name is Zenyatta.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

NotRealQuiet — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:39:39 GMT

Fran, thank you for mentioning that touching moment with Curlin and Backtalk--I am a loyal fan of Backtalk and even though he isn't his father, in my heart he is! Happy New Year!

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Robin L., Ventura, CA — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 23:57:15 GMT

I vow that if Zenyatta is not named HOY, it will be the last Eclipse Awards broadcast I ever watch.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Mary in VT — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 20:29:38 GMT

The way this year unfolded I was of the mind that the Classic should decide Horse of the Year. That is .. until I saw how that race unfolded. I had completely failed to imagine a race in which Zenyatta didn't catch a break. Zenyatta didn't even catch a piece of a break and nearly caught Blame who had every step his way on his favorite track.

Many times I have heard tv commentators, turf writers, and others in the know point out how the best horse in some race didn't necessarily win due to circumstances. So I know it happens. And you know it too. And that is exactly what I saw in this year's Classic. Based on that one race, if I could have either horse, I'd take Zenyatta. And I love Blame. Loved him in every one of his races. Loved every step he took. Zenyatta showed me more.

So what befouled her in the Classic? The horse whose connections insisted she was better on dirt? It wasn't Mike Smith, that's for sure. He did all that was humanly possible on her behalf. Wasn't that post race interview the saddest thing you ever saw? He couldn't bare to have her rep tarnished so he took it all on himself.

But she looked like hell on that track early on. She hated it. My theory is that she was not properly prepared for the race of her life on dirt against the toughest field she would ever face. For Pete's sake, couldn't they have found her enough races against overmatched fillies on DIRT so that she would have a chance to get well used to dirt in her face? The short field in the Apple Blossom clearly didn't have the potential to do it. By the time you get to the Classic, dirt in the face should not have been the major factor that it was. To me, it is unthinkable that they let their dedicated come from the clouds runner go into the Classic at Churchill Downs completely unprepared to have buckets of dirt in her face. Couldn't they have worked her behind enough other horses to simulate the dirt she was gonna get thrown at her in the Classic? These people do have other horses? Hello? Why didn't they just tie one leg behind her back? Heck, if it was me, I'd invent something mechanical if I had to in order to get that horse used to running with lots of dirt in her face.

Three years running Zenyatta's connections did not execute a nimble enough campaign to have HOY all sewn up prior to the Breeder's Cup, and then they feel bad when they don't get it, and make us feel bad too. But that is exactly what has beaten them twice so far. Curlin didn't win the Classic but still got HOY because of his impressive body work prior to the Breeder's Cup. Rachel Alexandra didn't even run in the Breeder's Cup and still got HOY because of her unprecedented 3 YO campaign prior to the fall championships. At least this year it was closer, with several horses standing about equal with each other so that a win in the Classic could very well hand it to them.

Zenyatta hated that dirt in her face and ran very poorly early on. She was waaaaaaay too far back. She was not moving comfortably at all. How she overcame that I will never know. But overcome it she did. She overcame her lack of preparation for the race of her life, she overcame her synthetic career, and she left good horses for dead while coming just a few inches shy of catching Blame who was enjoying the perfect trip on his favorite track. Quality Road. Left for dead. Lookin' at Lucky. Left for dead. So many other Grade 1 winning males. Left for dead in the Classic.

And we finally got to see what we have all been wanting to see .. Zen full out. I will never forget THAT as long as I live. Admit it. You won't either. AB-SO-LUTELY unreal. Can you say that about Blame full out? Or does he just fit in well with a bunch of other nice horses you have seen race?

So .. first place money in the Classic can by no means be the decider here. Not the way this race unfolded. Not by a long shot. But the Classic does decide it for me. Zenyatta did more, showed more, overcame more than all the rest of that field of horses combined. Zenyatta should be Horse of the Year.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

PomDeTerre — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 12:00:02 GMT

While taking nothing away from Goldkova, the Eclipse Awards represent the best in North America. A shipper coming to the states for a single starts, then being placed back n the plane for the return trip home, no matter how great, should not be eligible for this award.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Linda/Maryland — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 06:18:10 GMT

Zenyatta is the Horse of the Year fir 2010~!!

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Amanda — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 03:29:50 GMT

As this was said by a trainer. Every year we have a horse of the year but there is only one Zenyatta! No matter what she IS the horse, whether she wins or loses HOY it will not take away anything from her fans and what she has given us. She is our horse of a lifetime.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Racingfan — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:32:20 GMT

Alex, while I think the "moment of the year" award is a step in the right direction to allow the fans to be involved, I do not think it is the same as having a "fan favorite" horse to vote for. I also think the Eclipse voting should be changed to a point system to take out the subjectivity that denies certain horses their due. If there are those who still REALLY want a vote, maybe it could count for a percentage of the total points (maybe 10 or 20%). I believe England does it in a similar way to that..? And lastly, I strongly feel the rules need to be changed from one start in the US, to including only horses "based in the US". No horse who runs once or even twice here should get the Eclipse in my opinion. When our horses win in other countries, I do not see us winning their top awards and rightly so.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Racingfan — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 02:09:53 GMT

For those choosing Blame as HOTY, you are making a subjective decision that he had the "better year" or the "tougher competition". The actual statistics compared head to head do not show that. I have read several comparisons of their seasons based on different point systems so far, and each time Zenyatta has won. The fact is that you are all penalizing Zenyatta for running almost strictly against females. As if ALL males are superior, therefore Blame's competition was so much tougher. The only top rung horse he beat was Quality Road and Zenyatta beat him too. Some of the same people had said previously that if Lookin At Lucky had won the Breeders Cup, he should be HOTY in spite of running almost strictly against 3 year olds, so the "open company" argument does not hold water either. So I say, for once, give credit where credit is due and give Zenyatta her award!

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Rowner — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:33:40 GMT

Way to many of you are way to wrapped up in this HOY thing. Truth be told the race for HOY between Zenyatta and Blame I think the fans should have a small percentage of the vote maybe have it weigh in at 20% or something similar. My reasoning is, that w/o the fans where would Horse racing be? I like the point system by someone on this blog, would be interesting to see other horses like Blind Luck or Life at Ten. No way is Pletcher top trainer wish Life at Ten wasn't in his barn. As much as I don't like giving a award for one race Goldikova was probably the best horse on BC day and the year. She had better competition and proved her superiority on BC day. Blame and Zenyatta can't claim that kind of competition, in fact I think they were about even as far as quality of competition. Life at Ten for older mare her campaign was far more challenging than Zen's although I do think Zenyatta is the better horse.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Rachel4Ever(aka-MtBFan) — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 00:18:55 GMT

Blame has never needed "excuses" why he "actually" won; winning 9 of 13 starts is almost 70% of all his starts! He's never been worse than 3rd, and he was second in the Jockey Club Gold Cup, one of the ultimate tests, esp. considering how inconsistent horses can be these days. He also captured the Stephen Foster, Fayette, Clark, Whitney, oh, and the Breeders' Cup Classic, driving hard to keep his place. Not a spectacular drive-away but a respectable win. Look around my room and you'll see Zenyatta is an honored horse in my Roladex of good horses, but she's not Horse of the Year. Fantastic overall, but not OF THE YEAR. One race as last year proved, does not qualify HOTY. She is older female, though, by far. Take it away, girl.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Virgil — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 20:44:27 GMT

Well, one thing that’s become clear with the publication of statements on who’s voting for Horse of the Year and why is what a haphazard selection this is. There isn’t any real criteria or standard of excellence that’s used. Each creates their own standards and votes by that. There have been instances this year where one set of reasons for voting for a horse have been the same reasons for not voting by someone else. There’s no consensus; it’s an aggregation that happens to yield a result. Whoever isn’t selected should probably feel relieved. It would be interesting to see what would happen if actual horsemen were to vote. Academy Awards voting is more equable. At least they don’t have the pretense its objective. What a sham and what a waste. And if you think this year is any exception, take a look at some of the quotes in Claire Novak’s column on Horseracing/ESPN.com: sports.espn.go.com/.../story.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Rachel — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 19:54:29 GMT

Gary Tasich: While Zenyatta had 19 wins 17 in filly/mare and 2 in open and I have LOVED every minute of watching this phenominal mare...she is no Cigar. ♥ He is the best winning streak horse in my lifetime.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Steve — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 16:13:55 GMT

Undefeated Turbulent Descent has a substantial Beyer advantage over Awesome Feather and other 2yo Fillies ( see stats at www1.drf.com/.../2yo-female.pdf )

TD's campaign started too late for a BC entry (MSW Oct 3rd). 94 Beyer in Hollywood Starlet is fastest for 2yo filly all year at 1 mile or longer.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Carl — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 13:04:40 GMT

The award is for excellence. Blame had a great day and is the only one to have any bragging rights when it comes to Zenyatta. Good for him.

However, is there any doubt who was actually the best horse or the day and showed what a true champion is made of.

Curlin ran 4th and was HOY. Rachel didn't even show up and was HOY. Curlin only ran on one surface. Zenyatta 3 different synthetics and 2 dirt.

Rachel beat the boys but not the same quality Zenyatta did 2009.

Zebyatta won at a 1 1/4 miles the American Classic distance against the best in the world. Rachel never went past a 1 3/16. In fact if there had been two more jumps she would have been beat by Mine That Bird. So, if the race had of been at a 1 1/4 should of Mine That Bird been HOY.

She beat the best males in 2009 and all but 1 in 2010 in a very troubled trip.Is to be denied because of surface? Competition? How phony. So this year she spots them 16 lengths, has everything go wrong and then gets beat by a head bob proved she can handle surface, over come extensive problems, and still provide a photo finish. I will also bet if there had been another 10 feet she would have won.

Let's see, the excuse was that Curlin only got beat because of the synthetic surface. So why is it there a pass on Curlin and not Zenyatta. Curlin lost by 4, Zenyatta by a dirty head bob. Double standards??? Appears so!

Has anyone even taken into consideration that the of the toll than had to have occurred over the extreme attention that was placed on Zenyatta from the day she arrived in Kentucky.

She handled it well and racing has to take their hat off to her connections for allowing the public to participate and be part of her legacy. But, it certainly had to raise her stress level. Would "Shug" have allowed the public to do the same at his barn?

However, her connections have never once noted or used this in any way as an excuse.

In fact, I can't remember a time when any of her connections have ever made an excuse?

I believe Tom Amoss said it best in his commentary during on last year's Breeders Cup and HOY.

If Zenyatta is not HOY of the year there will be no doubt about the fact of that there is an extreme East Coast prejudice. That there is no consideration for fair play, and that the top levels of racing are exclusive and not inclusive.

The final out come will then be that the award has no credibility from that day forward.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Jordan — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:49:49 GMT

According to the official Eclipse definition for Horse of the Year is..."horse regardless of age, whose performance is deemed the most outstanding for the racing year".

Now please help me out. How in the world is Blame losing to a horse by four and a half lengths considered outstanding. Consider all in the fact that the same horse just lost to an ex-claimer a few backs.

Further, how is winning a Grade 3 considered outstanding? What's with that? A Grade 3 race?

Again, how is beating an injured horse in the Foster considered outstanding?

How is struggling to get past a tiring Quality Road all the while getting 5 lbs from him considered outstanding?

Sorry, Blame does not pass the smell test.

Zenyatta, the winner of 5 Grade 1 races and being the best horse in the Classic is considered outstanding.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Manny — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:43:02 GMT

John,

Outstanding post. Some people want us to hold our noses with Blame and vote for him.

Ain't going to happen.

Zenyatta is the symbol of what the Horse of the Year Award stands for.

..."Oustanding...performance...raceyear...".

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Zen girl — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:27:21 GMT

In my opinion Zenyatta is not just Horse of the Year but Horse of the Century. I have been around horses all my life and she is like no other. I am sorry that more people have not experienced her in person...she is the Queen. And not only a beautiful animal but with a competitive spirit and talent that few can match. Her record of 19 straight wins should be enough. The racing industry will do itself a grave disservice not to make her Horse of the Year. The east coast may not fully understand her popularity but it is her heart which people connected to. Sometimes God gives you glimpses into greatness and for me Zenyatta is it.

Racing is in trouble for a multitude of reasons. One is they have done little to protect horses after racing and continue to race 2 year olds hard and the public doesn't like that. Another is you can sit on your couch and watch races without ever entering a track even betting from home. And the competition from other sports and activities had made going to the track a more occassional event.It used to be one of the only places you could gamble - now it is just one in a long line.

Zenyatta did bring lots of excitment and people to the track in California and thousands came to see her at BC. They were routing for her. That is why it went quiet at the Breeder's Cup when Blame won. One head bob and the whole thing would have been differnt. I was at the finish line. She had the momentum. People were disappointed that after such a tremendous effort, this special horse didn't get one last go at the winner's circle. She is a winner and people wanted to share that experience with her. Blame is certainly a great horse and so is Rachel Alexander but Zenyatta is so much more. It will be interesting. The Eclipse voters will get a chance to include the public by making Zenyatta Horse of the Year. She is the people's choice and she should be their choice too.

re: Eclipse Awards Voting Deadline Looms

Michelle — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 03:49:30 GMT

Jimmy

Do me a favor and look up the 2010 racing records of the horses that Blame ran against this year before the Breeder's Cup. I think you will be shocked to see that Quality Road was the only real competition he had. Just because the races were "open company" doesn't mean the competition was stellar.