So was/is Stay Thirsty the Top 3yr for 2011?

[sammy the sage]

Or can the filly Royal Delta take him?

I'm just tired of looking at those other 2 irrelevant threads :rolleyes:

[letswastemoney]

I don't think a filly should overtake the males as top 3 year old until the filly runs against those males and proves it on the track.

[Tom]

The year ain't over yet.

[ManU918]

Royal Delta? Turbulent Descent has accomplished just as much as her this year. No way she takes down three year old of the year.

[Patrick333]

I think it goes to the 3 year old who runs best in the Breeders' Cup.

[rastajenk]

Is there such a thing as "Three Year Old of the Year?" Who gives that award?

[cj]

Is there such a thing as "Three Year Old of the Year?" Who gives that award?

It is an Eclipse Award given to both 3 year old male and 3 year old female.

[Robert Fischer]

STAY THIRSTY - great for the sport right now. If he wins another prep or contends for the win in the Classic, should be tough to beat.


I have Animal Kingdom as the best 3yo this year.
His Derby was the best 3yo classic IMO.
If we were allowed to give credit for subjective performance, than I would say that no one has equaled his performance in the Derby, Preakness, or Belmont. And it would then be suggested(although) not needed to look at his Lanes End for what was likely one of the better 3yo performances this year.

I don't really have a problem with the standards being Major Wins, Classics, Late season vs Early, and Consensus. Stay Thirsty is in the lead at this point.

Back to the subjective side - Nehro had a really interesting Derby. If you don't give Animal Kingdom any credit for finish position, Nehro's trip puts him right with Animal Kingdom and some trip handicappers may argue that Nehro was ever so slightly BETTER in subjective performance. We never got to see things play out, as Nehro very oddly skipped the Preakness(when does a sound horse who nearly won the Derby ever skip the Preakness?) and then came up with a soundness issue in his next race(Belmont). Maybe it was just an anomalie. Maybe it was a better trip than the intuitive trip handicapping process would generally tell you (therefore giving insight into how the Derby track was playing and how to adjust other runner's performances...)

[rastajenk]

It is an Eclipse Award given to both 3 year old male and 3 year old female.Thanks, but I hope you would know that I know that. ;)

The thread seems to suggest that a filly could cross over and take some kind of award from the colts, if I'm reading it right. So I was just sayin, "Huh?"

[elysiantraveller]

Back to the subjective side - Nehro had a really interesting Derby. If you don't give Animal Kingdom any credit for finish position, Nehro's trip puts him right with Animal Kingdom and some trip handicappers may argue that Nehro was ever so slightly BETTER in subjective performance. We never got to see things play out, as Nehro very oddly skipped the Preakness(when does a sound horse who nearly won the Derby ever skip the Preakness?) and then came up with a soundness issue in his next race(Belmont). Maybe it was just an anomalie. Maybe it was a better trip than the intuitive trip handicapping process would generally tell you (therefore giving insight into how the Derby track was playing and how to adjust other runner's performances...)

You didn't just "subjectively' try and make a case for Nehro did you? :faint:

[GatetoWire]

After last year's Eclipse debacle who really cares who wins. It's a popularity contest and nothing more.
Whoever finishes 2nd in the Classic should be Horse of the Year.

[Robert Fischer]

You didn't just "subjectively' try and make a case for Nehro did you? :faint:
No! :blush:

LOL, you got me :ThmbUp:


While I WAS "subjectively" making the case that Animal Kingdom was the best 3yo, and put up 3yo high performances in all 3 Triple Crown races, I thought that Nehro was an interesting tangent.

Nehro is an interesting side-story in general for this 3yo crop.

He represents the sidetracked-by-injury theme

and also when it comes to trip handicapping his Derby was EXTREMELY interesting. It's one of the few times I've seen a trip documented by trakus in a major race, and be a real standout - and at the same time intuitively doubt it's validity.

Usually I take a stickout trip to the bank. However here was the biggest race and and the biggest trip and I really doubt it.

It raised some interesting questions, and they didn't get to be answered because NEHRO was injured (possibly from his effort in the Derby).

Not making a case that Nehro is anyhwere near 3yo Eclipse.

However someone could legitimately say Nehro had the best Derby this year and they would have a solid case. That is NOT my opinion, but it is interesting.

just a couple things from the Nehro's trip nerd coup in Derby 137:

Post 19, 1st turn 4 and 5 wide.
2nd turn 4 and 5 wide.
Finished 2.75 lengths behind AnimalKingdom
Ran 27 MORE feet than Animal Kingdom (1L=aprox 8feet)
Finished 1.25 Lengths AHEAD of SHACK
RAN 88 MORE feet than Shack! (or about 12L better)
Ft/seconds MPH (AK=37.9)(Nehro=37.9)(Shack=37.3)
So from this Trakus data, Nehro appears to have quietly had a pretty big Derby.
(I do have some trip handicapping negatives or doubts that question or at least tone-down the "greatness" of the performance).

It would have been really cool if Nehro could have run back in the Preakness under fair conditions. You never really see a horse who ran 2nd in the derby with a "tough trip" skip the Preakness too often. I think the hype at the time was "he's better at a distance of ground so we'll point to The Belmont...". Can't help but wonder if there was some sort of injury (whether they knew the extent or just realized a nagging injury) going into the Belmont.

Nehro deserves a footnote, when we are discussing who had the subjective best races of 2011 3yos. I know we don't give the awards on subjective performance, but it's how I cap, and i reserve the right to whine each year.


I have to watch Stay Thirsty's recent peak of races a few more times to really let them sink in, but so far Animal Kingdom looked better to me.

[sammy the sage]

Thanks, but I hope you would know that I know that. ;)

The thread seems to suggest that a filly could cross over and take some kind of award from the colts, if I'm reading it right. So I was just sayin, "Huh?"

I don't give a rat's A$$ about popularity contests/awards...who's the BEST horse in a race...

[rastajenk]

Well, good; I guess.