Quote:
Originally Posted by cj
I'd be fine with that, but plenty of bad trainers and jockeys out there that don't their crafts either. 
Other sports do the same thing. Cy Young isn't voted on by pitchers, etc. Interesting discussion. |
They may not be very good, but they probably still have more insight into good training jobs than most in the press. It's not who won the most G1 races.
The same goes breeders. There have been years where someone had 3 G1 winners out of a 12-mare broodmare band, yet Godolphin or someone gets the award for having 5 G1 winners out of their 250-mare broodmare band.
The same goes with owners. Repeat the rest of the paragraph above for them. I'd also look at whether they seem to be good managers of not just a star horse who happens to be in their barn, but the others as well, and how sporting they are.
It's been a pet peeve of mine for years that there is seemingly no in-depth thought about what makes those entities exemplary, just pick 3 at or near the top of the earnings list.
I think in sports such as baseball, it doesn't take that much expertise to be able to know quality of play when you see it. With horses, I think few understand that training a sound, talented animal to a G1 win can be a whole lot less difficult than what may be entailed in training another animal. I also don't know of many trainers who don't recognize (and downgrade for) the animals really being trained by others.
