Horse of the Year performance

[zico20]

I guess we found out that the best dirt horse to race this year is Charlatan. Shame they decided to retire him. I wonder if Life Is Good is going to come down with a mysterious injury and get retired. It wouldn't surprise me!

[letswastemoney]

If the Eclipse Awards are based on accomplishments, then Medina Spirit deserves the 3-year-old award.

Medina Spirit is a two-time Grade 1 winner and still the reigning Kentucky Derby champion. Although I keep hearing that his Derby win will be taken away, the Derby has not been taken away so how can people discount it? He beat Essential Quality and Hot Rod Charlie in both the Derby and Breeders' Cup.

While it is disappointing Medina Spirit ducked the Pennsylvania Derby, defeating older horses in the Awesome Again is still a nice accomplishment too.

Essential Quality won the Belmont and Travers for his two Grade 1 races.

Life Is Good is possibly the most talented of the three runners, but at the end of the day, his biggest accomplishment this year is winning the Dirt Mile.

[cj]

Originally Posted by letswastemoney

If the Eclipse Awards are based on accomplishments, then Medina Spirit deserves the 3-year-old award.

I'll take Yibir for $1000 Alex.

[Elkchester Road]

Originally Posted by cj

I'll take Yibir for $1000 Alex.

cj

[castaway01]

Originally Posted by bisket

Why wasn't he raced at the classic distance before this race? That's the biggest problem with American Racing. To much money and status is given to a horse without proving themselves. If you want to know the truth, that's why Baffert is revered. He runs his horses in races like this until they prove themselves otherwise. Trainers like Cox and Pletcher are sucking the sport dry...

After watching the Classic, you picked the stupidest possible time to make that argument, since he just proved himself all over the best dirt horses at 1 1/4.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by cj

I'll take Yibir for $1000 Alex.

So you're good with his connections but not those of Medina Spirit?

[classhandicapper]

Originally Posted by zico20

I guess we found out that the best dirt horse to race this year is Charlatan. Shame they decided to retire him. I wonder if Life Is Good is going to come down with a mysterious injury and get retired. It wouldn't surprise me!

IMO Charlatan was a beast.

I would have loved to have seen Charlatan vs. Life is Good. Charlatan had the best ahead of him and Life is Good is still improving.

[burnsy]

Originally Posted by castaway01

After watching the Classic, you picked the stupidest possible time to make that argument, since he just proved himself all over the best dirt horses at 1 1/4.

Agree, Ghostzapper pretty much took the same route. In fact, he didn’t travel or race as much as this horse did. This horse has two BC wins under his belt. And this race wasn’t even close I don’t know how he was 3-1 …… like stealing. On paper he was faster than these horses by a good margin. It’s the usual sour 🍏 apples on the internet. He literally laughed at that field yesterday.

[cj]

Originally Posted by the little guy

So you're good with his connections but not those of Medina Spirit?

Who said anything about the connections? He is a 3yo that took on older and won the biggest turf race in the country. Maybe if Medina Spirit keeps his Derby win I'd reconsider, but I doubt he will and I'm not blow away by a horse that didn't win the SA Derby, didn't win the Derby, didn't win the Preakness, and didn't win the Classic.

Am I looking for a reason not to vote for him? Probably. I think that is my right. With the cloud hanging over him, hard for me to vote for a resume with wins in the Lewis, Shared Belief, and Awesome Again. If not Yibir, I'll probably prefer Essential Quality as I think Travers, Belmont, Jim Dandy and Blue Grass easily beats the Medina Spirit's wins.

Of course that is also Godolphin, but I'm not going down that rabbit hole. There are a lot of great owners, but there are a also plenty of owners I wouldn't shake their hand if I met them. Pretty sure there was one that ran a horse in the BC that won't enter the country for fear of being arrested. I'm not going to take it upon myself to research and judge every owner that has a horse in contention for an Eclipse Award.

[cj]

Forgot the Southwest for Essential Quality, which is on par with the Shared Belief IMO.

[dilanesp]

If Medina Spirit is officially DQ'd before the Eclipse vote, that's definitely going to have some effect.

[cj]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

If Medina Spirit is officially DQ'd before the Eclipse vote, that's definitely going to have some effect.

The good news is voters don't need to have it official. It is subjective, and if I don't want to count it, I don't have to do so. If another voter wants to count it even if the horse is actually DQed, said voter has that right. There are no rules sent in the ballot package.

[the little guy]

Originally Posted by cj

Pretty sure there was one that ran a horse in the BC that won't enter the country for fear of being arrested.

Roman Polanski ran one in the BC?

[jocko699]

Originally Posted by the little guy

Roman Polanski ran one in the BC?

Now that's funny I don't care who you are.

[cj]

Originally Posted by the little guy

Roman Polanski ran one in the BC?

Lol, that's the reply? Funny but still.

You actually made me think about it in more detail rather than off the cuff. That's a good thing. I tried i be objective though I'm admittedly probably not 100% there. Essential Quality is still a fine choice IMO.