PaceAdvantage.com Official 2010 Horse of the Year Thread

[Charlie D]

Originally Posted by FenceBored

Oh, then he should have said: "She just didn't do anything to deserve it this year."

That is nearer the truth than the DRF writers comment. "this was the year of Zenyatta"


Maybe they should get rid of him and employ you FB

[Sugar Ron]

Originally Posted by Charlie D

If it it's so obvious how come we (the fans and handicappers) can not see it??

Well, some people have trouble dealing with the truth



By the way, just curious ... do you guys still think the earth is flat? lol

[Charlie D]

Originally Posted by Sugar Ron

Well, some people have trouble dealing with the truth

They sure do and it seems to be people like you and some horse racing journalists.

[Dahoss9698]

Originally Posted by Sugar Ron

Well, some people have trouble dealing with the truth



By the way, just curious ... do you guys still think the earth is flat? lol

The patented lol. Redboarding your portfolio and telling people to put a coat of wax on your make believe Porsche can't be too far off.

I can't wait.

[thorobasePA]

Originally Posted by Sugar Ron

It's a testament to her greatness, thorobasePA.

Six-year-old mares aren't supposed to be in the photo with a legit G1 router like Blame which was in his prime ... and on his home track.

But she was...

A valiant effort, no question. He still gave her 3lbs and a beating though.

I'm not sure horses like Rinterval are supposed to be in photos with legit HOY candidates either, yet here we are.

It's sometimes best to let the race decide and to the victor go the spoils.

[keithw84]

Originally Posted by FenceBored

Just kicking around Equidaily (tires seem to be properly inflated), and noticed this opinion piece on the 2006 HOY debate:

Lava Man = HOTY... Fans and pundits lament abbreviated campaigns and early retirements -- now we have a HOTY candidate with a campaign that we can -- and should -- rally around

Lava Man had a better case in 2006 than Zenyatta had this year.

[keithw84]

Originally Posted by PaceAdvantage

The litmus test is simple: remove the BC Classic from the equation. When you do that, who is Horse of the Year then?

If you can still say "Zenyatta" with a straight face, then all hope is lost for thee.

When you add BACK the BC Classic, it becomes a stone cold lock no-brainer. All doubt removed...Blame is the way, the truth and the light for 2010.

Take away the classic, and it was essentially a four way tie. All four had something (a loss or two for the boys and unimpressive wins/competition for Zenyatta) that was keeping them from being the front runner.

(I suppose you could throw Blind Luck into the mix as well. If all 4 others had a poor BCC and she won the Ladies Classic, she might have had the best resume, although she still would probably not win HOY.)

Add in the classic, though, and the answer becomes clear. I do not see how "barely" losing to Blame somehow makes "barely" beating Rinterval, et al. that much more impressive or HOY-worthy.

[andymays]

To the Victor Go Not the Spoils

http://www.horseraceinsider.com/carr...ot-the-spoils/

Excerpt:

But you know what? She’s going to win Horse of the Year. Because, as Beyer put it, “In 40 years of voting I cannot recall ever hearing horses' popularity or lifetime achievements mentioned as qualifications for year-end honors.”

That’s why she’ll win even though she lost. To the victor go not the spoils.

Zenyatta captivated her audience. She danced for the cameras. She paraded with that inexplicable show she only performs for the cameras on race day. There’s not a soul that wanted her to lose (maybe Seth Hancock and Al Stall, Jr.). But lose she did in the biggest race on the biggest stage to a horse who had the better year.

When you lose, you lose.

When you win, you win.

Blame won. End of story.

Vote cast. Um, kind of.

[Relwob Owner]

[QUOTE=keithw84]Take away the classic, and it was essentially a four way tie.


Not really....if you look at the records before the Classic, Zenyatta stacks up poorly against Blame....restricted wins against absolute nobodies all year long. The records of the horses they beat supports this as well, as a previous post(Fence Bored?) pointed out.

[DJofSD]

I guess what we need then is a people's equivalent of Horse of the Year. Let the so called industry experts have their vote and then let the people vote. In the end, the result is the same.

[Tom]

I think we already have that, DJ...this poll shows that it is a slam dunk and the BRIS and DRF polls both give credence to that.

[Relwob Owner]

Originally Posted by Tom

I think we already have that, DJ...this poll shows that it is a slam dunk and the BRIS and DRF polls both give credence to that.

It just shows what happens when people bet with their hearts and not their heads......they ignore what the horses did this year, who beat who and what the award is even for(achievements over the course of a year, not the last three)...

[keithw84]

Originally Posted by Relwob Owner

Not really....if you look at the records before the Classic, Zenyatta stacks up poorly against Blame....restricted wins against absolute nobodies all year long. The records of the horses they beat supports this as well, as a previous post(Fence Bored?) pointed out.

Objectively speaking, I agree. But I think in the minds of many fans, writers, and ultimately, voters, the "Big 4" were on a pretty even playing field.

[Tom]

Originally Posted by Relwob Owner

It just shows what happens when people bet with their hearts and not their heads......they ignore what the horses did this year, who beat who and what the award is even for(achievements over the course of a year, not the last three)...

So what?
What happened? Racing come to an end?
Breeders selling their farms? Take out going up?

People get to have opinions on whatever criteria they choose.
And most all of them do not get to vote.
So what happened?

The game lose credibility?
Of wait, it doesn't have any to begin with - thanks to the endless reports of cheating horsemen. See what happens you don't test every horse ever race? Trainers train with drugs and chemicals instead of good training skill.

I'd worry more about what YOUR group is doing than what fans are doing by liking a horse and showing interest in the game.

[Dahoss9698]

Originally Posted by Tom

So what?
What happened? Racing come to an end?
Breeders selling their farms? Take out going up?

People get to have opinions on whatever criteria they choose.
And most all of them do not get to vote.
So what happened?

The game lose credibility?
Of wait, it doesn't have any to begin with - thanks to the endless reports of cheating horsemen. See what happens you don't test every horse ever race? Trainers train with drugs and chemicals instead of good training skill.

I'd worry more about what YOUR group is doing than what fans are doing by liking a horse and showing interest in the game.

You should practice what you preach, just once.

Instead of trying to be dramatic, understand what he said. Of course racing isn't going to end. But, since we are all allowed to have opinions (an arguement people use when they have nothing else of substance to say) how about an opinion that uses what happened on track? I haven't seen one yet. Why is that? Oh yeah, because based on what was accomplished on track Zenyatta doesn't deserve it.

That doesn't diminsh her, her career, her dancing, her trainer, her owners, her sign waving fans or anything else. It's looking at her races, analyzing them and comparing them with her competition for HOY. See, that's what we do in this game.