Horse of the Year

[mostpost]

The finalists have been announced. Who do you think should win and why.
Bayern
California Chrome
Main Sequence

[OTM Al]

Originally Posted by mostpost

The finalists have been announced. Who do you think should win and why.
Bayern
California Chrome
Main Sequence

Main Sequence. Beat the best field BC day. Look at what the second place finisher did in his previous and then subsequent races. 4 for 4 all top end Gr 1 races. Choosing between Bayern and Chrome is just splitting hairs and both had consistency issues during the year. Main Sequence did not.

[zico20]

Originally Posted by mostpost

The finalists have been announced. Who do you think should win and why.
Bayern
California Chrome
Main Sequence

My vote is for CC. However, it would not bother me in the least if Bayern won. I love both of them and wish they could be co-champs. They both had excellent years with close records and money won.

Main Sequence, IMO, did not run enough races to deserve it. Had he won two more races then he could be considered.

[arw629]

All are deserving IMO....I don't understand how someone can feel so strongly about one or the other....My vote would be for CC, but I would understand why someone would vote for one of the other candidates.

[TMQ]

Chrome will win, though I think Bayern is more deserving!

[ArlJim78]

CC will probably win although I think it should go to Main Sequence.
CC and Bayern both had nice campaigns but each had blemishes on their records.

[zico20]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

CC will probably win although I think it should go to Main Sequence.
CC and Bayern both had nice campaigns but each had blemishes on their records.

What if CC had been injured after the Preakness and not raced again. He would not have had any blemishes. Would he then have gotten your vote over Main Sequence? I think a horse needs to run more than four times to get HOY. IMO. Just curious as to what you think had that happened.

[NTamm1215]

Originally Posted by ArlJim78

CC will probably win although I think it should go to Main Sequence.
CC and Bayern both had nice campaigns but each had blemishes on their records.

Is Horse of the Year really about horses that don't lose a race in a given year? Racing was better when horsemen were willing to lose challenging races.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by zico20

What if CC had been injured after the Preakness and not raced again. He would not have had any blemishes. Would he then have gotten your vote over Main Sequence? I think a horse needs to run more than four times to get HOY. IMO. Just curious as to what you think had that happened.

No difference. If Chrome was injured after the Preakness it would mean that he only raced against restricted company, so he still doesn't get the nod over Main Sequence who ran against top open company each time.

I'm in agreement that a HOY should race more than four times, but compared to the others I say Main Sequences four open company grade ones put him in front of the others this year.

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by NTamm1215

Is Horse of the Year really about horses that don't lose a race in a given year? Racing was better when horsemen were willing to lose challenging races.

No it's not simply about not losing a race. And while I agree racing is better when horseman run their horses more frequently, I just don't know how Bayern or Chrome can make a solid claim on the title.
Frankly I think all three had exceptional campaigns and I can see some reasoning for picking any of them for the title. All I'm saying is if I had a vote it would be Main Sequence.

[classhandicapper]

There are no major knocks on Main Sequence, but there are reasons to think he won't get it.

1. In this country, HOTY generally goes to a dirt horse unless there are no solid candidates on dirt and there's an outstanding turf horse. IMO, CC and Bayern are both legitimate candidates.

2. He only had 4 starts.

3. Some would argue that other than the BC Turf, the fields he beat previously were soft Grade 1s.

[dilanesp]

I'd vote for Bayern. Personally I think there should be no HOTY. There's no reason to give out the award in years where nobody does enough.

But since they spend a ton of money on the banquet, Bayern accomplished the most of the three. The races later in the year, and especially the BC Classic against open competition, are more difficult to win than the Derby and Preakness, and a bunch of Derby preps.

But having said that, none of the three would be a BAD choice.

[Some_One]

CC didn't win a single unrestricted race in his campaign, I just can't vote for him for any of the year end honours.

Funny how this year noone forgets CC's spring eventhough he didn't win anything significant in the fall, while last year everyone forgot Game on Dude's spring because of his performance in the fall.

So my list has him not in the top 3 replaced by Adelaide

[PaceAdvantage]

Sorry to see Untapable didn't make the top three.

My vote would go to Main Sequence without a doubt.

[biggestal99]

Originally Posted by TMQ

Chrome will win, though I think Bayern is more deserving!

+1

Allan