I don't know if it has been reported elsewhere but I first read it on the Crist Blog by Daily Racing Form Publisher and Columnist Steven Crist that Eclipse Award voters will not be given the option of naming Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta as joint Horse of the Year winners. It was decided Today by a 2-1 vote of the three organizations that present the awards.
I for one say Yippee!!! I think the raging debate on who deserves the Horse of the Year (HOTY) is great for the sport and the more debate, the more discussion the better it is for Horse racing. Once one of them gets the nod from the Eclipse Award voters the debate will continue on as the losing camp will likely go bonkers (unless the unlikely event of a tie happens).
There is a reason it is called "The Great Debate" by the Daily Racing Form, because it is. As we approach the cold days of winter ahead we can sit by the fire, the laptop, the twitter thingy, and we can type, discuss, argue, and scream over who is better, who raced more, the racing surfaces, the different tracks, the number of races, and on and on and on.
Racing needs more of this and any Co-Horse of The Year would mute The Great Debate. I say , vote one, get a winner and debate on.
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6 comments:
Disagree, they both deserve it.
Agreed. Do you like the debate . . . I want to reach through the computer and choke the Zedheads [you heard it here first] into submission. Ehhh, g e n t l y of course.
Rachel Alexandra 2009
just deal with it people
Yeah...It's not like this is the first year there were two great horses. There should only be one 1st place award, not two. I'm really glad they shot down the "co-horse of the year". Now that they shot down that dumb idea, let's hope the people voting use their heads and not sentimentality to vote...
Rachel Alexandra 2009 Horse of the Year!!
Rachel deserves HOY more than Zenyatta because:
In this 2009 year alone, Rachel Alexandra:
1) has set TWO stakes records for time in: Martha Washington, Mother Goose.... See More
2) has set TWO stakes records for largest winning margin in: Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose
3) was the ONLY horse (male or female) ever to win the Preakness from the far outside gate
4) was the ONLY female EVER to win the Woodward
5) TWICE, came within 1 second of breaking the TRACK RECORDS (at Belmont and Monmouth)
6) had the HIGHEST Beyer Speed rating this year of 116. (The Haskell)
Rachel Alexandra beat:
more horses, in more races, against more males, over the competitions' prefered track surface, in more race tracks, in more states, in faster times, with larger winning margins, while setting new stakes records, and coming within a second of track records, with higher Beyer Speed figures ... ALL YEAR ...
Frankly, after watching the Clark Handicap, Rachel's Woodward win is a win of a race with a prestigious name only. Bullsbay finishing next to last in the B.C. Dirt Mile and 7th in the Clark. Macho Again 4th in the JCGC and 9th in the Clark exposes the Woodward as Rachel beating a soft field of older males. Zenyatta, in one race, beat 9 Graded Stakes winners, most multiple Graded Stakes winners, and she's the only one of the two to do it at the Classic distance of 1-1/4. Zenyatta faced, raced, and beat a better field of males than Rachel ever has or ever will race in what's left of her racing career. Zenyatta should absolutely be HOY.
Zenyatta: only one race, Breeders Cup, but on synthetics, competition not used to it, so she beats them. Not that impressive.
Rachel: 6 new records. Beats the males 3 times. Races 8 times on 7 different tracks in 6 states. Come dry powdery track (Preakness) or sloppy wet track (Haskell). Come young or old males. Come 2 weeks or 2 months rest. Doesn't matter.
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