I agree with you. Im still trying to figure out how Shireffs was a finalist for Trainer of the Year. Goldikova winning Female Turf Horse off of just one North American Start. Has anyone ever heard of an American horse winning a Cartier Award off of just one European start? There should be a rule for these awards just like Canada has for thier award"s. Blame beat Zenyatta on the track while giving her weight. If Zenyatta is this super horse, why did she only take on the males once last year? All she beat in California on the syththetic tracks were marginally Grade II maybe even Grade III fillies and mares.

The wrong horse won HoY but who really gives a flying fvck. She was a great animal and did help promote the sport. Her popularity can't hurt long term. It's not like Blame was some all time great. I could have never voted for Zenyatta but her being HoY is hardily a tragedy. The worst part of the whole thing is that between the two they raced a total of 11 times. Neither deserve too much praise.

Well put I like the word TRIUMPHED..
1. To be victorious or successful; win.
2. To rejoice over a success or victory; exult.
3. To receive honors upon return from a victory in ancient Rome. Used of a general.
n.
1. The fact of being victorious; victory or conquest. See Synonyms at victory.
2. A noteworthy or spectacular success.
3. Exultation or rejoicing over victory or success.

Exactly...who cares? So if Blame had won, the sport would take a huge step forward...handle would go up and racing would be so much better today for it...yeah right. Who won HOY has no impact whatsoever on whether or not people are going to wager or how much they're going to wager on the races today...tomorrow or the rest of the year.

thats a fact and thats why no one should really care....this award goes to building the sport (FANS). the people that fall for these horses are NOT really bettors or horseplayers...they are FANS. the voters do not vote for people that actually know and more importantly BET on this game. they voted for the story....ZENYATTA. anyone that bets all the time and follows racing knows its better to come in second in the jockey gold cup then to win a race they wanted to name after you. the horses in the two fields don't even compare. Blame by far ran a more ambitious campaign...we all know it....but mostly all of us will be betting again wednesday or before.....WE ARE NOT THE PEOPLE RACING NEEDS....THEY GOT US....its not SAD to try and get interest in this dying game....that award means squat to me i'm trying to win bets. hey, the guy before me said the same thing 3 minutes ago.....lol

I guess its being in the wrong place by being in front at the wire in a 5 million dollar race!

Its pretty ridiculous that Zenyatta got HOTY for this year, but really, its a meaningless award.

when you lose, you are no longer undefeated.

"barely, triumphed" lol

a win is a win

I was very impressed by Zenyatta's classic, thought that she was probably the best horse in the race.

BUT

Blame won & he was the better overall horse by far for 2010 if you look at records and races.

It's funny how people are more hung up on the semantics of the word sad in this thread than actually justifying her win. And we will all "get over it." Last I looked this is a horse racing message board, therefore that's what we are discussing...And yes it is sad when idiocy triumphs over justice.

I don't get this denigrating of Blame as the weakest, all it does is underline how average Zenyatta was than to be beaten by him.

I would love to see the voting breakdown by gender.

It's a happy day for this board because we can now, finally, move on to discussing real racing instead of debating one horse's merits.

It's supposed to be 'Horse of the Year' not 'Horse of a Career'. Frankly, I think a bunch of the voters for Rachel last year felt guilty (which they shouldn't) since she came back this year and was not as spectacular so they wanted to right a 'wrong' in Zenyatta's favor. She is a great mare but her campaign (body of work in 2010) is just not worthy of being voted ahead of Blame.

I suppose now we'll be subjected to years of clammering for Zenyatta as 'Broodmare of the Year' ..........................

:)

Really? You don't think who wins HOTY will galvanize a budding fan base, add to attendance and handle and rescue our great sport from its doldrums? Amazing.

The difference is that one camp and her loyal fans said that this was part of the criteria for their horse winning.

Blame would have gotten my vote, but it is not as ridiculous as some may think it is, his 2010 campaign won't go down as one of the braver one's either.

Shame on the voters! This is so insane. Blame beat Zenyatta, and had beat the best horses in America in OPEN competition. THIS IS HORSE OF THE YEAR, not Horse that has meant the most to racing.

I was wondering who would be the first to bring up Rachel. Congrats. Has absolutely nothing to do with HOY this year, or the discussion at hand, but hey, if that is all you have, go for it.

Wow. You really might have outdone yourself here. Blame won at Aqueduct? In what dream? But even if he had, does that mean something bad?

I won't waste my time going over Zenyatta's race record this year, who she beat, who they avoided, etc. It's been done too many times before. But there is someone with a bias here. Maybe stick to redboards in the future? Those are always a better read than this.

Hard to argue with this stellar logic. The Classic is not the ONLY reason Blame should be HOY. It's one of many. Whereas the only case I see being made for Zenyatta is "she did so much for the game". She certainly didn't deserve based on her races this year, unless beating a total of ONE grade 1 winner in her victories (Switch who got her grade 1 the last week of December) is a HOY campaign.

The Eclipse awards lost all credibility with voting Zenyatta horse of the year. The criteria now appears to be the most popular horse, not the horse who accomplished the most over the racetrack. The funniest argument from the lost Zenyatta lovers to justify the decision is that she was the better horse in the classic. Since when does losing a race justify horse of the year?

Poor Al Stall and Blame's connections must be wondering if they can put their hands down yet.

.......curlin.

I'm glad Zenyatta won. With that said, it just shows that the BC Classic doesn't mean anything but a nice payday to the winner. Last year Zenyatta won the Classic but was denied the HOY when Rachel's connections thought it was much more important to win the Woodward (against IMHO a very weak field) than take a chance against Zenyatta.

I wonder what Smoothie would have to say...................

Of course -- with those minor footnotes of winning the Dubai World Cup, Stephen Foster, Woodward, Jockey Club Gold Cup, and a 2nd in the Man o' War.

Very, very, eerily similar to what happened this year. I agree completely.

It's clear the Eclipse Awards are no longer about racing performance, or racing results.

Care to elaborate or do you want that nonsense to stand alone on its lack of any merit whatsoever?

Exactly. I fail to see how people think this is some "subjective" process. It isn't. There is nothing subjective about her winning. On merits she had less of a case this year.

I also find it interesting that the DRF... who is railed daily as having an East Coast bias, had enough writers who voted for Zenyatta to make their section of the voting close, but ultimately, had Blame on top. They're not motivated by what horse garnered more comments on their on-line blogs and stories.

and that is a Very Very good thing. The BC Classic should never be the main factor in HOTY.

BUT... it was still a horrible choice, ESPECIALLY if you dont look at the BC Classic, than there is zero reason to vote for a horse like Zenyatta.

Isn't that the problem, if there is one, with Eclipse Award voting? Just like the voting processes for the NFL pro bowl, the NBA and MLB all stars, as well as various Halls of Fame, there are no hard and fast guidelines to produce an absolute result. With the amount of leeway given to the voters, is it any wonder that the award winners are often the subject of dispute? These awards are subjective, largely opinion-based, and voters are people who bring their own bias/emotional baggage with them to the table, which is why I don't see the results as anything worth getting too worked up about.

Maybe not by results, but for racing performance? I don't know, Blame's performances last year were not dominating by any stretch to make him a slam dunk winner.

It's a victory for every chickenshit owner and trainer in America and a loss for fans of the sport. This isn't even deniable. The example it sets for rewarding ducking and dodging is the final nail in the coffin for ever again seeing premier matchups outside of the Derby and Classic. Glad the teal and pink tards got what they wanted: a dog and pony show and the further pussification of racing.

Same difference. I thought his performance in the Classic was pretty freaking awesome. Plus he overcame some fairly moderate paces in the Foster/Whitney. That's all secondary though... he beat her in the race that counted.

If its such a horrible choice, and I am not saying its not, can anyone explain why the experts in the field found a majority amongst them to vote for her?

further: in addition, moreover.

How true. Next year would make three years running.

The question we should be pondering is what margin of victory did Blame need to defeat Zenyatta by to win HoY?

2 lengths+

Dear Mr Hancock,



The TB writers would like to inform you and your connections that Blame is running for purse money only.


Sincerely,

Team Z tard

a better question will be how can we conjugate the term r_tard into horse racing the next season, it makes it that much entertaining.

I was working and not really paying attention, but I thought I heard someone call in to ATR and say the only reason she lost at all was that she misjudged the finish line. :tro:

You heard correctly. :zz: