Horse of the Year?
 

Tuesday will be the last day of thoroughbred racing before the two day shutdown for Christmas. The racing year always seems to start with the opening of Santa Anita the day after Christmas. The selection of 2008's Horse of the Year should be an interesting one.

There are lots of deserving candidates. IMO Curlin and Zenyatta are the two front runners but I can see several other horses that will receive some votes. Big Brown, Pepper's Pride, Commentator, and even Eight Belles all could garner support.

My choice is Zenyatta.

Horse of the Year does not always go to the fastest horse. I believe that Secretariat as a two year old won Horse Of The Year. Seldom does any foreign horse receive consideration and Curlin’s BIG MONEY win came in Asia. Yes he beat more horses in his victories then Zenyatta but that is because the big filly scared away much of her competition. As Jon White pointed out in his weekly column "Zenyatta led all Thoroughbreds with seven North American graded stakes wins in 2008."

And unlike a lot of the other big names of 2008 she'll be back in 2009. That will make for a Happy New Year for this racing fan!

if peppers pride manages one vote, it'd be one too many. doubt that commentator or eight belles will be mentioned.
top three will be curlin, zenyatta and big brown.

Can't be Eight Belles. We all miss her, but it would just be a grim reminder of what happened in the Derby.

I don't think that would be warranted on any level.

Her death wasn't because of her use of meds but the public was so shocked that the racing industry took a hard look at the perception that thoroughbred racing has among the masses.

The tragedy of Eight Belles could be the turning point of thoroughbred racing's medication policies and track implementation of more synthetic track surfaces The sport is moving more toward making racing as safe as possible for the participants. For that reason her Derby might be one of the most important races of the decade.

I would not vote for her but she would be in my top ten.

Maram

Curlin took his game to the big races and looked like a world beater in Dubai. Zenyatta was undefeated against the girls and mostly in her own back yard. Big Brown was a flash in the pan 3yo. Curlin should be HOY.

Pepper's Pride??? Are you serious?? She's a high priced claiming horse if she was on any other circuit!!

horse of the YEAR - not the last race of the year. Zenyatta is questionable because she faced questionable competition all in California.

Who was Curlin ducking when he went to Dubai or Saratoga

wow.. that's pretty lean

I vote for none of the above and I really don't care who gets it

Curlin is HOTY!
 

Curlin is HOTY... please no whinning by Zenyatta crowd. Fillies and mares participate in restricted races. If Zenyatta had taken on boys in Breeders' Cup and prevailed, she would have earned HOTY.

Curlin won open Grade I races at multple venues on two continents. Zenyatta left California for her lone non-synthetic race and did not even cross Mississippi River! One could argue that she is California HOTY, or synthetic HOTY.

too funny

and let me guess, your in the Easy Goer was better then Sunday Silence crowd as well.

Does anyone think who Curlin's trainer is might swing a few votes, the guy has been popped for more drug offenses then Laurence Taylor. How much of the good stuff did Curlin get this year? To my knowledge Zenyatta's trainer has not a whiff of a problem like that with the jurisdictions.

It doesn't seem like he got much...considering he lost a couple of times and the times he won were against suspect horses.

"Z" horses! .......Don't get excited Zayat Stables.
 

Horse of the Year is an award for North American horses for North American efforts. Curlin people, you should know better, don't mention the Dubai World Cup. If you want to throw that race in the mix then you will lose your argument for sure. The stage widens and we have to consider Zarkava.

Her victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Fr-I) was over a better field than Curlin faced in his Dubai race. She, like Zenyatta, was undefeated but she, unlike Zenyatta, did beat the boys.

Horse of the Year should go to a “Z” horse. Zarkava or Zenyatta

i think it should go to a us based horse.the filly in europe is fantastic but we did not see her here on us soil.. so for me its curlin..hate the owner and trainer but the horse doesent know them ..he just runs hard... big brown is second choice if i voted

If I had a vote I would cast it for MissingLisaLewis.

I agree whole heartedly and because of Zenyatta's Arc she wins Curlin lost his chance at Santa Anita. IMO

huh?

They will confuse you on here. We need to read between the lines. Hes obviously saying Big Brown should be horse of the year

sorry got the Z's azz backwards should have said the Aga Khan's....:zz:

His Highness

Connections notwithstanding, IMO, Curlin should win the HOY award based on the races in which he competed, and won (save for two on non-dirt surfaces).

That being said, I don't understand those who question the caliber of the competition that Zenyatta, an outstanding filly, beat. The number of legitimate Grade I fillies (Ginger Punch, Hystericalady, Music Note, Cocoa Beach) defeated by Zenyatta - in more races - during her campaign far outweighs the number of legitimate Grade I dirt horses who Curlin defeated (perhaps none) during his.

So you think all the fillies you reference would have consistantly beat, or maybe even one time, beat Curlin or those he ran against?

Agree.

Too bad Zenyatta didn't run against the boys...

I'm not saying that they would have Curlin. However, I don't think it's that much of stretch to imagine some of these fillies defeating the likes of Barcola, Past the Point or Wanderin Boy on dirt.

I think the real point that I was trying to make is that Zenyatta is the best of a pretty strong (relatively speaking) group of fillies and mares, while Curlin (not his fault) was the best of a pretty weak group of older males. In that context, I have a hard time knocking the competition that Zenyatta faced.

I'll accept the point that Hystericalady is not the same filly on synthetic, but Cocoa Beach and Music Note both ran their respective races in the BC, and Zenyatta ran over them. They are both seriously good fillies, and they certainly compare favorably in their divisions to the horses that Curlin beat in the Foster, Woodward, and JC Gold Cup.

This statement is absolutely, 100% incorrect. You can throw the Dubai World Cup into the mix because it's a race on the record of a horse that is eligible for the title. Zarkava never raced in North America so therefore she is ineligible and thus, her results aren't even to be considered.

I'd give the slight nod to Curlin, but wouldn't be outraged if Zenyatta won.

good article on DRF by Steve Davidowitz. http://www.drf.com/drfNewsArticle.do?NID=100680


I think Commentator's best two races were better than any other horse/race this year but his Clark flop destroys any case that could be made for him and Curlin looked like Michael Jordan in his Wizard's uniform this year, something just wasn't right... So if I had a vote I would go with Zenyatta.

I found it very interesting that Davidowitz went with Eight Belles in the 3YO filly divisions without much discussion. Does Goldikova get a look in this division?

Nicanor or Hang Glide.

Hopefully that will be in 2009 :)

I favor Pepper's Pride as HOY .

YES WE HAVE IT..THE FN CLAIMER WHO FACED NO BODY .NEVER VENTURED TO FACE BETTER GETS HORSE OF THE YEAR...HE MADE IT AROUND THE TRACK THATS IT..IF THATS THE DEAL THEN I THINK 'HANK' SHOULD WIN AT LEAST HE ESCORTED A FEW DERBY WINNERS TO THE GATE..:zz: :zz: :zz:

My 11 year old greyhound would keep up with Poopers Pride

I know there aint much going on but do we really have to discuss this again? Regardless of who wins the award the winner will go down among the weakest HOY's in recent time. Paging through a copy of Champions makes the horses argued about in the is thread seem pretty meek.