Perhaps I'm missing something, but why all the immediate bestowing of Horse of the Year upon Bricks and Mortar? Don't get me wrong, he's an outstanding horse who did everything asked of him this year, but he is the best of a weak male turf division in this country. And in neither the Arlington Million nor BC Turf did he defeat any top class invaders. The best horse he beat all year might have been Robert Bruce.
If history is any guide, a turf horse will be named Horse of the Year only in the absence of a truly deserving dirt horse. From my perspective, the best horse in America in 2019, and the horse deserving of Horse of the Year, is Mitole. There were two highly anticipated "races of the year" in 2019: the Met Mile and the BC Sprint. Mitole won each of these impressively. He ran consistently faster, and against better competition. If we want to argue that people should not be afraid of having their horses lose races, then we should not hold his lone loss in the Vanderbilt, when caught in a vicious speed duel while on a dead rail, against him.
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