Horse of the Year?

[10 pnt move up]

One last thing on the HOY

In 10 years you think they are going to be saying "remember the brilliant year Curlin had in 08'".....doubt it, what they are going to say is Curlin was a good horse but much better as a three year old in 07'

while in 10 years they will be saying remember the year Zenyatta had in 08' never challenged and undefeated.

just saying

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

One last thing on the HOY

In 10 years you think they are going to be saying "remember the brilliant year Curlin had in 08'".....doubt it, what they are going to say is Curlin was a good horse but much better as a three year old in 07'

while in 10 years they will be saying remember the year Zenyatta had in 08' never challenged and undefeated.

just saying

i can't help but wonder if either will be spoken of in ten years....depends on how zenyatta does i suppose, she's not thru yet. but i don't think curlin did anything worth re-hashing ten years from now.

[CSC]

Sorry if I missed this in the 90 posts thus far in this thread, but does anyone here actually think Zenyatta would have won the 08 BC Classic had she run in it?

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by CSC

Sorry if I missed this in the 90 posts thus far in this thread, but does anyone here actually think Zenyatta would have won the 08 BC Classic had she run in it?

I think she would have had a great shot. I don't know if she would have won but she probably would have beaten Curlin.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I think she would have had a great shot. I don't know if she would have won but she probably would have beaten Curlin.

The difficulty in assessing her are the fields she has been beating have been far less in quality in what she would have faced in the Classic. I'm pretty sure she would not have beaten Raven's Pass had she ran in the Classic and she would have to have to win HOY IMHO.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by CSC

Sorry if I missed this in the 90 posts thus far in this thread, but does anyone here actually think Zenyatta would have won the 08 BC Classic had she run in it?

ehh, she would have finished in front of Curlin though....heck even the great Tiago did that. Curlin was not the same horse at the end of the year.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

ehh, she would have finished in front of Curlin though....heck even the great Tiago did that. Curlin was not the same horse at the end of the year.

Let's say for argument's sake she finished ahead of Curlin in the Classic, are we awarding HOY on a 4th place finish in the Classic? Deciding HOY is usually reserved for winning, not for going in the backdoor.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by CSC

Let's say for argument's sake she finished ahead of Curlin in the Classic, are we awarding HOY on a 4th place finish in the Classic? Deciding HOY is usually reserved for winning, not for going in the backdoor.

If Ginger Punch wins the Distaff again then Zenyatta wouldnt even have been given the championship if say she finishes third in the classic, let alone win HOY. I dont think that is worth the risk.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by CSC

Let's say for argument's sake she finished ahead of Curlin in the Classic, are we awarding HOY on a 4th place finish in the Classic? Deciding HOY is usually reserved for winning, not for going in the backdoor.

i think curlin did enough throughout the year to warrant winning hoy; losing on polyturf shouldn't knock him out of the argument.

[AeWingnut]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

ehh, she would have finished in front of Curlin though....heck even the great Tiago did that. Curlin was not the same horse at the end of the year.

she would have fnished ahead of Champ elyses (sp) but not Curlin

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by AeWingnut

she would have fnished ahead of Champ elyses (sp) but not Curlin

so you dont think Zenyatta is as good as Tiago?

[CSC]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

so you dont think Zenyatta is as good as Tiago?

I think it's hard to make judgements like these, Curlin was ridden to win in the Classic. Albarado probably moved too early and it cost him a few lengths, I seriously doubt they were in it to run for a placing, in the end it really doesn't matter if Zenyatta would have finished 4th or 5th, she would have to have won the Classic to be considered HOY, the argument is silly, it is almost like saying is Curlin as good as Music Note.

[CSC]

Originally Posted by Cardus

She might have travelled the same path as that of Raven's Pass and it would have been very interesting late in the stretch. She would have had a fair chance to win the race.

And with a win in that race, this thread might not have existed.

She may have, that is the dilemma here. Her connections decided to take the safe route and she never had a chance to try. I give Curlin's connections more credit because they did go out on a limb after all the indecision of starting in the Classic. I said this before the Classic, Curlin had nothing to lose running in it. Win he's a hero, lose you can blame it on the track. It did nothing to hurt his legacy in the end. By the way I am no huge Curlin fan, I think he's a very good horse, however the overused great tag that alot of the media and some fans used in describing him I thought was just a bunch of hyperbole.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by CSC

She may have, that is the dilemma here. Her connections decided to take the safe route and she never had a chance to try. I give Curlin's connections more credit because they did go out on a limb after all the indecision of starting in the Classic. I said this before the Classic, Curlin had nothing to lose running in it. Win he's a hero, lose you can blame it on the track. It did nothing to hurt his legacy in the end. By the way I am no huge Curlin fan, I think he's a very good horse, however the overused great tag that alot of the media and some fans used in describing him I thought was just a bunch of hyperbole.

what makes a horse great?

[CSC]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

what makes a horse great?

For me it's a horse that can capture one's imagination, a horse who can overcome unfavorable odds, who can obviously run fast under most if not all conditions, someone that wins in extraordinary manner in the highest competition. That's just off the top of my head, I may add to the list. If you look at the dictionary meaning of great the list is too long to be that precise. Everyone probably has their own interpretation.

[10 pnt move up]

Originally Posted by CSC

For me it's a horse that can capture one's imagination, a horse who can overcome unfavorable odds, who can obviously run fast under most if not all conditions, someone that wins in extraordinary manner in the highest competition. That's just off the top of my head, I may add to the list. If you look at the dictionary meaning of great the list is too long to be that precise. Everyone probably has their own interpretation.

who fits that list better, Curlin or Zenyatta?

[CSC]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

One last thing on the HOY

In 10 years you think they are going to be saying "remember the brilliant year Curlin had in 08'".....doubt it, what they are going to say is Curlin was a good horse but much better as a three year old in 07'

while in 10 years they will be saying remember the year Zenyatta had in 08' never challenged and undefeated.

just saying

They also said the same thing or something simlilar about Azeri before she tried the colts, it's really easy to look good when you are racing against a subpar bunch of horses.