Privman: Let the Horse of the Year Debate Begin

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Ask any trainer other than John Shirreffs and they'll tell you who the winner is. Same thing with any owner outside of the Mosses.

Much to my surprise, and despite saying if Blame, Zenyatta, Quality Road, or Lookin At Lucky are HOTY if they win the Classic, Baffert said he'd pick Zenyatta.

We're all in mad love with that mare, but c'mon, Blame earned that. It's not Zenyatta's fault, it's not Mike Smith's fault. She's just as amazing whether she won it or not, but the horse that finished in front of her had a legitimate stake in HOTY going in. The Mosses could've gotten that for her, but it's all the eggs in one basket approach that backfired. As the Mig said, it's not just that dirt hit her in the face, it's that the speed of it was that much harder since there were a lot of horses and some were much faster than the fields from before. They took a risk, and it almost worked, but you gotta give credit where it's due. He gets it.

Someone made a Tara Lipinski/Michelle Kwan comparison with Blame and Zenyatta. As a Kwan fan, it's actually one that makes sense to me, but I have to point out that Michelle being the total package and one of our finest American athletes ever doesn't mean she gets the gold medal if that particular set of performances doesn't beat Tara's on the scoreboard. It's bad luck, someone else had the better day, peaked at the right time, and got the prize.