A Sad Day For Racing

[Betsy]

It's an absolute joke..........but this doesn't come as a surprise if you've read Joe Drape, John Pricci, etc...........

I wasn't even a fan of Blame, but I feel badly for him and his connections; the Mosses emotionally blackmailed these mediots. I just got lectured by some dope on Thoroughbred Champions.......I probably should not go into that thread again as I'll be flamed by the emotionally overcome.

[westcoastinvader]

Blame compiled an exemplary record in 2010 which consists of four Grade 1 victories, including yesterday's Classic win over Zenyatta. To many people who vote for Horse of the Year it will be enough. His record would clinch the award most of the time. This time it's not enough. Zenyatta ran the best race in the Classic, finishing one foot short of overcoming an almost insurmountable obstacle.

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2...ewmode=default



That's another view that some voters may have taken regarding the head to head Classic.

[Betsy]

So Blame gets penalized because Zenyatta failed to overcome her own flaw, which is that she has to come from miles out of it?

It's hard to take HOY seriously anymore.

[PatCummings]

Not sure what others thought of it, but I'm pretty certain Mark DeDominico's acceptance speech for Blind Luck was a thinly-veiled ten minute non-stop assault on Team Zenyatta's lack of creativity in campaigning her, followed by the overwhelming platitudes that come with these things...

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by westcoastinvader

Blame compiled an exemplary record in 2010 which consists of four Grade 1 victories, including yesterday's Classic win over Zenyatta. To many people who vote for Horse of the Year it will be enough. His record would clinch the award most of the time. This time it's not enough. Zenyatta ran the best race in the Classic, finishing one foot short of overcoming an almost insurmountable obstacle.

http://www.troyrecord.com/articles/2...ewmode=default



That's another view that some voters may have taken regarding the head to head Classic.

Originally Posted by Betsy

So Blame gets penalized because Zenyatta failed to overcome her own flaw, which is that she has to come from miles out of it?

It's hard to take HOY seriously anymore.

If Zenyatta had run the better race in the Classic, she would have won. I'm so sick of this argument.

[Betsy]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

If Zenyatta had run the better race in the Classic, she would have won. I'm so sick of this argument.

So now when we judge horses in line for Eclipses, we get to count near misses? Fly Down was close in the Belmont, Travers and BC Classic, but he wasn't even a finalist (I'm not saying he should be, but now they've opened up a can of worms). I could probably come up with more examples in recent years. I don't see what Zenyatta did for horse racing. I can promise you that when I get to my office tomorrow everyone who is not a racing fan (meaning probably 100% of the office) will be talking about almost everything under the sun and Zenyatta will NOT be one of the topics. Even if she did something for racing, how fair is it to other horses that they didn't emotionally captivate the public? Well she didn't captivate me - she never did. I never disliked her, I just never cared about her.

Blame beat Zenyatta fair and square - period. He was carrying more than his listed weight in the Classic because he actually had the weight of having to win by open lengths in order to win HOY. We had this discussion of losing performances a month or so ago. Slew's race in the Gold Cup was one losing performance where he deserved better; Zenyatta ran very well, but what was so special about her losing performance? Personal Ensign retired undefeated, running down a KY Derby winner on a track she despised - now those were insurmountable obstacles.

[DaTruth]

Originally Posted by Betsy

Zenyatta ran very well, but what was so special about her losing performance?

Not much. If she was as great as her supporters made her out to be, she should have run down the not-so-great Blame.

[the_fat_man]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

If Zenyatta had run the better race in the Classic, she would have won. I'm so sick of this argument.

In terms of setup, she got a much worse one than Blame did. Clearly, after all these years of race calling, one would assume that you'd at least grasp that much.

[Travis Stone]

Originally Posted by the_fat_man

In terms of setup, she got a much worse one than Blame did. Clearly, after all these years of race calling, one would assume that you'd at least grasp that much.

I've only been calling for a handful of years... enlighten me.

[my miss storm cat]

I'm sorry but I just finished catching up on this thread and headed over to Equidaily.

The headline is pretty funny...

http://equidaily.com/

[Dahoss]

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

I've only been calling for a handful of years... enlighten me.

As soon as he gets back to the library he'll respond.

[Thunder Gulch]

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.

[Seattleallstar]

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.

[Patrick333]

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.

[Left Bank]

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

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by Patrick333

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.

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

[Antitrust32]

Originally Posted by Patrick333

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.

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.

[ateamstupid]

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.

[10 pnt move up]

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?

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by 10 pnt move up

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?

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