My Vote For Horse of the Year - BLAME

Who deserves Horse of the Year?

There are 3 horses that would be in the discussion for Horse of the year in my view.
Goldikova 5 out of 6 wins in 2010 all Group 1 and mostly against males BC Mile winner
Uncle Mo - 3 for 3, 2 Grade 1 wins and BC Juvi winner
Blame - 4 out of 5 wins, 3 Grade 1 and Breeders Cup Classic winner

What words do you use to describe Goldikova - Magnificent, Awesome, incredible, stunning, unbelievable, wonderful, astounding, awe-inspiring, brilliant, excellent, fabulous, fantastic, outstanding, phenomenal, remarkable, sensational, stupendous, super, superb, terrific, tremendous, wondrous.
In an article written by Alan Shuback, in the drf, he goes on to list her 2010 accomplishments, in her four Group 1 victories in Europe and her Grade 1 Breeders’ Cup Mile triumph, Goldikova was beating 16 winners of 37 Group or Grade 1 races. The overall Group/Grade 1 record of her competition in those five races is 157-37-25-19. In the Mile, she was beating four winners of nine Group or Grade 1 races at a mile on turf. When you think about what it means for a filly to continuously face male after male and defeat them handily without ever really being all out in her races that shows the type of athlete that Goldikova is, she is simply AMAZING.
The fact that she only raced once in the U.S. is considered reason to not give her consideration for Horse of the Year, but if Conduit can come over and win the BC Turf and get an award in 2008 at the eclipse then Goldikova should get consideration also.
Uncle Mo is a most appealing choice for Horse of the Year consideration due to being one of the few undefeated horses in training right now after facing stiff competition throughout the year, winning the Champagne and the Breeders Cup Classic is stuff of legends as a two year old, both prestigious races and at the top of the heap for 2 year old colts. Facing and defeating 5 grade 1 winners in the BC Juvi validates this horse as a very impressive colt and he dispatched of these colts with ease. He is clearly a viable candidate for HOY, but unfortunately will not get a large number of votes.
Blame is the most likely winner of the Horse of the Year award, by merit of wins in the Grade 1 Stephen Foster, the Whitney Handicap and a runner up finish in the Jockey Club Gold Cup and winning the Breeders cup Classic. His 4 for 5 record and winning of 3 Grade 1 races in Open company and at the Highest possible level of horse racing is an amazing record when facing horses like Quality Road, Looking at Lucky, Haynesfield and Paddy O'Prado. Blame was place in difficult spot after difficult spot in 2010 and took on all comers and kept winning Grade 1 races that actually meant something on the National Scene. His record stands for itself and he should win the Horse of the Year award hands down without any issue. Without any emotion being added due to the fact that one horse is more popular Blame will be an easy winner of the Award, but unfortunately each voter will have his or her own view of the award. Winning the biggest race of the year is important as the connections of a number of horses view the Breeders Cup as the beginning and the end of the racing season and therefore winning the Classic is the highest honor other than winning the Kentucky Derby. . The horses that were all considered in contention for Horse of the Year did nothing to separate themselves from the pack up until Nov 6th when Blame hit the wire first in the Breeders Cup Classic. Some argued that winning insignificant races in 2009 up until the Breeders Cup would guarantee a horse the Horse of the Year vote, unfortunately that was an incorrect view and thankfully the voters voted for the horse that has the most ambitious year of racing and won the most important races in the calendar year. In 2010 how do you not award a horse that won significant races all year long, at Churchill and Saratoga and then the Breeders Cup Classic and he doesn’t deserve Horse of the Year. That’s called hypocritical and thankfully those with votes have time to take a look at the full year and be objective about the vote.
When the connections of one horse state that they are not going to “chase Horse of the year” and show it by an uninspiring, unimaginative campaign then why on earth would anyone want to “Give” Horse of the year to the connections that make such a statement. Then to do an about face in October and beg for the award after doing nothing all year long to garner the award seems very unsportsmanlike. But that’s what you can expect from those that put all their eggs in one basket and then lose. Again taking all things into account you can easily see that Blame alone stands out as Horse of the Year.

John Sheriffs points fingers - but who are "THEY"

John Sheriffs finally sat down and took questions from a group of reporters at a media room at Keeneland race course, I wanted to take a moment to focus on a couple of questions and answers that he gave regarding his horse and decisions that were made with regards to her career and campaign.

On Zenyatta’s 2010 campaign, which was different than the one the Mosses talked about when they decided to keep her in training: “I think (the Mosses’ comments) were a little bit misinterpreted because we race in California, which is on the other side of the Rockies. So it’s a little different shipping around California than it is on the East Coast. We wanted to have the opportunity to let other people see her; which was obviously one of the reasons we went to Oaklawn Park with her. But when you have to decide where to go again, it’s tough to turn down a grade I race and take her somewhere else when California supports her and stables her and takes care of her.”

On whether he had second thoughts at scratching her from the Louisville Distaff (gr. II) last year at Churchill because of rain: “No, I didn’t have any second thoughts. It was a tough decision to make. I didn’t feel I should make the decision on my own. So at 10 o’clock that morning I went out there myself and I said if they open the track just a little bit I’d run her. But they went out and left it sealed and I didn’t know if they were exactly concerned about the horses because they just wanted to make sure the track is fast. All they had to do was just run the harrows over it a little bit to let a little air in it and I would have run her.”
It is amazing to see this man take a shot at Churchill downs like that, I believe this is classless and bush league in the best sense of the word. There are a number of trainers out there that if they had made this observation would have been berated, but i've seen people on blogs and message boards look at this comment and make statements like they respect him even more. To imply that the track is not looking out for the best interest of the horse, and those connections that ran their horses on the sealed track were not looking out for the best interest of their horse is a real slap in the face, but what seemingly is an immature person.

Let me say this, Mr. Sheriffs mentions they, and unfortunately there is a "They" that people should be pointing fingers at and the they would be the connections of this mare, viewed as overrated by many, and the second coming of Secretariat by others, the problem though is that not many people know of her, and even less care about her or horse racing or anything going on with or affiliated with the sport. Her connections are Cowards, and with the cowardice campaigning of the mare, put themselves and the industry as you say in this position. She had a chance to be main stream by racing against Rachel but they ran from Rachel in 2009 like the plague. In June on the day of the Mother Goose Moss was quoted as saying they were shipping Zenyatta east, unfortunately after seeing Rachel demolish that field in record fashion twice over, Moss ducked tail and decided the very next day to announce that they would stay in Cali. Her fans, her detractors, the media, everyone begged and pleaded with Mr. Moss to ship her to run in venues that would allow others to see her, they passed on races at Saratoga, Belmont, Monmouth, & Churchill and also turned down an invitation to go run on her favorite synthetic surface in Dubai. So the "They" would be Jerry Moss and John Sheriffs that caused this "Missed Opportunity". Listen carefully, "It was more important to the connections of this great mare to chase Pepper's Pride's win streak record" that is and was the one and only motivation when she hit 12 or 13 wins. HOY was secondary, they in 08 and 09 begged for the award but didn't deserve it by means of the campaign, and in 2010 have done the same thing, run an allowance quality campaign, and then stand in front of the media and say no matter what she should get HOY for her career accomplishments. Sad, and lacking of class in the worst way, taking shots at Churchill downs management and track staff because they wouldn't follow Sheriffs directions about how to deal with their track. Classless. And let me also chime in "Kudos" to the management or whomever it was that Sheriffs called at NYRA and asked about the stall application process, from what I hear he was advised that the application was online, to download and print it and mail it in. Wonderful to hear, the West Coast Hype horse and her connections want preferential treatment at all times, and have done nothing for the industry, or east coast racing. Moss has turned his nose and flipped the one finger salute to everything going on east of the Mississippi, therefore let the same thing occur when you want to be treated like you are better than everyone else. You can't ship your horse why, well one day you make a statement that Zenyatta ships perfectly, but when a race comes up that she can run in the excuse is that she gets dehydrated when she ships. WOW really now.

The only "They" that needs to be blamed is Moss and Sheriffs, they ducked and dodged races that would have put her on the map nationally. If they had run in races worthy of national attention maybe the viewing of the BC in 09 wouldn't have been an all time low of a .68 share, now compare that to the 17 share for the Preakness Rachel won. Pathetic, but they brought it upon themselves, remember the quotes earlier this year "we cant fly over the rockies, we can't climb the highest mountain, we have to play at home once in a while, and the best of all, she has nothing left to prove." I guess racing at home 17/19 times was once in a while and they went overboard with it, that's why again people in other parts of the country don't know her and really don't care. Mr. Moss and Mr. Sheriffs You, and you alone are the "Theys", maybe you should have shown faith and confidence in your great horse, enough to allow her the opportunity to prove herself from January - October, or maybe you shouldnt have ducked races at her preferred distance run on the same day as a race you entered her in that was very much shorter than her best trip, or maybe you'll learn from all your mistakes with your next big horse, and maybe one day actually be deserving of Horse of the Year and not have to beg for it. :)

The Forgotten Filly & Mare

Rachel and Zenyatta, Zenyatta and Rachel, some all Rachel, some all Zenyatta. It makes no matter who your favorite lady is there are other ladies out there that are training forwardly and looking forward to the rest of the year. The attention that both of the superstars get is well deserved but the connections of these other fillies and mares are looking forward to doing some spoiling and making a name for their fillies also.

These fillies and mares are the Forgotten Horses.

The forgotten horses right now are Careless Jewel & St. Trinians, thinking back to the last time we saw Careless Jewel on the track she was finishing up at the quarter pole after clicking off some fast fractions in the Ladies Classic at Santa Anita Park back in November during the running of the Breeders Cup.
The last time we saw St. Trinians she was running a respectable 6th in the Santa Anita Handicap considering the trip and the way she was pinched during the running of the race. What are these horses up to right now though you might ask? St. Trinians has been working consistently at Hollywood Park, she was given some time off after the Big Cap and has recorded works of
4/5 - 4f-51.20,
4/12 - 5f 1.03.80,
4/19 - 4f-50.80.
4/26 - 5f-1:02.20
5/3 - 5f-1:01.80
5/14 - 6f-1:13.60
5/24 -6f-1:13.40

Careless Jewel on the other hand had been working like a monster since being shipped from Palm Meadows to Keeneland her works since Feb 1st have been.
2/27 - 4f :50
3/5 - 5f 1:01.20
3/11 - 5f 1:01.40
3/19 - 5f 5f 1:00.60
4/1 – 6f 1.12.40
4/9 – 6f 1.11.00
4/17 – 5f 57.80
5/2 - 5f :58.80
5/9 - 1:11.20
She had seemed to be breathing fire and looking to do something serious here pretty soon, unfortunately she has run into a couple of set backs that caused her to miss the La Troinne and now the shuvee, I am hoping both come back to the track and run huge for the rest of the year.

It will be interesting to see the schedules that are planned out for the rest of the year for these contenders, these are very impressive horses who in any other year would be the focus on the horse racing world, unfortunately for the horse and the connections many feel that these don’t breath the same air as Rachel and Zenyatta . There are a number of races that could possibly be on the horizon:
La Troienne S.
Stephen Foster H.
Ogden Phipps H.
Ruffian H.
Whitney H.
Personal Ensign S.
Woodward S.

Hopefully we will see competitive races with the super stars taking steps up in class to possibly face males, and here's hoping that the 2 time eclipse winning mare out in Cali will be allowed to removed her head from the synthetic sand out there in Cali and run in a champion ship campaign.

The Sport of Kings – This weekend summed up

The Ups & Downs of Horse Racing

The weekend of racing started at Churchill downs as Einstein bested the field in the Clark Handicap, a race that the connections of Curlin most likely should have run him in. Never second guessing Jess Jackson, but the feeling I get in my heart of hearts is that either they felt it was too soon for him to come back from his last start in the Breeders’ Cup Classic or they felt it would be an incredibly daunting task to ask him to run down Commentator. Either way, I would have sent him to the Clark, but Curlin comes out looking ever so much better due to Einstein’s win against the speedy Commentator. As expected Commentator went straight to the lead and set legitimate fractions, 1st ¼ - 24.57 the ½ in 48.58 and he got ¾ in 1:12.64, if you know Commentator like I know Commentator you know one of two things is going to happen as they begin to turn for home. One, he’s going to turn it on and begin to bury his competition by 8, 10, or even 14 or 15 lengths. The second option is that he doesnt run his race and fades in the stretch. Basically, Commentator is an all or nothing horse, there is nothing wrong with that but he’s and older horse and he’s run the same way his whole career, for 2 or maybe 3 races he can hold his incredible form, putting down 119, 120, 121, or 122 beyers, but then there comes the inevitable bounce. Nick Zito knows it, Tracy Farmer (the horse’s owner) knows it, but that’s what makes Horse Racing so incredible, they still love Commentator for going out and trying hard every time. He shows the heart of a champion every time he steps out onto the track.
Einstein’s dominating victory against the Clark field adds even more validity to Curlin’s chances to garner 2008 Horse of the Year honors, as Einstein raced against Curlin earlier this year in the Stephen Foster Handicap at Churchill and dispatched of that field easily. Its was a great ride that Julien R. Leparoux, he sat comfortably off the pace that Commentator set and flew by him in the stretch easily dispatching Commentator and holding off Delightful Kiss. This was a quality win in a Grade II race against a Grade I field.
On Saturday the focus of Horse racing was thrust on New York as Aqueduct became the center of the horse racing world with 2 races being run that would push the two victors forward towards the Kentucky Derby. The Demoiselle Stakes is a 1 1/8 mile race for 2 year old fillies, this race normally sets up the winner as one to consider come Kentucky Oaks day. And the winner Springside didn’t disappoint her connections, turning what seemed to be a hotly contested race into a romp. Springside broke slowly and was in the back of the pack as the favorite Sky Diva sat chilly through fractions of 24 & 48, which is a moderate pace, Sky Diva and Aint Love Grand hooked up at the top of the stretch, but as they turned for home Springside ran to the lead and absolutely had things her way winning with daylight. Sadly as Springside changed leads while galloping out Garrett Gomez said that he heard a pop, and at that point pulled her up as quickly as possible. Springside was shipped to the New Bolton Center the same location that Barbaro was treated. I am sure they will take good care of this beautiful girl and hopefully one day soon she will be able to get back onto the track.
The Grade II Remsen was to be a race that pointed one of the top 2 year old colts towards the Kentucky Derby next year. Quickly though Old Fashioned, the same connections of Hard Spun, and Eight Belles, took control of the race and galloped to a very impressive 7 ¼ length victory. Old Fashioned, a song of Unbridled Song, went straight to the lead while ridden by Ramon Dominguez. He was under a hard hold throughout the race, and with about a furlong to go Dominguez let him out a notch and allowed him to finish up strong. Dominguez is quoted as saying: “Once he made the lead, I took a peek back, hit him one time, and he took off,” Dominguez said. “It was pretty impressive. Judging by today, there is no telling how far he can go.” Thus far the undefeated 2 year old is 3 for 3 with a maiden win by a nose in his first start, and a 15 ½ length win in an allowance race at Delaware, and now his first black type win against a field that was well aware of his capabilities. To be able to win a race with a target on your back with ease like that says something about the horse and the training job that Larry Jones has done thus far with the horse. With the win Old Fashioned pushed his career earnings to $173,280 and with the $120,000 In graded earnings from this race he looks primed to move forward patiently towards the derby.
The big race on the Aqueduct race card was the Hill ‘n’ Dale Cigar Mile. A nice field was assembled for this race, with the likes of Visionaire, Monterey Jazz, Arson Squad, Kodiak Kowboy Harlem Rocker and Tale of Ekati. With Monterey Jazz setting suicidal fractions of 22.87 for the 1st ¼ mile and the ½ mile @ 45, and ¾ in 1:09.42, Tale of Ekati sat patiently 4th in the field rating, as the field began to turn for home Tale of Ekati and Harlem Rocker hooked up but Harlem Rocker came over on Edgar Prado and Tale of Ekati. Prado changed course and Tale of Ekati made another run at Harlem Rocker, but it seemed at the line that he came up a nose short. Immediately after the race there was an inquiry and although the stewards took a few minutes to make a decision Harlem Rocker was DQ’d and put in second position giving the win to what looked like the best horse in the race. The euphoria that was felt by Barclay Tagg and Charles Fipke was absolutely tempered by the news that the ever so consistent Wanderin Boy, trained by Nick Zito suffered a fracture of the sesamoids in his left front leg and unfortunately the decision was made to euthanize Wanderin Boy. The news that he was put down was sickening due to the fact that he ran against the best older horses in his career, including Curlin, Lawyer Ron, Bernardini and Invasor. This horse had overcome so much in getting back to the track after sustaining a number of injuries early in his career. I for one will miss the presence of Wanderin Boy, he gave it his all every time he stepped out on the track. You will be missed Wanderin Boy. RIP..

Did Zenyatta Do enough to Garner H.O.Y.

Did Zenyatta Do enough to Garner H.O.Y.

This is the question, did she do enough? In the last year the super filly Zenyatta has impressed all of those that have been able to witness her domination of the Older filly and mare division. The first thing that I want to say with regards to Horse of the Year voting with regards to Zenyatta's record is that (in my opinion) I do not feel that at any point in time during a filly or mare's schedule she would need to run against and beat a field of colts to be in consideration for Horse of the Year honors.

With that being said, I do believe that the Horse of the Year award should go to the horse that has raced against the highest level of competition all year long and has in no way ducked anyone at any time and proven him or herself consistent at the Grade 1 level. Did the connections of Zenyatta do that, to respectfully put it in a word, -NO-!!! I have the utmost respect for Mr. Moss and Mr. Sheriffs, and I believe that they did the best they could to have their mare ready to give her best efforts in the few Grade 1 races that she ran in and that includes the Ladies Classic. Please for a moment, indulge me with regards to how the connections of the other top mares in the country planned out their schedules. It would be quite easy to assume that the highest level of racing would be where you want to race your filly or mare to prove that she is the best in her division and still have a fresh and ready horse that would run huge in at the Breeders Cup. Where though would you run your horse to be able to prove herself against the best of the best. The debate will run its course when trying to define which coast has the highest quality or runners, the east or the West, but there is not much debate as to which races are traditionally considered the most prestigious.

East - Ogden Phipps - June 14th @ Belmont Park, a Grade 1 race for older f&m.

West - Milady H. - May 31, 2008 @ Hollywood Park a Grade 2 race for older f&m.

East - Go for Wand - July 26, 2008 @ Saratoga a Grade 1 race for older f&m.West - Vanity H - July 5, 2008 @ Hollywood Park a Grade 1 race for older f&m.

East - Personal Ensign - August 22, 2008 @ Saratoga a Grade 1 race for older f&m.

West - Clement L. Hirsch - August 2, 2008 @ Del Mar a Grade 2 race for older f&m.

East - Beldame S. - Sept 27, 2008 @ Belmont Park a Grade 1 race for older f&m.

West - Lady's Secret S. - Sept 27, 2008 @ Oak Tree a Grade 1 race for older f&m.

Looking at these two schedules and comparing where Ginger Punch and Zenyatta prepared for the Breeders Cup gives an indication that 1 horse's connections went out and wanted to win the best races and travelled to the places where the highest level of racing in the older filly and mare division took place, that would be Ginger Punch, now if Ginger Punch runs the table that would have been 8 for 8 in 6 grade 1's, 1 grade 2, and 1 non graded race in the Sunshine Millions. No doubt she didn't win out but in comparison Zenyatta ran in 7 races this year, 4 Grade 1's and 3 grade 2's. From the view of the information presented even though Ginger Punch didn't win out her record of 3 Grade 1 wins 1 second and 1 third and 1 ungraded win would mean that if u calculated using the point system of 5 pts for grade 1 wins and 3 points for grade 1 runner up and 1 point for grade 1 3rd place up would give her, 19 points. Zenyatta would score 20 points.

Only 1 point more why, the answer is because her connections didnt or maybe wouldnt ship out to run in the highest class of racing, they were not ambitous nor did they go all out to possibly win H.O.Y. votes. The issue at hand is that the ease of the Grade 2 races would lead to her or honestly most horses being able to come back and continue to win the few grade 1 races that she won. A horse that didn't win a lot of races but who ran at the top level of competition all year long and who's connections didn't mind shipping her to these locations is Hystericalady, she ran at Santa Anita, Oaklawn, Churchill, Delaware, Monmouth, and Oak Tree. Had Hystericalady won all of her races except for the Breeders Cup Ladies Classic, she would in all likelihood get a number of votes for older f&m and possibly Horse of the Year. A horse though like Zenyatta, that is running in a number of Grade 2 races and at the horse's home track does not give an indication that the connections are looking to garner Horse of the Year votes, it seems to those of us that follow horse racing closely, that the connections were picking and choosing the easiest possible spots for the horse to run in (Grade 2 races) and this proves what exactly, well it proves that at the Grade 2 level Zenyatta can beat allowance horses, thats not saying alot about the horse and for those people that think that this is deserving of HOY honors it says alot about the state of horse racing, or even the ability of some people to understand the sport of Kings.

This is no knock on Zenyatta, as she did all she was asked, but this would tend to lead to a knock on the connections who now realize she can get Horse of the Year votes, for a undefeated record running in Grade 2 events against some of the weakest competition in recent memory. The only Grade 1 horse that Zenyatta beat out west was Tough Tiz's Sis, who ended up winning that Grade 1 race on dirt not the synthetics. The connections therefore understand that honestly, they didn't allow Zenyatta to go out and take the Horse of the Year award, but they feel, I would assume that they can back into the award, and it just doesn't work that way. This is an issue that will be debated from this point up until the award is announced in January, and will likely be debated for a long time afterward. Why, because the 1 time that she did face a full field of Graded horses she won a race that in many people's opinion really holds no merit. Again why u might ask, well the synthetics worked out very well for Zenyatta, but if you look at the race that Ginger Punch ran that would easily give u indication that the surfact had a great deal to do with the way that many of the better horses performed that day, again that includes champions like Ginger Punch and Curlin, so please dont act as if the Ladies Classic ran on a synthetic rubber and carpet blended surface is a true measure of these horses form, as Ginger punch and Curlin finished off the board for the first time in their careers, im sure that you would have an excuse for this profound occurance that took place 2 days apart for both of these champions.

But there is no excuse that can be used like they were off form or just got beat, these horses dont get beat like that, if you put the ladies classic on traditional dirt this year at Belmont your order of finish would be quite different. With all due respect to Zenyatta she may have actually lost a race. Someone mentioned her race at the Oaklawn Park meet, she ran against a nice field in the Apple Blossom. What I would ask that you keep in mind is that in early April there arent going to be many horses in tip top condition at this time of the year, but see things as you may.

So for those out there whose standards basically state that you can become Horse of the Year if you run at your home track all year long and win Grade 2 races against mostly small allowance fields of 3 and 4 horses, then more power to you, but please go back and see the standard set by other HOY candidates. A Grade 2 resume of races doesnt even come close to qualifying for being under consideration to be considered the best horse in your own division, less known garnering Horse of the Year votes. But it will come down to the voters who will give Curlin his second Horse of the Year award.

Good Luck to the connections of Zenyatta. Next year actually be a bit more ambitious and really look to go after and win the award, please dont try to win the award because the competiton loses a race or two. Thats not very good sportsmanship and takes away from true champions!