Eclipse Awards a Chalky Affair

It was a chalky Eclipse awards last night in Miami. There were no real surprises during the evening – including Kenny Rice’s horrible jokes – leading up to the Horse of the Year coronation of Zenyatta. That moment was a surprise for me. Racing has always had an “old school” mentality and art of that mentality is that awards and champions are decided on the track. Be it a nose or nine lengths, Blame won the battle on the track and I suspected that would carry over to the vote. As close as I thought the vote would be, it really wasn’t. Blame finished with 102 votes, Goldikova with 5 but the queen smoked them all with 128.


Some takeaways for me on the evening:

- Acceptance speeches for the most part were God awful with the connections of Dubai Majesty taking the cake;

- Omar Moreno was sincere and heartfelt when he said that winning the Best Apprentice award was the best moment of his life;

- Kenny Rice needs to go. His jokes were not only flat, but in several instances sexist. I’m not easily offended (I’ve been in racing and gaming for 12 years!) but he managed to do it. Second bad year in a row, time to move on;

- The Moss’ were as gracious in victory as they were in defeat;

- Al Stall, Jr., while clearly disappointed, gave an equally gracious interview at the end of the night.

- Marylou Whitney pinning the responsibility for OTTBs on the owners was only about 40% correct. As Teresa Genaro pointed out during the Thoroughbred Times live chat during the ceremony, Breeder’s play a large role in the proliferation of horses as well (percentages were mine).

I can’t let Mrs. Whitney’s comments go untouched here. I am sure that from her perspective owners should care for their horses from birth until death, but that is easier said than done. She deals in the blue bloods. It’s not often that you’ll find a Whitney horse running in a $5,000 claiming race at Beulah Park. When you are talking about claiming horses that may change hands a dozen times over a career, they are much tougher to keep track of. While you can stipulate on a horse’s papers that you want to be contacted if the horse is going to be retired/sent to slaughter, you are also relying on the integrity of that last trainer/owner to honor your request. As hard as it is to believe, there are some unscrupulous characters running around the racetrack and the draw of money now versus maybe a few bucks later is too much for many.

Breeder’s need to step up and more minor fees need to be assessed that go to the retirement of racehorses. Hopefully the recession has stopped the practice of overbreeding racehorses. The decreasing foal crops should at least allow the supply to start running more in line with demand in a few years.

In addition, support your local retirement charity whether you are a fan, owner or just plain horse lover. So many wonderful groups exist around the country from CANTER to ReRun to Neigh Savers, Southern California Thoroughbred Rescue and even right here in Minnesota where we have the Minnesota Retired Racehorse Project. Pick your favorite and lend a hand.

Finally, there are some Blame fans that were clearly not happy with the outcome. As I mentioned yesterday, I would have voted for Zenyatta but I can certainly understand the sentiment: when you win on the track, that’s supposed to be enough. As many of Zenyatta’s other opponents have found out, against her your best is rarely enough. She is a deserving champion.

Congratulations to all the winner’s tonight. Enjoy the after party!

Horse of the Year

All the votes are now in and Horse of the Year is decided. We’ll find out tonight on TVG if Blame or Zenyatta will take home the hardware. I don’t have a vote but if I did my vote would go to Zenyatta. Last year I argued that Rachel deserved HOY because of her more rigorous campaign. It could be argued that Blame had the more rigorous campaign of the two this year. I know Zenyatta won all Grade Is while Blame did not and he even lost a race before their meeting. And I know it’s not Z’s fault that she didn’t face top notch competition in every race – she entered Grade I races and was there to be beaten. No one did. Ultimately, to me, the best argument for Blame is that he won the head to head meeting between the two.

What it comes down to for me are two things:

1. She brought so much attention to racing this year that there is no way to argue that she hasn’t done more for the game than any other horse this season – while winning every race save one, and;

2. The WAY she lost to Blame throws enough doubt into the equation so that #1 sways the case, in my opinion. She was phenomenal in defeat. If Blame had beaten her by two or three, I go the other way on this one.

Any number of Ifs and she wins the race and there is no discussion. I know that “Ifs” are part of the game and “Ifs” don’t matter, the results do. I understand that. But to me these two horses are equal. Run the race 100 times and it could be like flipping a coin. Zenyatta proved her greatness and I think the ancillary piece of what she did for the sport pushes her over the top. Again, Blame wins by more convincingly and this isn’t even a question.

However it goes, I’m OK with the result. Both horses had outstanding campaigns. I just shudder to think of the vitriol that will spew forth from the losing camp. My congratulations go to the winner, no matter who it is.