JC / Railbird

Older Female Division

On Voters, Politicking, and What Ifs

An interesting comment thread developed on the post “Odd Voter Out,” about broadening the pool of eligible Eclipse Award voters and the propriety and prevalence of voters politicking via their ballots. Regarding the pool, Jennie Rees suggests on her blog opening up voting to broadcasters, an idea current NTWA officer Ed DeRosa supports here, as he does the possibility of including players who wager significant money through US-based outlets. Either or both would freshen up the awards, which, with fewer than 300 voters and many of those attached to legacy media, are in danger of seeming increasingly irrelevant to fans such as the Turk.

As for politicking, it’s part of the process. Commenter tvnewsbadge makes the reasonable assumption that for voters with strong feelings about synthetic surfaces, “personal considerations did influence at least SOME” in this year’s Eclipse voting, an assumption shared by Nick Kling, who wrote of the Horse of the Year tally, “There is no doubt part of the 130-99 vote favoring Rachel Alexandra was tied to the surface issue.” Close readers of the vote totals released last Monday could clearly see an anti-synthetic contingent within several divisions, and it wasn’t outlandish for knowledgeable observers to speculate that the vote for Icon Project as champion older female was no mistake. Jay Hovdey’s take on that little post-Eclipse flap gets it right:

Who cares if someone might have voted for Icon Project anyway? To my mind, given the climate of controvery surrounding synthetic surfaces, there very easily could have been a voter out there who refused to consider any horse without traditional dirt form for one of the traditional main track awards, and Icon Project, a runaway winner of good races at Belmont and Saratoga, was a viable alternative once past Zenyatta and Life Is Sweet.

Exactly, who cares? If voters can’t put forth a surprising selection, politick, or register a protest as a handicapper against a disliked surface or some other issue — all on principle, I would hope, and not as a frivolity — with their ballots, then the awards might as well be based on a points system. Rather than discourage such votes, it would be better to embrace transparency across the voting blocs, as the NTWA does by publishing its members’ ballots. There would be little mystery to rogue votes then and any ensuing debate would probably be pretty lively, and almost certainly, more compelling than the name-calling that accompanies a mix of anonymity and unknown reasoning.

Whether the vote for Icon Project as champion older female was legitimate or a mistake caused by tech troubles, it should have remained as it was submitted. To change the ballot sets a lousy precedent and raises not insignificant questions, as DeRosa brings up in a post on his Big Event Blog:

Will you only be allowed to change your vote if you can corroborate your intention with a vote in another category?

Would we be going through this for any other category or for any other horse or for any other situation other than to make a champion unanimous? What if the vote had been 200-32 instead of 231-1? What if Dosik had voted anyone but Zenyatta as Horse of the Year?

There’s also an unfortunate undertone to the correction, hard to ignore, a sense of the voter being brought into line, his errant vote made to conform with the majority. The retabulation making Zenyatta unanimously a champion, as Rachel Alexandra was in her division, seems not merely an effort to set the historical record straight, but a sly means of granting the equality that was impossible in Horse of the Year voting to the two distaffers and an attempt to assuage those who may have felt embarrassed by the mistaken vote. What if Duke Dosik had entered the name of Rachel Alexandra or another for 2009 Horse of the Year? Would his vote for Icon Project still be an error?

Related: Auditors and steering committee members, note — there may be more Eclipse voting mistakes out there. Bill Christine’s commentary certainly suggests so: “Just because turf writers can read a Racing Form doesn’t mean they’re deft with computers. I struggle with my electronic vote every year, hoping I don’t hit the wrong button at the wrong time, and I know a number of colleagues who are just as klutzy. One of them called me on a Sunday this year, the day before the balloting deadline, to have me walk him through the process. It was the blind leading the blind, from flag fall to finish.”

Posted in Media on January 26, 2010 / Tagged Daily Racing Form, Eclipse Awards, Eclipse Voters, NTWA, Older Female Division, Zenyatta

Odd Voter Out

A rumor was swirling before the awards ceremony that at least one Eclipse voter had cast a ballot in protest, primarily against synthetic surfaces, for a mare other than Zenyatta as champion older female and that the Breeders’ Cup Classic winner would be denied a unanimous victory in her division. The gossip proved partially true: When the totals were released, Personal Ensign winner Icon Project was revealed the recipient of one vote to Zenyatta’s 231.

Reaction online was incredulous and outraged:

How in %$#* was Zenyatta not a unanimous selection as top older female? There’s always a wise guy in the crowd … Icon Project? Well, nothing in this industry should surprise me. (Art Wilson)

I see you, East Coast bias, raising your ugly head. Who the fuck gave ICON PROJECT a vote for Older Female? (@shirozora)

Icon Project voter probably same moron who voted Court Vision top male turf horse, I Want Revenge top 3yo male. (@filliesfirst)

The eejit who voted Icon Project as champion older female should out himself & not hide behind anonymity of DRF. She wasn’t even a finalist. (@francesjkaron)

Strong words.

Unfortunately for the curious and annoyed everywhere, the voter is part of the DRF bloc, which grants anonymity to its members. What the voter was thinking, what point they may have wanted to make, or what errors they regret — the rumor now circulating is that the voter made a mistake — will have to remain in the realm of conjecture, unless he or she comes forward to explain.

Update: The voter erred. “I’m so sorry. There is no way I meant to do anything but put Zenyatta on top,” said Duke Dosik. Vote totals were retabulated in light of his blunder; Zenyatta is now a unanimous champion.

Posted in Racing on January 21, 2010 / Tagged Distaffers, Eclipse Awards, Icon Project, Older Female Division, Zenyatta