Reading into Rankings
I’ll leave it to others to debate whether it’s sexist or even right that Zenyatta finished second to tennis star Serena Williams in the Associated Press’ Female Athlete of the Year poll and instead merely note that the mare has been running second in quite a few rankings of late, such as the decade-in-review pieces compiled by Tim Layden for Sports Illustrated and Joe Drape for the New York Times, or first, as in the annual Thoroughbred Times readers’ poll. Is this the recency effect, as Ed DeRosa suggests, or are these considered placings, all lengths ahead of Rachel Alexandra, harbingers of how the Horse of the Year vote will tally?
Close Call
… not just between Curlin and Zenyatta for Horse of the Year, but for 3-year-old filly division honors. Will the champion be Proud Spell or Music Note [or Indian Blessing*]? Consider:
– Proud Spell went 4-for-8 in 2008, with two Grade 1 wins in the Kentucky Oaks and Alabama Stakes. In those races, she beat 13 rivals, including Music Note (by a head in the Alabama) and Indian Blessing. After finishing second in the Cotillion in September, trainer Larry Jones declared Proud Spell done for the year and the filly didn’t start in the Breeders’ Cup.
– Music Note wrapped up the year 4-for-6, with three Grade 1 wins in the Mother Goose, Coaching Club American Oaks, and Gazelle Stakes. All were at Belmont Park, in short fields; she beat 10 others in those races, including Proud Spell (by 3 1/2 lengths in the Mother Goose, a perhaps misleading margin due to traffic problems suffered by ‘Spell) and Little Belle. Unlike Proud Spell, Music Note did run in the Breeders’ Cup, finishing a very game third behind Zenyatta and stablemate Cocoa Beach in the Filly & Mare Classic.
If I had a vote, I’d lean toward Music Note, but Proud Spell has a strong claim.
Sporting Greatness
Eight were inducted into the Racing Hall of Fame on Monday, including recently retired Funny Cide jockey Jose Santos, who got three standing ovations during the ceremony (DRF), and Boston-connected Triple Tiara winner Mom’s Command (Herald). With 11 victories in 16 starts, the champion filly’s place in the Hall of Fame is well deserved, but Bill Finley raises a good question about future equine honorees in his ESPN column:
Do the stars of the modern era, a period in racing’s history where the majority of top horses have had very limited campaigns — deserve to be enshrined alongside the true greats and warriors of the game?
It hardly matters. Hall of Fame rules stipulate one horse, one human inductee from each category every year. So, what will future voters do with Horse of the Year Invasor, one of the best racehorses in recent years, retired with an injury after only seven starts outside Uruguay? Or Rags to Riches, who will skip the Alabama to start in the Ruffian or Gazelle this September and then run in the Breeders’ Cup (DRF)? She’ll almost certainly enter the Hall of Fame on the basis of her historic Belmont win, even if her career ends after two more starts.
HOF Ballot Changes Needed
Lowell Sun racing correspondent Paul Daley pens an open letter to the Racing Hall of Fame Nominating Committee, calling for changes to the Hall’s balloting procedures in this week’s Sun column, reprinted with permission here.
Dear Edward L. Bowen, Chairman, and Nominating Committee members,
I sent my ballot on Tuesday via email regarding my votes for induction into the Class of 2006, to be held on Monday, August 7 at the Fasig-Tipton Sales Pavilion in Saratoga Springs.
I take this vote very seriously and feel compelled to strenuously lobby for a procedural change for next year’s balloting.
As I see it, the Racing Hall of Fame should be for inclusion rather than exclusionary. As in the Baseball Hall of Fame, there is every reason to include all qualified candidates, human and equine, which fit the highest standards of racing, and then let the voters choose a specified number of candidates, regardless of category, on his or her individual ballot. Then, if any candidate receives 75 percent of the votes cast, induction would be warranted. If no candidate received the requisite number of votes, so be it.
This year, the flaws in the current system are readily apparent, especially in the Contemporary Male and Contemporary Female categories.
First, let’s look at the Contemporary Females. Mom’s Command is not even listed as one of the three finalists, yet won the New York Filly Triple Crown and then the Alabama Stakes in 1985, as nominee Sky Beauty did in 1993. However, Mom’s Command also defeated every horse who ever beat her. None of the other nominees can make that claim. Yet, she was removed from the ballot this year.
I feel strongly that we must reward outstanding qualified candidates before time passes them by and they fade from the memories of the voters, keeping in mind that candidates such as Cigar, Azeri, Secretariat, Bob Baffert, and John Velazquez, for example, will always be first-ballot inductees when eligible. In the system I propose, there will always be room for both types of candidates.
How else will youngsters develop an appreciation of the sport if they can’t read about them on the walls of the Hall of Fame, in its library, or through interactive videos? As Hall of Fame trainer Ron McAnally said directly after his Bayakoa won the 1990 Breeders’ Cup Distaff following the tragic breakdown of Go for Wand, “They [horses] give their lives for our enjoyment.”
So, I am voting for Jockey Eddie Maple and trainer Robert Wheeler, both eminently qualified, before they fade from voters’ consciousness. Others, like Alex Solis, Shane Sellers, Velazquez, and Edgar Prado, as jockeys, will have numerous chances for induction when their time comes in the future. The same can be said for Roger Attfield, Baffert, Wally Dollase, and Neil Howard as trainers. But the time for Maple, Wheeler, and perhaps Mel Stute is now.
In a similar sentiment, I will not vote for any candidate in the Contemporary Female category this year because Mom’s Command, who wove her magic in 1984-85, has been taken off the ballot. I admit that this is not totally fair on my part, either, because Inside Information, Silverbulletday, and Sky Beauty are all very worthy fillies. However, I have no other way of taking a stand on the issue other than with this correspondence and knowing that mares such as Azeri and Beautiful Pleasure will soon join the list of eligibles.
Lastly, it’s truly a shame that only one of Best Pal, Manila, and Silver Charm, barring ties, will be inducted this year into the Hall of Fame in the Contemporary Male category. Each of them is deserving of induction in the Class of 2006 and will get my yes vote. One only hopes that their time does not pass when the likes of Point Given, Tiznow, and Mineshaft become eligible in the ensuing years.
Respectfully submitted,
Paul R. Daley
Lowell Sun Newspaper
Copyright © 2006 by Paul Daley. Reprinted with permission of the author.
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