JC / Railbird

HOF/Awards Archive

The Awards Picture

It’s not technically the end of the year, but there’s little likely to happen in the next eight weeks that could shake up division standings now. With his Breeders’ Cup Classic win, Saint Liam is assured of the champion older horse and Horse of the Year honors, in whatever judgment scheme you prefer, whether it’s a points system like the Standings, or a voting system like the Eclipse Awards.
The other divisions will be ripe for debate: First Samurai vs. Stevie Wonderboy for two-year-old champion, for instance, or Flower Alley vs. Afleet Alex for three-year-old honors. The biggest fight looming will be over naming a champion sprinter. Lost in the Fog, Breeders’ Cup Sprint winner Silver Train, and Vosburgh winner Taste of Paradise are likely finalists for the award. It seems bizarre that either Silver Train or Taste of Paradise could win the title over a horse that won eight straight (including five graded stakes) before losing, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see it happen. You need only consider what’s been written about Lost in the Fog over the past couple of weeks to realize the strange fickleness of an awards system that relies solely on the subjective votes of racing media and officials. A week ago, there were quite a few who suggested Lost in the Fog could be Horse of the Year if he won the Breeders’ Cup Sprint. Since his seventh place finish on Saturday, the meme floating around seems to be that he might not even deserve sprint champion.

Posted in HOF/Awards on November 1, 2005

HOTY Race

With the Breeders’ Cup less than four weeks away, the race for Horse of the Year is on. In the standings (to the right), Saint Liam leads by 25 points over three-year-old filly In the Gold, with Sweet Return, Ashado, and Island Fashion rounding out the top five. Borrego vaulted into sixth place with his win in the Jockey Club Gold Cup. Flower Alley, Summerly, Afleet Alex, and Megahertz follow, completing the top 10. What all this means is that Horse of the Year is still wide open — and the Breeders’ Cup results really will decide this year’s champion.

Posted in HOF/Awards on October 3, 2005

Another in Race for HOTY

It’s early in the year yet, but talk is already turning to the subject of who might win 2005 Horse of the Year. Afleet Alex is one of the names being bandied about, but Lost in the Fog is another contender, and after his dazzling win in the Stephen Foster, so is Saint Liam. (Courier-Journal)

Posted in HOF/Awards on June 19, 2005

All Over the Place

In case you haven’t had your fill of Eclipse Awards coverage yet, do check out Jay Hovdey’s account of the awards cereremony. “For a moment, it was 1952 all over again, and Richard Nixon was trying to save his political hide by playing down slush fund allegations and diverting attention with references to his wife’s ‘good Republican cloth coat’ and his daughter’s dog, Checkers. A few beats later, Merv Griffin appeared from out of a misty cloud of talk show nostalgia … Then, at some point John Wayne entered the hall, closely followed by Will Rogers, who between them provided a bedrock, down-home reality that felt like the whole place had suddenly become Kansas, circa 1948.” (Daily Racing Form)
Also: Photos, courtesy of the Blood-Horse.
Ken Ramsey’s apology for attempting to bribe another owner to scratch a horse from a race, an infraction he was punished for by the Kentucky racing board last week, reminded Bill Christine “that parties without party-poopers are hard to find.” (LA Times)
Bill Finley reports on the outcome of the Ghostzapper-Smarty Jones HOTY contest, and suggests that some votes for Ghostzapper may have been cast as payback for Smarty’s disappearance from the track. “Some voters might have chosen Ghostzapper because of the circumstances of Smarty Jones’s retirement after winning the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness.” Some voters? I wonder who Finley’s talking about. (New York Times)

Posted in HOF/Awards on January 26, 2005