JC / Railbird

HOF/Awards Archive

Unfairly Maligned

This year’s crop of three-year-olds may be ill-fated — Lion Heart, Birdstone, and The Cliff’s Edge were all retired with fractures — but it’s not inferior. “Some believe, based on Beyer Speed Figures, that this is a weak crop. Yet other speed figure gurus, such as Thoro-Graph’s Jerry Brown, state that some of Smarty Jones’ numbers are among the fastest ever recorded by a 3-year-old, including one race that was the fastest ever recorded.” (Blood-Horse)

Posted in HOF/Awards on November 9, 2004

Not Even Close

Ghostzapper garners 18 votes for Horse of the Year to Smarty Jones’ 7 in a Blood-Horse survey of trainers, jockeys, and journalists.
Related: “Smarty vs. Ghostzapper a dream race” (Daily Racing Form)

Posted in HOF/Awards on November 3, 2004

HOTY Race Heats Up

The contest for Horse of the Year comes down to two: Smarty Jones and Ghostzapper. Which deserves the honor? The chestnut colt who electrified crowds with his Kentucky Derby and Preakness performances against the best three-year-olds, or the lightly-raced four-year-old 4-for-4 against the best older horses?
Maryjean Wall says Smarty is still in the picture. (Lexington Herald-Leader)
Mike Brunker wants to compromise. (MSNBC)
And Bill Finley couldn’t be plainer in his preference: “Ghostzapper earned my Horse of the Year vote Saturday.” (ESPN)
Wait, says Richard Rosenblatt: “When cooler heads prevail, there’s little doubt that Smarty Jones is more deserving of Horse of the Year.” (Trentonian)
Related: Andrew Beyer writes that there’s one word for Ghostzapper: “Freak” (Daily Racing Form); Wall says Ashado has staked a claim as top three-year-old filly (Lexington Herald-Leader); Sherry Ross predicts Sweet Catomine for two-year-old filly Eclipse, Ouija Board for top turf mare, and Ghostzapper for top handicap horse (New York Daily News)
Comment: I’m with Brunker. Smarty Jones proved himself the best three-year-old and deserves that award; Ghostzapper proved himself versatile and fast and so deserves HOTY. If only there were an honorable mention for that prize — I’d love to see Funny Cide recognized. After his fabulous Jockey Club Gold Cup victory, there was some talk of the gelding carrying off the big award. Obviously, that won’t be happening, but I can think of no other horse that runs with as much heart as he does.

Posted in HOF/Awards on November 1, 2004

Smarty Backlash?

Smarty Jones’ untimely departure from the winner’s circle to the breeding shed disappointed fans — and turf writers. “Bill Finley, a veteran reporter who covers racing for ESPN.com, says his displeasure with the turn of events may influence his ballot.
“Granted, he was a very exciting horse,” Finley says, “but personally I’m very disappointed they retired him and retired him under a scenario where it appeared they could easily have brought him back next year, if not sooner.
“Maybe it’s not up to the voters to punish people, but the sport needs superstars, and these people didn’t keep their promise to keep him around. I may keep that in mind, and I may just punish them for that.” (USA Today)

Posted in HOF/Awards on October 28, 2004