Because they aren't experts save a few. And because they caved into the pressure of a facebook page. The horse racing media save a few is embarrassing.

In terms of setup, she got a much worse one than Blame did. Clearly, after all these years of race calling, one would assume that you'd at least grasp that much.

Blame was never going to let her by.

I've only been calling for a handful of years... enlighten me.

I'm sorry but I just finished catching up on this thread and headed over to Equidaily.

The headline is pretty funny...

http://equidaily.com/

As soon as he gets back to the library he'll respond.

If this was typed with a straight face, you're the dumbest person in the history of human life.

Everyone, if you want to celebrate Zenyatta's award, by all means, go ahead. But please do me one favor: Cut the bullshit that this was ever a fair fight and that, maybe if Blame had won the JCGC or won one or two more Grade I's, he'd have gotten HOY hands down. Blame was never going to win that award in a million years.

There is no way in hell that this should have even been debatable, and yet, there was a debate. The production of the two horses in 2010 were on different planets. Zenyatta won, not partly, solely because a bunch of easily manipulated douchebags bought into the ridiculous notion that her lame ass streak of beating tomato cans (and the fact that she's a girl) somehow improved and elevated the sport in the public consciousness in any meaningful way.

It's a giant lie, one that was gleefully perpetuated by the Mosses, John Shirreffs and Hollywood Park, among others. Just because a contingent of mouthbreathers and paste-eaters who seemingly get paid to find absolutely zero ways to improve the sport bought that bullshit, that doesn't mean the rest of us are supposed to believe her accomplishments were in the same ballpark as Blame's and that Blame was just an inch or two from winning the award.

You should break into the business if your opinions are so much better, why limit your talents to a message board.

Most of them are unqualified hacks, of course I think the majority of todays media are hacks so why limit it to racing?

That's all you can do is deflect. That's all you've ever done during these arguments.

The biggest farce is that there are supposedly 260+ members of the hose racing print media who are qualified to vote on year end awards.

In nearly 40 years of following horse racing, last night's HOY selection was one of my biggest disappointments. I finally posted some derogatory remarks about Zenyatta last night. Previously, I had confidence that Blame's body of work would garner him victory. However, Zenyatta's popularity carried her to Eclipse podium.

It is sad day in racing when those charged with making difficult decisions, such as Eclispse Award winners, pander to public sentiment. The baseball writers are showing true grit by policing the steriod abusers from tainted era. What happened to horse racing voters?

Zenyatta will join Hall of Fame which is her rightful and earned honor. However, I will never recognize her as 2010 HOY. Some have suggested that fans vote on these awards just as fans in other sports vote for all-stars. In Major League Baseball, All-Stars play in an exhibition game. Post-season and HOF selections are made by baseball writers.

Tsk, tsk...

There was no question that Zenyatta would win the NTRA votes. How could she lose after beating Citation, Secretariat and other greats in the video game?

I've been to probably 30+ race tracks across America and Canada. I've never been to Aqueduct. It's not one I've ever wanted to check off my list.

Seriously, if there is something at Aqueduct I should see, let me know. I'll be sure to go. I'm a sucker for nostalgia and history, as any Hialeah fan in 2011 of course would be. I've made Belmont for several "Belmont Stakes," the first being Seattle Slew's win.

Okay, I'll admit in misreading something last night about Blame and Aqueduct.

I just don't see or buy that Garrett Gomez aboard Blame for a 4-1 record in his 2010 races was all that special.

Is this internet for "I was worng"?

I guess Mike Smith aboard Zenyatta for a 5-1 record was special. Maybe I need to be "special" to appreciate these things.

Yawn.

You seized and comprehended the thought.


Congrats.

Can we go back now and retroactively make Smarty Jones and Barbaro both Horse of the Year, too?

Based on this year's results, they should've been RESOUNDING winners, since being popular and having the most segments on the nooz is what makes horse of the year these days -- not actually being the horse that accomplishes the most on the racetrack.

It's just absurd. The whole "well, there are no rules, so it's all subjective and it can mean whatever you want it to mean" thing lots of voters have been saying is just a cop-out. Everyone knows what the generally accepted spirit of the rule is, which is to say, put or shut up on the track if you want to win the award. Until this year.

There's a good damn reason Barbaro and Smarty Jones didn't win the award, for two recent comparisons, because despite all of their wonderful human-interest stories, and all of the attention they brought to the game, they got outperformed on the track, where it matters.

If only they had been better dancers. Sure things then.

Stick to redboards. No one cares how many tracks you have been to.

hey now.. all 5 of Zenyatta's victories in 2010 were against the best possible competition in American Racing!

The radical Zenyatta fanbase is a lot crazier than the most radical Smarty Jones and Barbaro fans. If only these 3 were on the ballot, Zenyatta would win in a landslide.

Smarty brought out the best in people!!!! ;)

People around Philly really enjoyed the media attention on Smarty and had Smarty Parties!! Now those are the type of "fans" I like...

People willing to down lots of alcohol, and make side bets on the Belmont Stakes are more fun than Pink sign holders!

But then again Philly is so much better than Cali so its expected that we have better "fans".

Redboards?

Hey, I called a $5 win on a $70 bet at the inspiration of My Miss Storm Cat the other day here.

Not one of my best wagers.

I'd love to share my damn winning bets here but I just don't frickin' handicap and decide my final wagers until getting the look, feel and vibes from the paddock to the gate.



I know you don't care how many tracks I've been to "DaHoss." Your decision.

I've seen lots of horse racing in my 50+ years of gambling. And wagered often. Often.

And now have two kids through college, one going to graduate in April, and one now a freshman. And they all have/will graduated with no debt.

I have had two wives who have watched and experienced me gambling that have let me fire at will. My first wife and my second wife are friends, and of all they talk about me, gambling is NEVER a negative.

I enjoy my gambling, and I am good enough at it to have had fun and gained some nice things from it....for years and years.

Sorry you are hung up on this "redboarding" thing. Like others here.

I don't understand that "redboarding" disrespect at all. If someone drops in with short time and very limited posts I maybe get the sentiment.


I'm very happy that Zenyatta's connections won their prize of Horse of The The Year.


I never bet a dime on her. No souvenir tickets, or nothing.


(I do have a Mike Smith autographed photo)

Who cares?

I know nothing about you, but I picture you as a pasty white, pudgy young man sitting alone in a disheveled apartment with two day old skid marks in your underwear.

I hope you gamble better than you humanly interact.

And I hope my vision is way more wrong than right.

Later westcoast.

what does this mean? i hope it doesn't mean he got darted. just wondering

Darted? For that? No, that can't be. That would be the worst flag of all-time.

Wow...he got banned for that?

It's not for that. It's been for his constant political flaming in The Paddock and instigating. He's not banned, he's in the penalty box.

since he is in the penalty box, i don't know if he can read this or not, but i would like to say that i think he's lucky for not being banned since he called you the "dumbest person in the history of human beings".
oh, wait.....


was that him?

congrats zenyatta and stupid you banning someone comon man!
 

Congrats Zenyatta you deserve it! She might have loss to blame by a nose, but you socalled experts don't see what she did for horse racing in general. She was the one everyone came to see that breeders cup not blame! Sure he won but he only had 5 races all year! As much as you want to poo hoo her accomplishments, she had a great winning streak and was great for the industry! Good for you girl! Now stupid you banning someone for what they post are you kidding me! You ever look at what you call people. Trolls for example, you shouldn't be a moderator. A moderator is not suppose to be extreme. Look at some:rolleyes: of your posts sometime. Your suppose to value everyones judgement and not be biased against the people who don't agree with you! Fair and impartial! I ask does that sound like ateamstupid? Comeon man!

But do you have a photo of yourself with Mike Smith like I do? :p :D

Just so no one thinks I had anything to do with the penalty box, I didn't. I don't agree with it and don't really see why he was put there. I do think it's worth going back and getting it all out one last time, because this is going to be my last post on Zenyatta and HOY.

My biggest issue here is apparently logic has been thrown out the window. I understand we all view the game differently. Some are fans first and never bet, some bet sometimes, weekend warriors and people that make a living playing. There is room for all of us (and hopefully more), but I do think if you are going to have an opinion, you should at least be able to back it up somehow. Otherwise what is the point of having one? And by backing it up I mean supplying either facts or an arguement that makes sense.

One thing that has become apparent is somehow this became some kind of east vs west thing and it's totally not. Who cares where a horse is from? Another thing is no matter what a "Zenyatta hater" says, it always somehow gets distorted. We said we wanted to see her do more this year. That turned into she needed to face only males, ship multiple times and run in NY. It's just not true and further demonstrates that logic has been thrown out the window. Here's a good example....

Well, Blame never ran at Aqueduct. Not that it matters if he did, but the implication is that Aqueduct is somehow not good enough for a HOY candidate. Yet it's the people from the east coast that are arrogant. And if you notice in the post, running in NY seems to be some sort of negative. Well, like it or not the top races for handicap horses in the summer and fall are in NY. Blame was running in the top races for handicap horses. Blame paid $10 in the Foster. Is that a negative? He was 2nd choice in the race.

So when I bring it up, this is the answer...

Seriously, who cares how many tracks someone has been to? What does it have to do with the discussion or the obvious error in the post? but he's right, Blame's year wasn't all that special. Neither was Zenyatta's if you look at the races, who she faced and what they ended up doing. There is no way someone can be honest and say Zenyatta faced better competition than Blame did in 2010. There is no way someone can say Zenyatta beat better competition than Blame did. It's just not possible. The only arguement we hear is she did more for the game. That's a chickenshit cop out. I have yet to see someone put forth an arguement that what Zenyatta did on track was better than Blame...because you can't.

I think awarding Zenyatta HOY sets a bad precedent. Her connections knew that by running in the campaign they chose, they needed to win the Classic in order to be deserving of HOY. She didn't. She ran well, but in a game where inches separates millions of dollars, she fell inches short, to a horse that had a better year on track than she did. i don't like seeing the sport turn into a popularity contest. It isn't American Idol. it's better than that and we should expect better than that. It's not about who has more fans on Facebook. It's about what you do on the track.

She didn't have to travel or beat males every race. But there were races in her backyard that she was eligible for, that would have tested her and they avoided them. The funny thing is I'm almost positive she would have won them. But they didn't try. They avoided top competition to protect a streak and were rewarded for it. Had she just ran in one of those races against males during the year, I would think she is deserving. but she didn't.

If people think that she had was deserving of HOY based on what she did on track this year, fine. But I urge you to go through the history of the award and tell me how her year stacks up with other winners. I'll save you the time....it doesn't stack up well. She was a fantastic horse. She was an amazingly consistent horse. Her run in the BC this year was exciting and made for a great race. But she didn't deserve HOY. The horse that beat her...that beat better, that faced better deserved the award.

Is there something wrong with sitting alone in two day old skid marks? If there is, i don't ever want to be right.

You need to read a little closer. He wasn't banned for anything related to his opinion on HOY..

westcoastinvader is also the guy who proudly tried to beat Rachel Alexandra in the Fake Monmouth Park stakes earlier this summer. I don't give anything he says much creedence.