I hate to be negative but this is

[avance2000]

Originally Posted by Independent George

Suppose the 3 finalists for HOY are a Sprinter; a Turf specialist; and a dirt track dynamo. How could you run some kind of match-race that would be fair to all 3.

Yes! As I was reading the thread I kept waiting for someone to say this!! The idea of having one race to decide it is completely impractical for this reason.
You also do have the injury factor. Look at Smarty in '04. Did he deserve HOY? A lot of people thought he did but he certainly would not have been able to "settle it on the track" with Ghostzapper.
Personally I think HOY gets too much attention anyway. How do you compare a champion 2yo filly's year to a champion older male turf horse? The key eclipse awards are the divisional awards, because you can actually make comparisons.