Zenyatta assigned 129 pounds for Vanity

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

I think to some degree you're knocking Best Pal for continuing to run way beyond his prime.

On paper, he was one of the most accomplished 2yos of recent memory and he was definitely in a zone as a 4yo in an abbreviated season.

That said, I don't think he should be in the HOF if some of the others you mentioned aren't.

No I am knocking him because he just wasnt that good. He was durable and consistent but hardly great. he never won a single eclipe award despite racing during a down period. Perhaps you could have made a case that he could have been voted 2 year old champion but even back then the BC trumped most of the rest of the 2 yo races.

Eclipse winners years that he ran
2 yo -Fly So free
3 yo -Hansel
Older male (4) -Pleasant Tap
Older male (5) - Bertrando
Older male (6) - The Wicked North
Older male (7) - Cigar

Cigar notwithstanding, he never had a good enough single season to win a national award, losing to some of the worst winners since the awards were instituted in 1971. He was elected because of his longevity, not in spite of it.

The other problem that we have is that the voters are generally clueless as a group, with few having much of a grasp of the sports history prior to Cigar.