Who wins Horse of the Year?

Here's my take. I think Game On Dude is likely to win.

Here's the one's that might beat him and reasons they won't.

My Miss Aurelia. Can't give it to a 2yo filly.

Union Rags. Best threat "IF" he had won. He didn't.

Hansen. No

Drosselmeyer. Only one Graded win won't do it. Might have if Game On Dude had finished far back.

HDG. Beat boys only once.

Flat Out. Couldn't beat the filly. Only 1 Grade 1.

Animal Kingdom, Stay Thirsty, Shackleford. None did enough and beat up on each other.

Turf horses Cape Blanco & Acclamation. Both skipped the BC. No No if you want an eclipse.

Tizway too didn't run in the BC. Can't win.

Game On Dude. Won 2 Grade 1's The Big Cap and the Goodwood. 2nd in the Breeders Cup Classic and Hollywood Gold Cup.

Winner winner.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Here's my take. I think Game On Dude is likely to win.

Here's the one's that might beat him and reasons they won't.

My Miss Aurelia. Can't give it to a 2yo filly.

Union Rags. Best threat "IF" he had won. He didn't.

Hansen. No

Drosselmeyer. Only one Graded win won't do it. Might have if Game On Dude had finished far back.

HDG. Beat boys only once.
Flat Out. Couldn't beat the filly. Only 1 Grade 1.

Animal Kingdom, Stay Thirsty, Shackleford. None did enough and beat up on each other.

Turf horses Cape Blanco & Acclamation. Both skipped the BC. No No if you want an eclipse.

Tizway too didn't run in the BC. Can't win.

Game On Dude. Won 2 Grade 1's The Big Cap and the Goodwood. 2nd in the Breeders Cup Classic and Hollywood Gold Cup.

Winner winner.

Zenyatta didn't even beat the boys and she got it. Obviously she would get my vote.

[RockHardTen1985]

Originally Posted by MaTH716

Zenyatta didn't even beat the boys and she got it. Obviously she would get my vote.

I think hes making sense. His argument is all facts.

[Cannon Shell]

Hansen could run in the Cashcall Futurity. If he wins that then he could make a case however weak it may be. Of course they probably have already started worrying about a race they have no chance of winning 6 months from now.

[pointman]

If it is based on last year's criteria, then Game on Dude.

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by RockHardTen1985

I think hes making sense. His argument is all facts.

I think he has many valid points, except for HVG. If you want to say that she was 0-2 this year at the 1 1/4 miles, I might buy that. But don't say she ONLY beat the boys once. She ran a real campaign this year and wasn't disgraced today. So if she ran in the Ladies Classic and won, she still only would have beaten the boys once, right? You want to punish them for going in to the big race? Her connections should be applauded for the way they ran her this year.

I think it's just a little west coast bias/wishful thinking from Vic. Just because the 2nd place horse in the Classic wrongfully won the award last year, doesn't necessarily mean it should happen again this year.

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by pointman

If it is based on last year's criteria, then Game on Dude.

I was embarrassed for the game last year when they gave the HoY to a horse based on "everybody gets a trophy", 3rd grade logic. I'm ashamed for the sport if a glorified grade 3 type like Game on Dude gets the HoY for winning the 2 most watered down versions of the Big Cap and Goodwood in recent memory (he barely beat Setsuko and Awesome Gem) and a 2nd place finish to Drosselmeyer.

Horseracing in 2011 has become a joke

Originally Posted by MaTH716

I think he has many valid points, except for HVG. If you want to say that she was 0-2 this year at the 1 1/4 miles, I might buy that. But don't say she ONLY beat the boys once. She ran a real campaign this year and wasn't disgraced today. So if she ran in the Ladies Classic and won, she still only would have beaten the boys once, right? You want to punish them for going in to the big race? Her connections should be applauded for the way they ran her this year.

I think it's just a little west coast bias/wishful thinking from Vic. Just because the 2nd place horse in the Classic wrongfully won the award last year, doesn't necessarily mean it should happen again this year.

Ah, But she didn't run in the Ladies Classic. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Unless you're named Zenyatta. Have to wonder also if she'd have beaten Royal Delta. That you lady was a BEAST yesterday.

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

I was embarrassed for the game last year when they gave the HoY to a horse based on "everybody gets a trophy", 3rd grade logic. I'm ashamed for the sport if a glorified grade 3 type like Game on Dude gets the HoY for winning the 2 most watered down versions of the Big Cap and Goodwood in recent memory (he barely beat Setsuko and Awesome Gem) and a 2nd place finish to Drosselmeyer.

Horseracing in 2011 has become a joke

Someone has to win. Horse racing in 2011 is what it was. Don't think I'd call it a joke. May not have been the most talented crop ever. However the races were exciting. The competition fierce. Why does that make it a joke?

[MaTH716]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Ah, But she didn't run in the Ladies Classic. Can't have your cake and eat it too. Unless you're named Zenyatta. Have to wonder also if she'd have beaten Royal Delta. That you lady was a BEAST yesterday.

I don't disagree with you about Royal Delta yesterday either.
I'm just saying that I feel your argument against her is a bit on the weak side.
She lost by 3 lengths today (only 1 1/2 behing Game on Dude). Obviously if Game on Dude won the race, I think your argument holds a lot more water. But him running second today probably doesn't get him the hardware, unless they wheel him back and run him again before the year is out (or if Jerry Moss bought him privately seconds before the gate opened).

[smartbid09]

My vote would go to Harve De Grace personally.

Cape Blanco (IRE) may get some consideration though?

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by v j stauffer

Someone has to win. Horse racing in 2011 is what it was. Don't think I'd call it a joke. May not have been the most talented crop ever. However the races were exciting. The competition fierce. Why does that make it a joke?

Why is it a joke? Did you hit your head and forget racing prior to 2000? Drossel-slob who had accomplished so much he was being retired to stud after this year in NY just won the Classic in a scintillating 204 and change. He should be a top sire of future BC marathon horses for years to come.

Who is the HoY? A filly that just failed to hit the board in the worst Classic ever? A grade 3 horse like Game on Dude who was 10-1 ML in the Classic and lost? Tizway? These arent good horses. Sure they all won some grade 1's but someone has to win them.

Who is champion turf horse? Who is Champion turf filly? Our champion 2 yo is going to be a horse whose credentials are a win in a stake at Turfway over zero's and a win in a race where he was clearly 2nd best. At least the Sprinter is going to a horse that actually won more than 2 or 3 races. Yeah the 3 yo filly division was solid but what about the 3 yo colts?

Close races between weak horses doesnt mean that they arent weak horses. Just evenly matched.

[Merlinsky]

Screw it. Could we use the fact that he's named after an American trainer to give it to Frankel? That's gotta be as good as that pesky 'having run in this country at some point during the year' thing. Must we be so picky? *sigh*

It'd really help if one of the contenders runs again in the Clark H. or Cigar Mile. Havre de Grace will have sold. I suppose there's no chance the new owners look at her as anything other than a G1 winning babymaking-factory-to-be.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Havre de Grace will have sold. I suppose there's no chance the new owners look at her as anything other than a G1 winning babymaking-factory-to-be.

<<Jones also confirmed Porter's decision to bring Havre de Grace back again to race as a 5-year-old in 2012.

"She's still got another year ahead of her," said Jones. "We'll keep her in Kentucky for a little bit then send her down to the farm in Florida for six weeks, after which she'll rejoin our barn this winter at the Fair Grounds."*>>

http://www.drf.com/news/breeders-cup...ace-says-jones

[Merlinsky]

Originally Posted by GenuineRisk

<<Jones also confirmed Porter's decision to bring Havre de Grace back again to race as a 5-year-old in 2012.

"She's still got another year ahead of her," said Jones. "We'll keep her in Kentucky for a little bit then send her down to the farm in Florida for six weeks, after which she'll rejoin our barn this winter at the Fair Grounds."*>>

http://www.drf.com/news/breeders-cup...ace-says-jones

Really? That's all kinds of awesome. I could've sworn she and Blind Luck were both going to auction. Maybe with all the ones who are, I just threw her in there in my head. Weird.

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Why is it a joke? Did you hit your head and forget racing prior to 2000? Drossel-slob who had accomplished so much he was being retired to stud after this year in NY just won the Classic in a scintillating 204 and change. He should be a top sire of future BC marathon horses for years to come.

Who is the HoY? A filly that just failed to hit the board in the worst Classic ever? A grade 3 horse like Game on Dude who was 10-1 ML in the Classic and lost? Tizway? These arent good horses. Sure they all won some grade 1's but someone has to win them.

Who is champion turf horse? Who is Champion turf filly? Our champion 2 yo is going to be a horse whose credentials are a win in a stake at Turfway over zero's and a win in a race where he was clearly 2nd best. At least the Sprinter is going to a horse that actually won more than 2 or 3 races. Yeah the 3 yo filly division was solid but what about the 3 yo colts?

Close races between weak horses doesnt mean that they arent weak horses. Just evenly matched.

It also doesn't mean the entire year was a joke. I choose to look for the positive in all situations.

[TouchOfGrey]

Rapid Redux.

[GenuineRisk]

Originally Posted by Merlinsky

Really? That's all kinds of awesome. I could've sworn she and Blind Luck were both going to auction. Maybe with all the ones who are, I just threw her in there in my head. Weird.

You probably just wanted one more face-off between Blind Luck and HDG and figured the only option left was seeing who brought more in the ring.

I'm glad HDG is back next year, too.

[Dahoss]

Game on Dude as HOY? That's about as likely as And They're Off winning an Oscar for Best Picture.

[jms62]

I have no idea what the criteria is as far as needing to run classic distance. I would say Caleb's Posse.