Horse of the Year -- up for grabs? · 7.11.09

Until today I was of the opinion that, on the strength of her body of work over the year, Rachel Alexandra had the clear edge over Zenyatta regarding who should be voted Horse of the Year. Both were undefeated. Rachel ran more often, she man-handled the rest of the 3-year-old filly division, she beat 3-year-old colts twice, and (almost unheard-of in the modern era) she beat older males in the Woodward Stakes. Zenyatta, meanwhile, stayed within her own older filly/mare division, raced about half as often, and did not look nearly as impressive even while repeating her 2008 wins in the Vanity Handicap, Clement L. Hirsch Handicap, Lady’s Secret Stakes, and Milady Handicap.

Come Breeders’ Cup time, Rachel Alexandra’s owner Jess Jackson reiterated that he didn’t like racing horses on “plastic”, and after the Woodward decided that his filly had done enough for one year. Zenyatta’s owners, meanwhile, entered her in both the BC Classic and the BC Distaff (a.k.a. the “Ladies Classic”), and waited until after her final workout to enter her against males in the Classic. Given the choice between having her beat up on the same fillies and mares she had faced during the year, and making the leap and placing her career unbeaten record at risk against the best male horses in the world (with the obvious exception of Sea The Stars), the Mosses and trainer John Shirreffs decided to go for the glory. Almost all observers — fans, journalists, and horsemen alike — applauded their sportsmanship, while likely harbouring doubts that she could succeed and all but conceding Horse of the Year honours to Rachel Alexandra.

But Zenyatta did it — she stunned the racing world today by becoming the first female to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic. She did it with style, coming from last to first with a huge sweep around the final turn and down the stretch, riding the roars of the Santa Anita crowd like a wave. In doing so she beat two colts that Rachel Alexandra had defeated earlier in the year: Kentucky Derby winner Mine That Bird, and Belmont/Travers/Jockey Club Gold Cup winner Summer Bird. Also left in her wake was Rip Van Winkle, probably the second-best 3-year-old in Europe behind Sea The Stars this year. The older males in the Classic field were almost all of a higher calibre than what Rachel Alexandra was all-out to beat in the Woodward — Da’ Tara and Macho Again are certainly no Einstein and Gio Ponti.

If Jackson had changed his mind and sent Rachel Alexandra to run in the Classic, I think the filly would have received a lot of credit — win or lose, the Horse of the Year title would have been hers. But she was kept in the barn. The filly still deserves a lot of credit for her accomplishments during the year — but she wasn’t given the chance to add to them. Zenyatta’s connections gave her a chance at greatness, and she took it by defeating an arguably higher level of competition than her younger rival had faced — and, in her own style, she did so at least as decisively as Rachel Alexandra.

So, Eclipse award voters are faced with a decision. Which weighs more: Rachel Alexandra’s consistent brilliance over the course of the year, or Zenyatta’s arguably less impressive overall record capped by the race of her life — and the race of the year — in the Classic? To me, there is no wrong answer — a strong case can be made for either horse. As I stated at the beginning, originally I leaned towards rewarding Rachel Alexandra’s superior body of work during the year. However, Zenyatta’s performance today was so impressive that it must bring her overall record up to an equivalent level — and she did it in the biggest racing event of the year, while Rachel Alexandra was back in the barn.

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What do you think?

  1. What does racing need? Champions and POSITIVE PR.
    Who came to be challenged on the BIGGEST day of racing against the BEST of the WORLD, and who sat on the sidelines snubbing the greatest PR racing has had since Personal Ensign. The choice to TRY to make her immortal has to applauded not to mention the result.

    — Dr. TImothy Yatcak · Nov 8, 10:22 AM · #

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