Zenyatta HOY

[Lost Cause]

I dont know why this bothers me so much..I just feel like he got shafted for sentiment..

[Boscar Obarra]

Not surprised at all.

 And pleased.

[bobphilo]

I know exactly why this bothers me. Blame took on all comers and won by far the most important races in 2010 before going on to beat her her in their only meeting in the most important race of all, the BC Classic. Despite her connection\'s promise that she would run a more competitive campaign than last year and face males at least once before the BC Classic, Zenyatta only ran against inferior females and gambled it all in her only attempt against open competition in the the BC Classic and lost that gamble to Blame, She has no business getting the HOY over her conquerer,
 
Her loss in the Classic was fair and square and totally due to her not running competitively early enough in the race; a fault she was able to overcome over weaker competition but she could not pull off against a tougher more worthy rival.

Bob


Lost Cause Wrote:
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> I dont know why this bothers me so much..I just
> feel like he got shafted for sentiment..

[MonmouthGuy]

Must have been that breathtaking win over future HOFer Rinterval that put her over the top.

[miff]

The voters had to consider more than just racetrack performance/achievement in 2010. In that case,Zenyatta was the correct winner. Had they based it solely on what happened on the racetrack all year, then Blame or Goldikova should have won.

There is now precedent for voters to go outside racetrack performance to determine these awards, a very slippery slope.


Mike

[Dana666]

Funny thing, I told my friend who\'s a complete maniac regarding Zenyatta not to be disappointed b/c there was no way possible she would get HOY over Blame. Even though I always loved Zenyatta, if I were voting, how do I give it to her over Blame? Aside from the classic, all I\'ll remember about Blame is him running by QR at Saratoga no less, like QR was tied to a fencepost. Zenyatta never did that though I always wanted her connections to try with the big mare. Shows you what I know?!

[Footlick]

I hope this will not deteriorate again.  She is retired.  Leave her alone.  People voted.  She won.  Let\'s move on.  We all know how everyone feels about her. Nothing will come from another cat fight.

[bobphilo]

miff Wrote:
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>
> There is now precedent for voters to go outside
> racetrack performance to determine these awards, a
> very slippery slope.
>
>
> Mike

Mike, you have hit upon a profound truth when you say the Eclipse voters have begun to go down a \"very slippery slope\" Either they have taken leave of their senses as to what constitutes a superior HOY campaign or, in an attempt to save a dying sport, have decided to to reward hype and popularity over performance and go from sport to entertainment. A path previously taken with professional wrestling.

Bob

[TGJB]

I would love to see a person-by-person breakdown of the voting last year and this. My guess would be that those who voted for her last year thought she got robbed (I seem to recall a degree of intensity), and decided to make it up to her, and she picked up enough others to get her there. We\'ll never know.

[bobphilo]

I agree, Footlick. Lets leave the horses alone. Neither Blame nor Zenyatta planned their campaigns and neither had a vote in the outcome. That was done by the people, like Zenyatta\'s connections who campaigned her like a horse of limited ability and avoided any real competition as long as possible, and especially the Eclipse voters who rewarded this strategy and threw out all established performance criteria in favor of hype and \"popularity\".

For those that are already sick of all the cowardly dodging of competition by top horses - you ain\'t seen nothing yet.

Bob

[Silver Charm]

TGJB you would be able to find this type of Data, I think. What was the Voting margin the 2nd year Skip Away won?

The year Awesome Again went undefeated and beat him and Silver Charm in the BC Classic at CD!

I actually was very surprised the Vote was this close last night!

[joekay]

If they raced against each other 3 times over a 6 month period, could Blame beat her 2 more times? I don\'t think so.

[bobphilo]

Possibly not, but that\'s not what the Eclipse Awards are about. The HOY Award represents the horse who has accomplished the most that year.

joekay Wrote:
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> If they raced against each other 3 times over a 6
> month period, could Blame beat her 2 more times? I
> don\'t think so.

[Rick B.]

joekay Wrote:
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> If they raced against each other 3 times over a 6
> month period, could Blame beat her 2 more times?

Sure -- if it was a full field each time. A closer can get shut off pretty easy in a big field -- who hasn\'t seen it happen dozens of times to other closers?

Now, if it was a typical Zenyatta race, where she only had to pass 4 or 5 other horses in an ersatz Gr. I, I suppose Blame might get caught. Not a certainty, though -- the short fields could have also benefitted Blame -- lack of quality pace pressure, etc.

Cuts both ways. Blame was no slouch.

[BB]

In \'09, Z got 99 votes out of the 229 cast in the 2-horse race.

This year, Z got 128 out of 235.

So, if you figure the same 229 voted in both elections, and six \"new\" votes came on in 2010 ... assuming Z held the \'99 that she got in \'09, that means she picked up 29 of the 136 who either voted for Rachel, or did not vote in 2010.

Hope she got a Guiness at lunch today. Cheers, champ!