Admittedly handing out awards barely more than 1/3 of the way through the year is a tad bit silly, but hey, I can be silly once in a while...Let's have some fun! |
May 4, 2010
What if Eclipse Awards Went Out Today?
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About Me
- Brian Zipse
- I've been going to the races and following the horses since before I can honestly remember. For example, my best recollection of being in the stands for Secretariat's amazing run in the Belmont was not the race, but the stands shaking so much beneath my feet. Quite an experience for a little guy who just turned 4! Two of my favorite fellow handicappers are my brother and my father. My one year old daughter is already showing signs of loving the horses :>) My favorites...how about Wajima, Spectacular Bid, Fancy Naskra, Five Star Flight, Christmas Past, Princess Rooney, Lady's Secret, With Approval, Paradise Creek, Sunday Silence, Unbridled, Skip Away, Free House. Musket Man and Rachel Alexandra, just to name a few.
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14 comments:
Super Saver is HOY at this point in time IMHO. Quality Road is the best horse though.
SS HOTY, now, no. The Derby is his first win this year, and one could make a case that he benefited from a perfect trip, when others experienced enormous trouble.
IMO, SS for 3yr old could also be debated. I think some would try to make a case for Eskendereya, who is unbeaten this year in as many starts as SS. Yes, SS won the Derby, but Eskendereya completely crushed his opposition is graded stakes company and in the G1 memorial. I think a case could be made for either one of them, but personally, as of now, because he did more earlier and did it with such ease and flair I would have to give the nod to Eskendereya. A win in the Preakness, however would change that for SS.
Turf Male is debatable, IMO too, because no real horse has emerged. Court Vision I believe has a win and now does General Quarters. Because of his his win over the former horse I would still give the nod to GQ, even though I could make a strong case for Court Vision too.
I agree with your HOTY, though, some still may say Zenyatta. Yes, she is still unbeaten this year, but again she has only stayed in her own division and against a questionable bunch in the AB. QR did not face a group of world beaters either and did not venture off of his favorite track, but what he did do in the Donn was unbelieable. He broke his own track record barely breaking a sweat.
On the two year olds, I wouldn't know. One race is not enough, so I will leave that up to everyone else. In most other areas I agree with you.
I've been so preoccupied with all the 3yo & up that I havent paid any mind to the 2yo's yet, so I'm not familiar with the freshmen you listed.
But I do agree with LDP about Esky.
And Ice Box has pushed his way into my top 3 (male) sophs after that rocket closing he fired in the Derby! :)
Bourbon Bay for older Turf Male. First horse since Horse Of The Year Kotashaan to sweep the Long-distance turf race series at Santa Anita.
The rest are fine. (Though Eskendereya for 3 year old male is arguable)
General Quarters??? Bourbon Bay would deserve that honor off a three race sweep at Santa Anita only achieved three times in history, most recently by Kotashaan in 1993. All General Quarters did was win one race, holding off Court Vision, who has become something of a hanger.
My California Friends, Bourbon Bay was under strong consideration for the award, but in the end I went with the quality win over the three wins in very suspect fields. Historically significant, but the fields were just too weak to give him the award. LDP, Court Vision can not get the award with his win coming via DQ. The other candidate was actually Karelian.
How about Karelian for turf male? After all, he did beat the reigning turf champion at Tampa.
yeah, I'm really excited to see what QR does this season!
Debating who deserves an Eclipse Award and who is the better horse is fun, what would horse racing be without differences of opinion, but racing is the only sport I know that doesn't pick the champion
based on head to head competion on the field on in the case of horse racing on the track. The awards are too subjective, is it 'Body of Work' or 'Best Horse'? Racing needs a series of races tied to the Breeders Cup with points given for how well they proformed on the track. At the end of the year the horse with the most points wins the Eclipse Award. This would encourage owners to run horses against the best competion, something that is not happening today.
Anonymous, yes Karelian is a candidate, I mentioned him in a previous comment.
Sarah, me and you both!
Mike, your points are well taken. I am a body of work believer over the who is better argument, but in a vote I think the latter may be used as a tie-breaker. This was only an excercise to have fun and spark conversation.
Brian, I agree with what your prediction about Quality Road. I think he may be another Ghostzapper, and I don't say that lightly.
Mona de Momma.
Rosario comes to KY for the Derby.
His Derby mount has no chance (and by finsihing 4th on Make Music For Me, produces a mega-Super!).
But the computer charts indicate he's going to have fun on 05/01/10.
What to do?
Back his only other mount of the day, which was MdM.
We did.
What a Thrill!
HOY and older male have to be qualityroad. I think that Esken has to still be the 3 yo colt just baised on the FOY and Wood. im a big careless jewel fan but i have to belive that hot dixie chick is the #1 competion to Blind luck everything else looks good.
CC Rider
I was thinking the same thing about Quality Road as HOTY. While it's too early to really know, and this is just for fun at this point, Quality Road is the frontrunner, IMO.
One final thought: I also think that if Super Saver were to win the Triple Crown (not saying he necessarily will), I think he'd be a done-deal for HOTY, even if he was retired on June 6. Again, IMO.
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