The results of the most highly anticipated Horse of the Year vote ever taken will be announced tonight at the Eclipse Awards banquet at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills. Will the winner be Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta?
Each horse won every one of her races in 2009 - eight for Rachel Alexandra including five Grade 1 events and three against male opponents and five for Zenyatta including four Grade 1 events and the Breeders' Cup Classic against males.
There were 232 ballots returned for the Eclipse Awards, the yearly honors for 10 divisions of thoroughbreds, one of steeplechasers and five of humans. Voters are either members of the National Turf Writers Association, employees of the Daily Racing Form or representatives of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which includes track racing secretaries and workers at its statistical arm Equibase.
Comparing the merits of racing's two superstars isn't easy, and not because they didn't race against each other.
Rachel Alexandra dominated races restricted to 3-year-old fillies in 2009, setting margin-of-victory records in both the Kentucky Oaks (20 1/4 lengths) and the Mother Goose Stakes (19 1/4 lengths).
She became the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924 and the first ever to win the Haskell Invitational. In her final start of 2009, she became the first 3-year-old filly to beat older males in a Grade 1 race longer than 1 mile when she took the Woodward Stakes by a head.
Though Rachel Alexandra won at seven different racetracks and handled a quick, two-week turnaround to win the Preakness, all her starts were on conventional dirt. She sat out the Breeders' Cup because Jess Jackson, who bought her after the Kentucky Oaks, didn't want to race her on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic surface. Rachel Alexandra also received a weight break in her three wins over males, including an 8-pound advantage against older ones.
Zenyatta's body of work as a 5-year-old mare in 2009 wasn't quite as impressive, because she didn't race outside of the synthetic tracks in California and her four victories before the Breeders' Cup Classic came against the same fillies and mares she always beats. She also enjoyed at least four weeks between each start.
She did become the first female to win the Classic, storming from 13 lengths behind to beat the best field of males assembled in 2009 and keeping her unbeaten record intact with her 14th career victory. She also had to carry 129 pounds while conceding at least 13 to all five of her opponents in the Vanity Handicap. She received a 3-pound break in the Classic.
Happily, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta might be able to settle things on the racetrack in 2010. Jackson already has announced that Rachel Alexandra will race as a 4-year-old filly, and Zenyatta's owner, Jerome Moss, said Saturday that his now-6-year-old mare's retirement has been put on hold.
"It was very emotional when I retired her, because I thought she absolutely did as much as any horse could do in their career," Moss said. "But I love racing and also I believe racing needs stars and we've got one. It had nothing to do on whether she is Horse of the Year or not. If she's Horse of the Year, she'll run as Horse of the Year, and if she's not, she'll run as not Horse of the Year."
SFGate.com
Each horse won every one of her races in 2009 - eight for Rachel Alexandra including five Grade 1 events and three against male opponents and five for Zenyatta including four Grade 1 events and the Breeders' Cup Classic against males.
There were 232 ballots returned for the Eclipse Awards, the yearly honors for 10 divisions of thoroughbreds, one of steeplechasers and five of humans. Voters are either members of the National Turf Writers Association, employees of the Daily Racing Form or representatives of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, which includes track racing secretaries and workers at its statistical arm Equibase.
Comparing the merits of racing's two superstars isn't easy, and not because they didn't race against each other.
Rachel Alexandra dominated races restricted to 3-year-old fillies in 2009, setting margin-of-victory records in both the Kentucky Oaks (20 1/4 lengths) and the Mother Goose Stakes (19 1/4 lengths).
She became the first filly to win the Preakness since 1924 and the first ever to win the Haskell Invitational. In her final start of 2009, she became the first 3-year-old filly to beat older males in a Grade 1 race longer than 1 mile when she took the Woodward Stakes by a head.
Though Rachel Alexandra won at seven different racetracks and handled a quick, two-week turnaround to win the Preakness, all her starts were on conventional dirt. She sat out the Breeders' Cup because Jess Jackson, who bought her after the Kentucky Oaks, didn't want to race her on Santa Anita's Pro-Ride synthetic surface. Rachel Alexandra also received a weight break in her three wins over males, including an 8-pound advantage against older ones.
Zenyatta's body of work as a 5-year-old mare in 2009 wasn't quite as impressive, because she didn't race outside of the synthetic tracks in California and her four victories before the Breeders' Cup Classic came against the same fillies and mares she always beats. She also enjoyed at least four weeks between each start.
She did become the first female to win the Classic, storming from 13 lengths behind to beat the best field of males assembled in 2009 and keeping her unbeaten record intact with her 14th career victory. She also had to carry 129 pounds while conceding at least 13 to all five of her opponents in the Vanity Handicap. She received a 3-pound break in the Classic.
Happily, Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta might be able to settle things on the racetrack in 2010. Jackson already has announced that Rachel Alexandra will race as a 4-year-old filly, and Zenyatta's owner, Jerome Moss, said Saturday that his now-6-year-old mare's retirement has been put on hold.
"It was very emotional when I retired her, because I thought she absolutely did as much as any horse could do in their career," Moss said. "But I love racing and also I believe racing needs stars and we've got one. It had nothing to do on whether she is Horse of the Year or not. If she's Horse of the Year, she'll run as Horse of the Year, and if she's not, she'll run as not Horse of the Year."
SFGate.com
