Horse of The Year

[Georgerz]

With is emphatic win in the Hollywood Derby today, California Chrome should be the Champion Three Year Old, and Horse of the Year.

[oliverstoned]

Yes he will. It was a little padding on his resume. Made more sense to me to get a little turf experience than putting him on a plane to face the weak Clark field.

[da hossman]

CC won, but who did he beat? A Canadian Filly Classic winner...

If Bayern did not wipe out several of the contenders in the BC Classic field with the "quarter horse start gate move", things could look very different (Shared Belief, Tonalist) - and of course Bayern has his supporters as well for those honors.

It is a tough year to name any horse Champion as there is no clear cut winner.

[Georgerz]

The Breeders Cup Classic can't possibly be considered, as it was a nasty, ugly run race. Bayern won, not out of class, but out of wiping out the competition.

[pfrsue]

The Breeders Cup Classic can't possibly be considered, as it was a nasty, ugly run race. Bayern won, not out of class, but out of wiping out the competition.

To be fair, Bayern in no way impeded California Chrome in the Breeders Cup Classic, and he won the race in an excellent time. If you're going to slam him for veering into the other horses, bear in mind that with that sideways move, he didn't exactly have a smooth start either.

[stancaris]

Bayern wiped out HOY candidate and the only other speed that could go with him early, Moreno. In any other racetrack in the country he would have been disqualified for herding horses out of the gate. That's the worst foul any rider has ever gotten away with as far as I can remember. Maybe shades of Cordero taking Genuine Risk to the outside fence in the Preakness of 1980 and not being DQd.

[Affirmed1]

I definitely am rooting for C.C. for HOY. I watched the extended play of the race and he was a happy horse who
was well in his element. Four G1 wins, two of which are classics, and one on turf, should be plenty of credentials
for 3 Y.O. champ and HOY.

[Cree]

I think Chrome's record trumps any other contenders. Bayern's record is very patchy, and with only 2 grade 1 wins, you might as well give it to Wise Dan again (who had 3 very dominating grade 1 wins, but at least won all of his races ). I also think Main Sequence deserves a look, he was phenomenal, but nobody likes a turf horse winning HOY (*cough* Wise Dan) and he ran 4 times. I also think Untapable deserves a look, with one blemish in that Haskell.
Who knows if Bayern would've won if he hadn't taken out Moreno and Shared Belief?
That being said, I still don't think Bayern's record is better than Chrome's. Other than the ugly Classic, the only grade 1 win he had was the Haskell on a VERY speed-favouring track. And, to be honest other than Chrome, Tonalist, Shared Belief, and Toast of New York, the Classic was terrible.

[Patuxet]

Mary Simon beats the drum for Chrome:

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s ... -the-year/

[Patuxet]

Mary Simon beats the drum for Chrome:

http://www.paulickreport.com/news/ray-s ... -the-year/

[oliverstoned]

There is 0% chance that California Chrome will not be named HOY, even if Shared Belief wins the Malibu. We can all debate who the best horse is though. Maybe Shared Belief or even Bayern will prove to be the better horse eventually, but for now 4 grade ones, (two classics) a grade two and a close third going wide in the Classic will do it for him.

[Jorge]

Perhaps this is the kind of decision that can be best answered by
making a very candid comparison between the following
two statements:

1) Which is the horse who, if selected, will better satisfy
with either, resolution or acquiescence (both), the majority
of people today, and 40 years from now?

vis-a-vis

2) Which is the horse who, if selected, will not satisfy
with either, resolution or acquiescence (both), the majority
of people today, and 40 years from now?

Seems like the majority of people would like to convince themselves
that, ordinarily, a horse that wins the Breeders Cup Classic, ought to
be the front running candidate for HOY. But in this case, there is some
kind of popular fish spine that prevents swallowing such a sound dictum.

Since this is the case, that means that an alternative rationale should
modify the traditional dictum.

What do you think?

Is it obvious?

[ct2346]

There is historical precedent for naming Main Sequence as HOTY. I remember roughly 20 years ago, another year of weak 3yos, when voters gave the award to Kotashaan. Kotashaan's campaign was actually weaker than Main Sequence's perfect 2014. Perfect is hard to do. It should be rewarded.

[oliverstoned]

Kotashaan won 6 of 10 (would have been 7 of 10 had Desormoux not misjudged the finish in the Japan Cup) and set a course record. When winning the BC Turf he beat a top field. Main Sequence beat very mediocre horses by a nose in three of his four wins. Perhaps a closer comparison would be the filly All Along, but she won the Arc then came to America and absolutely destroyed the fields in three grade ones, all within 41 days!

[da hossman]

It is hard for me to vote for any 3 year old for Horse of the Year. There are 4 horses (Bayern, Chrome, Shared Belief, Tonalist) that are legitimate candidates for Champion 3YO but everyone of them has negatives within their own division. Their division race is so muddled how can any of them qualify for HOY?

I would love to see Wise Dan repeat, but as he made only 3 starts and missed the BC I cannot vote for him.

Untapable was awesome, but in my opinion her well beaten 5th in the Haskell removes the 3YO Champion filly from HOY possibles.

Main Sequence did nothing wrong, won 4 G1's including the BC Turf. He may not be the most charismatic candidate but from a purely objective perspective he is the HOY.....in my opinion!