Wednesday, December 30, 2009

illin

There's a lot to like in racing, and of course there's a lot to despise. Racing has much bigger problems than what I'm about to discuss, but I'd like to exorcise some demons as the calendar turns to 2010.

1. Supposed regional bias in Horse of the Year voting.

Count Liz Mullen of Sports Business Journal among those who think that East Coast voters will conspire to deny Horse of the Year honors to Zenyatta even though everyone knows the Breeders' Cup Classic winner is clearly more deserving.

I'm willing to allow that more people who live East of the Mississippi River will vote for Rachel Alexandra than will vote for Zenyatta, but two Kentucky residents, Marty McGee of Daily Racing Form and Frances Karon of Trainer Magazine, are both voting for Zenyatta, and another DRF employee, Bill Tallon of Ontario, also is.

I'm also willing to allow that if Rachel Alexandra were owned by Phipps and trained by Shug then a bias could potentially be in play with East Coast voters, but if Rachel is part of any region, then she shades more Kentucky than anywhere else since owner Jess Jackson, trainer Steve Asmussen, and jockey Calvin Borel support Fair Grounds and Churchill as much as they do NYRA.

But the bottom line to me is, Will any California resident vote for Rachel Alexandra? How can people claim "East Coast bias" when no West Coast voter will cast a vote for anyone but the West Coast horse?

DRF and NTRA do not release the names of their voters let alone the actual votes, but the NTWA does, and I'm very anxious to see how each region votes.

2. social networking snobs

Congratulations on the five-year anniversary of your blog and signing up for Twitter. That doesn't make you a guru of the craft who is going to turn the racing industry around.

I started my first blog in August 2001, and the guy I was emulating had published his since 1999. I love online media because we can all learn from each other. No one has all the answers, but nearly everyone has something to offer.

That "nearly everyone" includes even those who work in more traditional media or within the racing industry. Some of us "get it," too, or are trying to!
_ came correct at 11:22:00 AM

6 soothsayers:

  1. Eddie D. said "Will any CA resident vote for Rachel Alexandra?"

    Here's one. http://twitter.com/brandivee/status/7201533912

    Bet there's more.
    ReplyDelete
  2. Very much looking forward to the follow up on how west coast folks voted and LOL re: social media snobs (unless, of course, you counted me among them... ok, LOL still applies).
    ReplyDelete
  3. But the bottom line to me is, Will any California resident vote for Rachel Alexandra? How can people claim "East Coast bias" when no West Coast voter will cast a vote for anyone but the West Coast horse?

    -----------

    Excellent point. If you try explaining to the West Coast forum members why synthetics was a bad idea, be prepared to have eggs thrown your way. But I think they have finally come to their senses during the past 12 months.

    Perhaps the realization that regionalism after the Breeders Cup isn't quite as attractive.

    2. social networking snobs

    Frankly, I still don't "get it".

    Shouldn't these people be creating fresh horse racing material for anthropologists to dig up in the year 2200 ?

    Apparently they've run out of ideas and can only muster enough inspiration to yell once again on Twitter:

    hey Paulick's got that and EquiDaily doesn't!

    Happy New Year to Ed and the followers at this blog.
    ReplyDelete
  4. There are more East Coast voters that is why we all feel it is a bias vote and some on the list lack a lot of creditbility. The idea of Zenyatta not coming East is a vote against her but yet it is okay that RA never went west, Zenyatta only once on dirt yet okay for RA once on synthetics(both winners on each surface). You don't see a bias here? Zenyatta clearly is the best filly/mare out there today and she proved it by carrying more weight than most males here in the US all year, won all races this year and ended up undefeated in her career, running in a larger fields than 3 as Rachel did in one of her wins, Zenyatta beat potential Eclipse Award winners as well as her stablemate who won the Ladies Classic this year, beat the same males as Rachel plus the best of the East, West and European coasts in the Classic. She ran the fastest last quarter in the BC Classic ever, she always overcame adversity and won yet not whipped 22 times as RA was in the Woodward,then there is the added side show she always put on for her fans... which was a welcomed bonus, how can anyone feel RA is more worthy? Not running in the BC was not about synthetics as RA has won on synthetics at Keeneland it was "them" knowing RA could not get the classic distance. Another jump and Mine that Bird would have ended the Preakness winner and Macho Again the Woodward. They (Jackson and Asmussen) were lucky she did not die of exhaustion that day. Then what would you all have been saying?
    While Zenyatta even as close as her near loss, ears were always flickering back and forth. Yes, Mike Smith, you NEVER did get to the bottom of this horse.
    She was truly a horse for the ages that was voted 2nd best female athlete 2009, received more hits on websites to watch her BC Classic win and is the first filly/mare to WIN the Breeders Cup Classic and two seperate BC races. Even though she loses this Eclipse Award vote, No one can ever take that away from her.
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  5. Anon,
    Zenyatta's only dirt start and Rachel's only synthetic start both occurred in 2008, so neither is germane to the 2009 Horse of the Year discussion.
    ReplyDelete
  6. Ummm... I have seen this discussion on other boards, and all the west coast wackos cannot cite one example of an east coast bias for an eclipse award. Fact: Sundat Silence had over 240 votes for HOY to Easy Goers's 4. Where is that a bias? How is this for a bias, IEAH stables lost out on the owners eclipse to Frank Stronach, the California track owner.
    Please west coast wack jobs, give one example of a bias....one example please.
    ReplyDelete

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