Get a group of horseplayers together and ask ‘em who they like and it’s going to sound a lot like this:
Racing is a sport built on debate – do you see a toteboard in the middle of Lambeau Field? No. That’s because racing (unlike football) depends on 2 things: horses running in circles and folks betting on them. Here is where I’ll take the British style of bookmaking over the American style of wagering any day – across the pond, you can wager on not only which number will win today but if the Sea The Stars x Zarkava baby will win the 2014 Arc de Triomphe.
I’ve got a new bet to add to their lineup: the odds of a singularly unanimous response to “what was the most interesting moment” from the same group of guys as above after a Breeders’ Cup weekend like we had at Santa Anita. The odds would probably be the same as that blue blooded 2014 Arc winner is on Ladbrokes right now: 100/1.
But that was exactly the ticket that cashed on Saturday night. In my very unofficial FocusedFilly polling of the media going into the race, I heard about 60/40 in favor of Zenyatta not getting the Breeders’ Cup Classic win (or, as track announcer Larry Colmus told me afterwards: we all wanted her to, but no one in the industry really thought she could pull it off). Yet, post-race polling showed that the stand-out moment for every single member of the media was not Vale of York in the Juvenile or even the repeat wins of Goldikova and Conduit (shocking, I know).
One hundred percent of folks had a singular answer to the singular moment question and it was: Zenyatta. This from members of the media who can’t agree whether the free hotel ravioli is filled with ricotta or sausage. Not that we needed any more confirmation that what the superfreaky supermare did was extraordinary, but I think her ability to unify a very vociferous press corps makes her eligible for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize.
Speaking of prizes, the wonderful double edged sword of Saturday’s victory is that it now forces a two month blitz from the Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra camps on just who gets to be Horse of the Year (I’m expecting something on par with the Obama/McCain presidential campaigns minus the shock of adding an Alaskan to the ticket – though they did have a (yes, 1) Thoroughbred stallion a few years back).
Of the 111 previous Horses of the Year, fewer than 10 have been female. So, for the first time in history, we’re in for the treat of seeing 2 fillies do battle on the ballots used by the National Turf Writers to determine the ultimate end of the year honor.
A cross country battle royale is all but a given when you consider where these two have campaigned: Zenyatta left Southern California just once this year (to train at Churchill Downs for a month), while Rachel Alexandra has been on 7 tracks in 8 states (none west of the Mississippi).
On Saturday night over cocktails at the media hotel, much of the buzz echoed Zenyatta’s owner Jerry Moss’ sentiment that she deserves it because she “beat everyone who showed up” (ie: not Rachel). It seemed the tide was turning against months-old beliefs that Rachel sewed up the honor when she bested boys for the second time in the Haskell.
Of the hundreds of conversation snippets overheard, it was amazing to hear just how many votes had seemingly already been cast – before the end of the season, before the Breeders Cup, before the ballots were even printed. Bob Fortus of the New Orleans Times-Picayune was the lone voice of dissent: when asked by a New York writer whether the weekend had changed his mind, he said not in the least, and the reason – when pressed – “I had never let myself make up my mind before getting to today. That’s the point of voting at the end of the season.”
I don’t pretend to know which mare will end up Horse of the Year – they both deserve it and we should have the first ever joint title if it were up to me. But I do know that racing – and its media especially – has a very short memory. And why not? It is a sport about opinions and debate and two minutes after one race is decided, we all turn the page and go at it again (eight-plus times a day). This does not bode well for Rachel Alexandra.
The great thing is that a healthy debate – much like the content of the presidential campaign trails wind up as governmental policy – can only improve the game and raise its profile. It also means that the records and run lines of these great mares will be scrutinized every which way from the Saturdays and Sundays on which they ran and every step of those big races will count twice as much as they did when the gates broke open, the wires were crossed, and the flashbulbs went off.
As lyricist Fred Ebb once explained about the appeal of the song Adelaide’s Lament in Guys and Dolls: “Every line in it is worth something. It means something – has impact. It has vitality. It has humor and charm and appropriateness. And I don’t know how you can get much better than that.”
With the year racing’s had and the Horse of the Year ballot we’re expecting, I truly don’t know how it does get any better.
btw, if you don’t get the title of tonight’s blog or just saw the video clip for the first time (or really just in general), you must rent the movie – it’s truly one of the greats
