Has the Breeders’ Cup Become Detrimental to Racing?
Since the Eclipse Awards were announced, many racing fans
have been weeping and gnashing their teeth over the nominees.
My friend Laura Pugh of Horse Racing Nation
was so incensed by the Eclipse candidates that she even made a video about it… which, I
suspect, will soon be screening at Cannes — only with Shia LaBeouf playing the
part of Pugh.
“It’s a list of Breeders’ Cup winners — literally,” lamented Pugh in her YouTube production. “If you won a Breeders’ Cup, you got nominated.
“It’s a list of Breeders’ Cup winners — literally,” lamented Pugh in her YouTube production. “If you won a Breeders’ Cup, you got nominated.
“Is there something wrong with this?” Pugh continued. “No,
if you had a good season to go along with it, of course there’s nothing wrong
with it.”
But therein lies the rub, according to Ms. Pugh and others. Some horses did not have a good season to go along with their BC success — horses like Ria Antonia, for example.
But therein lies the rub, according to Ms. Pugh and others. Some horses did not have a good season to go along with their BC success — horses like Ria Antonia, for example.
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“Why in the heck is Ria Antonia on this list of nominees,”
asks Pugh. “… She won one big race — one big race! And it was by a nostril — nose
— excuse me, it wasn’t even by a nostril, she won it by [disqualification] … all
her other races this year were dismal. Tell me how she is on here over Sweet
Reason?”
OK, I will tell
you, as well as the others who feel likewise, why Ria Antonia has been
nominated for an Eclipse Award: It’s because she won a championship race. After
all, the Breeders’ Cup events are dubbed “World Championships” (in typical
American sports fashion, “world” has a distinct U.S. feel).
Yes, Yes, I know — that is precisely what irritates
critics of the BC. There are, after all,
other races run throughout the year. Still, I don’t see anything wrong with
acknowledging that certain events mean more than others.
How else would one explain Orb being on the list of Eclipse nominees?
How else would one explain Orb being on the list of Eclipse nominees?
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Let’s be real, outside of a tremendous spring, in which
he captured four straight races, Orb was a complete bust. He was spanked in the
Preakness, slapped down in the
Belmont (by fellow Eclipse nominee Palace Malice), beaten in the Travers and buried in the Jockey Club Gold Cup.
But he’s an Eclipse Award candidate thanks to one race — the
Kentucky Derby, which, as it turned out, was his last win of his career (Orb
has been sent to stud).
And this emphasis on big-race wins is not just a U.S.
phenomenon. Guess how many Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe winners have won a Cartier
Racing Award (the European equivalent of an Eclipse Award) for Horse of the
Year over the past 11 years?
Try six.
EUROPEAN HORSES OF THE YEAR THAT ALSO WON THE ARC
(during the year in which they were honored)
2013 – Treve
2009 – Sea the Stars
2008 – Zarkava
2007 – Dylan Thomas
2005 – Hurricane Run
2003 – Dalakhani
In fact, outside of Frankel, who was European Champion in
2011 and 2012, all the other Cartier Horse of the Year honorees won either the
Arc or — are you ready for this? — a Breeders’ Cup race.
Granted, Ouija Board (Horse of the Year in 2004 and 2006)
and Goldikova (2010) had other big wins on their resume in addition to the BC
events that they captured, but it’s worth noting that the former won just three
of nine races in 2006 — and two of them came against restricted (female)
company.
Personally, I have no problem giving (much) greater
weight to the BC races and other races of historical significance. What do you
think?
14 comments:
Palace Malice won the Belmont, not the Preakness.
Yes, thank you. I put that notation in the wrong place. It has been corrected.
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