Horse Racing Fantasy Community

I know, I know. You're gonna say, "Nope, Curlin cannot repeat as Horse of the Year. He lost the Classic, and that's all there is to it." I understand, but do not agree, with that sentiment. Curlin should, in my opinion, win his second title because he A) demonstrated he was by far the best in the world on dirt, B) made a solid showing in his first and only grass race, the Grade I Man o' War, C) made a game try in the Classic, on a surface that he didn't seem to like, and finally D) because he consistently raced against the best competition and became the all-time winningest horse in the process.

There is precedent for my argument. In 1996, defending Horse of the Year Cigar faltered in the Breeders' Cup Classic, but because of his stellar season up to that point, which included winning the first ever Dubai World Cup, he earned the award anyway. Unlike 1995, however, the vote was not unanimous. That makes perfect sense to me.

This year, Curlin not only won the Dubai World Cup, he won in near-record time, and by almost 8 lengths against a very good field of experienced Grade I dirt horses. Moreover, he won without his jockey doing anything more than guiding him home. In short, in that race he made a laughingstock of the rest of the world's best dirt horses. When he came back to the States, he won the Stephen Foster Handicap seemingly without breaking a sweat. He now had nothing more to prove on dirt, so his connections tried him out on grass, a surface he had never before run on in his life. After only a few weeks training on the surface, he ran a very game second to Red Rocks in the Grade I Man o' War Stakes, widely considered the most prestigious non-Breeders' Cup turf race in North America. Many call his finish in that race a disappointment. I cannot agree. I think that's a curse of Secretariat, who in 1973 ran the same race in stakes-record time after never having run on grass before. Curlin may not be Secretariat, but that's entirely irrelevant. Few horses can make a mid-season transition from dirt to grass like that when they've never raced on the surface previously, and Curlin ran very well. There was talk before the Man o' War of pointing him toward the Arc de Triomphe in France, the world's most prestigious turf race, if he won. I think they should have run him in it anyway. All he needed was more time to get used to turf, and it would have been interesting to see how he would have done, particularly because that field featured the incredible filly Zarkava. I don't know whether he could have withstood her charge down the stretch in that race, but it would have been worth seeing, that's for sure!
Seemingly rebuked, Curlin returned to dirt and won the Woodward with a very impressive closing kick, then won a great stretch battle to repeat in the Jockey Club Gold Cup in the slop. With that win he surpassed Cigar to become the all-time winningest horse in racing history. Now, he came up short in the Classic, sure, but I think he had already done quite enough before the Classic was even run. And remember, it's not like he didn't show up for the race, either. He performed well on a surface that was either A) not to his liking or B) one he needed more time to get used to. Yes, Zenyatta finished undefeated in seven races, and her win in the Ladies' Classic was a great performance, but remember that Curlin accomplished his feats racing in events that were open to all horses three and up, whereas Zenyatta did it against only fillies and mare 3 and up; I think that's a major distinction. Not to say I don't think Zenyatta would perform well against the boys, just that I doubt that she would go unbeaten in 7 races if all 7 of those races were against fields where males were eligible to race, that's all.