For winning when it counted, Tiznow should be voted Horse of the Year

You thought that last year's vote for Horse of the Year was tough. Trying to select the 2000 Horse of the Year makes that task look easy.

When voters submitted their Eclipse Award ballots a year ago, they were asked to choose Horse of the Year from a group with no real standout. Last year, the title went to Charismatic, who won the Kentucky Derby (G1) and Preakness Stakes (G1) but who sustained a career-ending injury while finishing third in the Belmont Stakes (G1). His competition for Horse of the Year honors came down to a sprinter, Artax, and a horse who won one race in North America, Daylami (Ire). This year, the Horse of the Year contest appears be among three horses-Fusaichi Pegasus, Lemon Drop Kid, and Tiznow-though others, like Riboletta (Brz), Kona Gold, and War Chant, may get some support.

The problem facing voters in selecting the best horse of 2000 is that no individual was capable of taking a leadership position and remaining there for any length of time. The see-saw affair temporarily featured horses like Stephen Got Even, Behrens, Lemon Drop Kid, General Challenge, and Golden Missile among the older horses.

Whichever horse emerged as the best could have been considered the best horse of 2000 save for one fatal flaw. By the end of the year it was obvious that the three-year-olds were superior to their elders.

In the fall, three-year-old Albert the Great easily defeated older horses in the Jockey Club Gold Cup Stakes (G1), three-year-old El Corredor won the Cigar Mile Handicap (G1), and three-year-old Captain Steve captured the Kentucky Cup Classic Handicap (G2). (There were no three-year-olds in either the Whitney Handicap [G1] or Woodward Stakes [G1].)

In the biggest race of the year, the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), three-year-olds filled five of the top six places. Three-year-old Tiznow prevailed over three-year-old European champion Giant's Causeway, with Captain Steve third, Albert the Great fourth, Lemon Drop Kid fifth, and Fusaichi Pegasus sixth.

The Horse of the Year vote, then, comes down to Tiznow and Fusaichi Pegasus. Fusaichi Pegasus was the most highly touted horse all year and was conceded greatness by many. He looked the part in early spring, winning the Wood Memorial Stakes (G2) and the Kentucky Derby, but he was out of action for months after losing the Preakness Stakes, won the Jerome Handicap (G2), and then flopped in the Classic.

The Classic featured the best horses still in training, and in that race Tiznow gamely defeated Giant's Causeway, the Cartier Horse of the Year for Europe. Add to that Tiznow's earlier triumph over older horses in the Goodwood Breeders' Cup Handicap (G1) and his win in the Super Derby (G1), and you come up with Tiznow as Horse of the Year.

In the other divisions, the Breeders' Cup plays a major factor in determining champions.

Macho Uno gets the vote in the two-year-old male category, holding off a top colt, Point Given, to win the Breeders' Cup Juvenile (G1).

Caressing, winner of the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (G1) as a longshot, gets the nod in her division even though she won just the one graded stakes. Raging Fever, who dominated the division early while sprinting, had no excuse in the Juvenile Fillies when finishing sixth.

Best three-year-old filly was Surfside, who dominated the division early before being injured, and she came back to finish second in the Breeders' Cup Distaff (G1) and to defeat older males in the Clark Handicap (G2). Lemon Drop Kid, by virtue of his four graded stakes victories, was the best older male.

Riboletta, who could have earned serious consideration for Horse of the Year with a victory in the Distaff, was clearly the best older female after winning seven graded stakes.

Breeders' Cup Sprint (G1) winner Kona Gold is the champion sprinter. War Chant, undefeated in his only two starts on turf including the Breeders' Cup Mile (G1), gets male turf horse honors.

And Perfect Sting, who won the Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf (G1), was the best turf female. In winning five of her six starts, one could even make an argument that, being the best at her specialty, she deserves Horse of the Year honors.