by Tom Law
One of the most eagerly anticipated and historic events in American Thoroughbred racing will unfold Monday at the Eclipse Awards when the name of the 2009 Horse of the Year is announced to the black-tie clad and blinged-out crowd at the posh Four Seasons Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills, California.
The Horse of the Year announcement is historic not only because it figures to be a tight decision between Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta but because both finalists are females who towered so high above their male counterparts that they were the only runners to earn any votes for racing’s top honor from the more than 250 voters.
The winner will be unveiled at about 10:25 p.m. EST toward the end of the ceremony that will be telecast live on Television Games Network starting at 8 p.m. The Horse of the Year race has attracted plenty of national and international attention and ESPNews will also cut into its regularly scheduled programming for tonight’s announcement.
Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta never squared off in 2009 on the racetrack for a variety of reasons, which might be rectified in ‘10, but each has their own legion of fans and supporters. The duo collectively won 13 races from as many starts—eight for Rachel Alexandra and five for Zenyatta—and amassed earnings of $6,076,914.
Since the two never met on the track, voters were left to dissect the respective merits of the contenders and general consensus in the nation figures the two will earn the lion’s share of their votes from the respective regions where they raced in 2009—Zenyatta in the West and Rachel Alexandra in the East and Midwest.
To make matters even more difficult, both defeated males and both competed on one surface all season.
Rachel Alexandra raced on natural dirt and defeated males on three occasions, winning the BlackBerry Preakness Stakes (G1) (video), Haskell Invitational Stakes (G1) (video), and Woodward Stakes (G1) (video), while dominating her own gender with colossal wins in the Kentucky Oaks (G1) and Mother Goose Stakes (G1).
Zenyatta raced exclusively on the synthetic tracks in Southern California in 2009 and won three straight Grade 1s over females before toppling a deep international field in North America’s richest race, the Breeders’ Cup Classic (G1) at the Oak Tree at Santa Anita Park meeting (video).
The Horse of the Year race obviously will draw the most attention during the evening but several other divisions figure to be close, including nearly all of the human categories. A total of 17 champions will be crowned by the end of the night, including the most coveted prize of all that still may not resolve the issue in the hearts of many.
Tom Law is managing editor for Thoroughbred Times