Somebeachsomewhere won horse of the year tonight in the US, in a landslide vote.I am not one for reflection but for a nice bit of harness racing Canadiana, here is a video of the Beach getting ready for the 2008 season. It was a 2:04 or 2:05 mile in the cold of Nova Scotia - in the smaller town of Truro, right downtown.
A $40,000 yearling colt, training in a small town, owned and trained by virtual unknowns can win Horse of the Year. This is harness racing, and this is why I like it.
11 comments:
Congrats to SBSW on his HOY recognition. Notwithstanding his dominance and brilliance, you can't deny Dewey his Hambletonian or Canadian Trotting Classic victories. Might have lost the Breeders Crown trot, but he won the Holy Grails of his division in the US and Canada. SBSW, no Meadowlands Pace, although it was his best race ever and no Little Brown Jug. Both are great horses. I just wish you would stop hating on Dewey so much because of your love for SBSW. Peace.
I don't hate any horse. I look at where a horse fits in history. To be quite honest there is a winner of the Hambo and CTC every year. Many horses have won both, or have won twelve races in a year as a 3yo colt trotter.
I rank Dewey behind Donato, Mack Lobell, Glidemaster, Greyhound, Nevele Pride, and probably five or ten others. I rate Beach behind Niatross, and close to a few others like Nihilator and Bret Hanover, but he would be in my top four or five for certain, as he is with most race watchers.
Dewey had a good year. Somebechsomewhere did better than any 3YO the last twenty years. Therein lies the difference, and that is why he won HOY by a landslide.
I am so glad SBSW was voted HOY. I feared the anti-Candaian segment was going to vote for Dewey. Rest assured if Dewey won his Breeder's Crown, the vote would have gone the other way.
I vote SBSW #2 overall, behind Niatross. I can't rate a horse who never saw anything but a mile (or 7/8) track as one of the all time best.
Yo Allan, SBSW did win the Confederation Cup & Messenger on 1/2 mile ovals. He's truly one of the great ones indeed. Only a fool would speak to the contrary. As for the Diminish Dewey Union(DDU), had any horse ever won the Hambletonian undefeated prior to him doing it in 2008? Just Curious. And Mr. Pocket, if you believe that winning the Dancer Memorial, Hambo, Kentucky Futurity and Canadian Trotting Classic among others is merely a "good year", then I'm impressed with your assessment skills. VERY IMPRESSED. Wow!!!!!!!!
Ya, winning those races sure is rare.
Oh , maybe not. It happened last year.
How about winning the Trotting Triple Crown? Glidemaster did that two years ago. It's rare. Oh no it is not, Windsong's Legacy did it two years before that.
Someone has to win these races. Dewey was the best of a mediocre group. He showed up, he won. I give him credit. But he set zero world records, won several races by a whisker under heavy stick, and lost 3 races. He had a good year, not dissimilar to Donato, Windsongs or Glidemaster did the last three seasons. the main difference is, Donato had to fight Arch Madness, who has proven himself a good horse, Windsong's had to fight Tom Ridge, Cantab Hall and Cash Hall and Glidemaster had to fight Majestic Son.
It is not hard to understand why many race watchers do not put him in the all time best class.
Curlin is a wonderful horse too, but he is no Secretariat no matter how many times we tell ourselves so.
We have enough problems in the sport to spend time on. Propping up horses as superstars who are not is a waste of it. I won't do that on this blog. Cheerleading can be done on other blogs, if they so wish.
PS: Case in point for 09.
If Major in Art wins the NA Cup by a whisker in 50.1 and converts a two hole trip at the Jug in a race off by a nose in mediocre time, and goes six for six we will not discuss it here much. I have seen it all before, so it does not hold my interest.
Conversely, if Muscle Hill starts demolishing world records and goes to Lexington to shoot for a 149 time trail we will follow his exploits weekly just like we did Beach.
First off, Secretariat is the greatest thing that ever lived. Curlin not even close so we agree on things. Secondly, I wished you had owned .1% of Dewey. You'd never dog him like you do. Anyway here's a better discussion we can have. Tim Tetrick was voted USTA Driver of the year for winning 903 races with 4048 drives and earning 19.7 million. Brian Sears earned 16.6 million winning 447 races from 2163 drives. I believe that volume shouldn't be the sole criteria for winning this award. I believe that ratio should be factored in as well. What's your take on this?
We're having a discussion so I don't know why you take things so personal when folks disagree. I want you to know I'm glad we have this blog because I've really taking to harness racing in recent years being a thoroughbred lover from birth. As I've stated all along, Somebeachsomewhere is an absolute freak of nature. Adonis, Samson, and Secretariat all rolled into one. I believe we merely look at accomplishments differently. Being a big fan of Cigar I learned that getting them ready and winning is all that you can ask for. He didn't set any track records during his 16 race winning streak, but only times he lost by less than 2 lengths was when he won the 1995 JCGC over Unaccounted For and when he won the inaugural Dubai World Cup on 3+ feet over Soul of the Matter. As a gambler they pay me the same money irrespective of how much my horse wins by. As for the world record variable, that speaks to brilliance. He's got speed in abundance. So did Holborn Hanvover.
I thought Palone should have won driver of the year outright because he was awesome and won some huge races. The huge races he won he was about 4th call on. Tim and Sears get the lions share of the choices so it is a given they will have good stats. I thought it would have been a nice time to reward Dave with it alone.
Sorry, I need to read my posts better. I know SBSW won on the 1/2miler, it was Dewey I was referring to. He can't be ranked amongst the greatest. SBSW sure can and I rate him behind Niatross.
It's often been said that world records are not the measure of greatness, as many fast, but not great, horses have set them.
However in SBSW's case, I think what most impresses and awes some of the best horsemen in the world, who have often commented, is HOW they were set. And it is here where his career mirrors that of Secretariat. The belmont stakes record, still two seconds faster than any champion since, came with simply no challenge other than that of his own will. SBSW in all four world records led from the quarter pole to the finish with essentially no challenger beyond the 3/4 pole, and nothing more from Paul MacDonnel than a few words of encouragement.
The one time he was challenged, two incredible efforts (that of Beach and Art Official) resulted in a complete second and 1/5th lowering of the world record.
So in conclusion, there are times when world records mean very little, but there are also times when they speak volumes.
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