Well, you can’t really takeaway races or wins can you? If you could Mine That Bird wouldn’t attract crowds where ever he goes. 2nd in the Preakness and 3rd in the Belmont is not the same as the ‘Kentucky Derby Winner’ !

But more importantly, takeaway Touch Gold’s tremendous stretch drive in the ‘97 Belmont and suddenly Silver Charm might be one of the top 25 horses of all time–not languishing away at #63. Where would Smarty Jones be if not for Birdstone in ‘04? Point Given if not for Monarchos’ Secretariat-esque Derby run? I could go on but surely you will admit ‘point given’ ?

Yet suppose for a moment we play your takeaway game. You propose we takeaway a $5 million race with what some call the deepest field of horses assembled this year. Then Zenyatta is left with just 4 races, 3 of which she beat the eventual 2009 BC Ladies Classic champion, Life is Sweet.

Now we takeaway Rachel’s most impressive victory. It’s a tough call, because if you look closely at the fields, none were very deep. But takeaway the Haskell because Summer Bird is arguably the best horse she’s run against this year. Rachel is left with the Preakness (Mine That Bird and Pioneer of the Nile), and the Woodward (Macho Again, Bullsbay, and Asiatic Boy).

Yes, in this takeaway game, Rachel Alexandra wins. But I don’t think it’s as dominating a victory as you might have imagined. And if you think I’ve left out the Oaks… well, let’s just say beating future claimer Stone Legacy by 20+ lengths doesn’t even rate. It is no accident I’ve left it out.

But now we put the race back in. Suddenly Zenyatta has won the BCC, beaten MTB, Summer Bird, Gio Ponti, Rip Van Winkle, Colonel John, and Einstein–all in the same race! You put Rachel’s Haskell back in and she has additionally beaten Summer Bird.

hmmm…

p.s. takeaway Victory Gallop’s nose and Real Quiet is Triple Crown Champion.

Busher -10 for 13 from May to October 1945 - the year when there was no racing until May due to WWII. Only her first two races that year were restricted to 3 year old fillies. She began beating the 3 year old boys third time out and beat the older girls in her fourth race and several more times after that, and won carrying top weight when weight actually meant something- and there were fewer weight-for-age events than there are now. Later that year she beat older males twice and that included Armed, himself a champion, setting a track record at 1-1/4 miles in the Washington Park Handicap. Often her assigned weight in those handicaps wiped out the “gender allowance” she was entitled to. Her losses occurred when she gave weight to the winners, sometimes quite a bit of it. She was HOY in 1945. Just about the only thing not on her resume was a Triple Crown race, but in that fractured year of 1945 that is not a glaring omission. Injured that October, she was unable to return to form after sitting out her 4 year old year, losing her only race at five. Busher’s three year old season stands right up there with the best by any three year old, regardless of gender, in the history of the sport. I pulled this information from Wikipedia, National Racing Hall of Fame, and BloodHorse’s Top 100 Thoroughbred Champions of the 20th Century.

Number of Wins: Rachel, 8-5. Rachel won 5 Gr.I + 2 Gr.II. Zenyatta won 4 Gr.I + 1 Gr.II

Prestigious Races: Rachel, 3-1. Rachel won the Preakness, Haskell, and Woodward. Zenyatta the BC Classic.

Beating the Boys: Rachel, 3-1. See above. Note: Preakness and Haskell for 3yo’s.

Margin of Victory: Well, I don’t think much of this measure at all. It should be noted that Rachel’s much touted 20+ length victory in the Oaks was against mostly G3 / Allowance competition. E.g. the 2nd place finisher Stone Legacy actually dropped down to a *Claiming* race in August. But if it matters, then Rachel.

‘Other’ Victories (not against the boys): Zenyatta. She beat Life is Sweet three times this year. This filly would win 2 Gr.I’s (incl. the 2009 Ladies’ Classic) and 2 Gr.II’s. LIS also finished 3rd in the Hollywood Gold Cup (against the boys). In contrast, Rachel beat a future Gr.I winner and some Gr.III winners.

Impressive Horses Beat: Zenyatta. She beat Mine That Bird, Summer Bird, Gio Ponti, Rip Van Winkle, Colonel John, and Einstein–not to mention Life is Sweet. Rachel beat Mine That Bird and Summer Bird. Pioneer of the Nile *might* have been pretty good. The other TC colts may develop down the line–only time will tell.

Munnings, Bullsbay, Macho Again, and Asiatic Boy are kind of iffy. Yes, I realize MA and AB beat Einstein in the Stephen Foster this year but I don’t think anyone seriously rates them as better horses overall.

So there you have it. On paper, Rachel has the sheer numbers and the prestigious races. Closer inspection shows Zenyatta beat better horses. Who’s HOY? I guess it depends how heavily you weigh each of the factors above.

In the final accounting, a case could be made either way–with probably a slight edge to Rachel in fact.

But here’s how I look at it. Zenyatta is the defending Eclipse Champion Older Female. She is also the defending Ladies’ Classic winner. Zenyatta beat the future 2009 Ladies’ Classic winner all year long. Finally, she went on to win the boys Classic herself. Where was the challenge from Rachel Alexandra while all this was happening?

Zenyatta–by a nose.

And nobody is discounting Zenyatta’s win in the BC Classic. It was awesome. We get that. It was a smashing, sensational, sizzling victory. Very, very exciting to say the least.

But of Zenyatta’s five races this year, her backers are basing their HOY opinions based on that one race. They barely, if ever, mention her other four races this year. Now, other than being the first female to ever win the BC Classic, I’m not sure that there is anything she did in 2009 which hasn’t been done before. While it certainly doesn’t happen all the time, mares have beaten older horses in Grade or Group 1 company before. Doesn’t happen all the time, but it does happen. In fact, Goldikova did it twice this year.

And yes, Zenyatta beat a deep field in the Classic. But we can’t pretend that beating Gio Ponti and Rip Van Winkle on the pro-ride is the same as beating them on turf.

What Rachel Alexandra did this year is unprecedented for a 3yo filly. Seriously, if there is another 3yo filly with RA’s level of accomplishments in this sport’s history, please let me know. Her Preakness was awesome. She chased Big Drama through fast early fractions and still was able to hold off a fast-closing Mine That Bird. Ridicule Mine That Bird all you want, but on dirt, he’s a good closer. As far as his performance Saturday, who knows, maybe he’s not what he was prior to the surgery.

Her Haskell in the slop was also another fantastic performance. Then, she stepped out of her division even more by facing older males in the Woodward and defeating them. Seriously, when has a 3yo filly ever done anything like this before?

Zenyatta has had a great career. Can’t do much better than 14-for-14. But nine of those races occured prior to this year, so we can’t really factor those in too much. It’s not a lifetime achievement award we’re debating, it’s Horse of the Year. And no horse had a better year, in my humble opinion, than Rachel Alexandra.

Natalie: Again, great piece. Don’t let these kinds of comments bother you. Keep up the good work.