A LIFE WELL LIVED

REST IN PEACE, BOBBY FRANKEL

I never had the chance to know him. While it would have been a thrill, I really didn’t have to.

You see, ROBERT J. FRANKEL was every man, known informally to the world as “BOBBY”. If life had taken him on a different path, one thing I am sure of is that he would have been successful. The other certainty is that FRANKEL would have been at the track. A man like him may have been next to you at Hollywood Park or Aqueduct in weekends past. However, there were greater things for him to experience. The path BOBBY FRANKEL found led him to a Hall of Fame training career.

FRANKEL’s quote in Jay Privman’s DRF article: "Life's funny…Sometimes things just happen, and they change your life completely. I wasn't born into this. I just followed my instincts and ended up where I am."

BOBBY FRANKEL enjoyed over 40 years in the game and trained some of the game’s most important horses. While I will remember horses he trained and races he won, what I will take from his passing is that it is important to live life to its fullest. FRANKEL also reminded me how important it is to care deeply for your inner circle and to show incredible love for God’s creatures that have no voice.

There are times when a famous individual dies and fans lament the loss…of experiences that will not include BOBBY FRANKEL. Famous or infamous, we are all custodians of everything we touch. “Make the world a better place when you leave than when you arrived” is the mantra many of us are told since childhood. That’s precisely what FRANKEL did.

The depth of his life in horse racing may take decades for us to fully appreciate. He was the “Empire Maker” for Juddmonte Farms’ American racing operation and his horsemanship kept a valuable race horse sound for stud duty resulting in a Gold Medal filly named RACHEL ALEXANDRA.

Thank you, BOBBY FRANKEL for the equine presents you will have helped create...thank you for a life well lived.

HORSE OF THE YEAR DEBATE: IS THERE AN “END GAME”?

The last was first.


To the victor go the spoils.

Valid cases for RACHEL ALEXANDRA or ZENYATTA can be made for the top Eclipse Award; Disagreement over a final test for Horse of the Year is the reason horse racing is not respected by the sports community as a major sport; My “Champions” and HOY selections

I was part of a spirited debate over the merits of RACHEL ALEXANDRA and ZENYATTA with a fellow blogger, whom I respectfully disagree with. I commented long and hard on yet another blog today because it seems that people are back-slapping for a filly that is a wonderful 3y.o., but prematurely given the crown and skipped the prom.

The banter got me thinking, why can’t horse racing agree on the Breeders’ Cup World Thoroughbred Championships as the champion-making event and have all eligible, healthy horses show up? I would dearly love to see the game recapture lost luster and be considered alongside the other “major” sports in the world.

This year was exceptional…two great female racehorses who raced undefeated and each defeated males. What a travesty it was to have only one of them show up for the second most important event of the horse racing year, the Breeder’s Cup World Thoroughbred Championships (you know # 1, right?). How many other sports decide a champion without the principles squaring off? ZENYATTA's win created a house full of satisfied fans...



but there was room for more drama.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) has an 82 game regular season which decides home court advantage in the playoffs. The playoff system pares the competition down and culminates with the Eastern Conference and Western Conference champions squaring off in a best of seven game NBA Finals to decide the champion. Every sports fan knows that the Los Angeles Lakers proved to be the best team for the 2008-9 NBA season.

In the National Football League (NFL), the Super Bowl has a similar process…a regular season (16 games) determines playoff seeding, playoffs determine the top two teams, the Super Bowl is contested by the American Foottball Conference (AFC) the National Football Conference (NFC) champions. The end game was that the Pittsburgh Steelers were the unquestioned champions of the 2008 season.

A similar process occurs for Major League Baseball (MLB)…is there anyone that’s been living under a rock and doesn’t know that the New York Yankees won the World Series recently?

I believe that thoroughbred horse racing can compete with the year-end spectacles of those three major sports. The Breeders’ Cup, usually run in late October or early November, was perfectly slotted on the calendar this year to showcase top thoroughbreds battling for titles on the racetrack. This year, it was positioned just after the World Series wrapped, more than a week after the NBA season began, and smack dab in the middle of the NFL season when marginal football fans lose the love for a few weeks.

This was a perfect year to showcase ZENYATTA and RACHEL in the Classic against the boys, a situation which would have compelled a national network, like ESPN’s partner ABC, to carry most if not all of the Saturday races. At the very least, they could have done an hour telecast featuring only the Classic and the two amazons.

Once again, an East Coast based horse was kept out of the championship race because the Breeders’ Cup was held in California. Jess Jackson made his disdain for “plastic” main tracks known after a shell of defending champion CURLIN was defeated in last year’s Classic renewal. He’s banking on precedent for RACHEL to win HOY without coming west, thanks to the sheer number of horse racing writers based in New York, New Jersey, Maryland and other mid-Atlantic states, Kentucky, Louisiana, and Florida who may harbor the same anti-California bias.

In 2003, MINESHAFT beat up on a very ordinary bunch of handicap division horses to the tune of 6 wins in 8 starts, including 4 G.1 wins. On three occasions, he was part of a field of five or less. MINESHAFT was defeated by G.2 level speed horse BALTO STAR in the G.3 Whirlaway that year and his connections may have feared the California speed and the perception of the state’s hard main tracks. His other loss was to PERFECT DRIFT, another G.2 quality competitor, who was crushed by PLEASANTLY PERFECT in the Classic. PLEASANTLY PERFECT finally overcame nagging injuries and matured into a legitimate G.1 horse with an upset win in the Classic over MEDAGLIA D’ORO and CONGAREE in 1:59.88 for a Beyer of 119. The fastest MINESHAFT had run that year for 1 ¼ miles was 2:00.25 (114 Beyer) and his top Beyer was 118, so hindsight tells us that skipping the Classic was a shrewd move and sealed MINESHAFT’s HOY status.

One of the arguments I’ve read pro-RACHEL is that she danced more dances than ZENYATTA, 8 to 5. I counter that the percentage of G.1 appearances is a more telling statistic: ZENYATTA ran in 80% G.1’s, RACHEL 62.5%.

If you read my comments on other sites, I stated that there were no races on the calendar against males worth risking her undefeated record until the BC Classic. There were two goals for the ZENYATTA camp: “eclipse” PERSONAL ENSIGN’s undefeated career mark, and win a Breeders’ Cup race. Would you have run in the crowded Santa Anita H. for just $1 million or the Hollywood Gold Cup for a mere $750,ooo when you may have had visions of the Classic for $5 million?

In order for me, fellow bloggers, and sports writers to discuss ZENYATTA for HOY, Jerry and Ann Moss had to be ultra-patient and strong under the storm of criticism through the summer/fall when many had already conceded it to RACHEL. John Shirreffs had to take impeccable care of his amazon mare to keep her undefeated and run a peak effort for the Classic. Everything fell into place. ZENYATTA showed up for the writers to take on the most accomplished field of male horses (11 total) assembled in America this year: GIO PONTI (4 G.1 wins – ranked in the top 10 world wide), EINSTEIN (3), SUMMER BIRD (3), RIP VAN WINKLE (2 – ranked in the top 10 worldwide), COLONEL JOHN (2), and one each from RICHARD’S KID, MINE THAT BIRD, and TWICE OVER.

RACHEL, on the other hand, had a wonderful season against primarily 3y.o.’s including SUMMER BIRD who ZENYATTA also dusted. RACHEL’s win against just seven males, came at 1 1/8 miles or 1 furlong short of the “classic” distance that ZENYATTA negotiated against the boys. In the Woodward, RACHEL disposed of pace players Da’ Tara and Past the Point, and narrowly held off MACHO AGAIN who’d scored just one G.1 win in his lifetime. In fact, there were only three G.1 wins on the PP’s of her opponents that day including Da’ Tara’s improbable Belmont S. win (he’s gone 0-fer since) and BULLSBAY’s 18-1 G.1 Whitney upset at the hooves of MACHO AGAIN.

Here’s what I’d do (not that many people care and I definitely don’t get to vote):
• GIVE RACHEL BOTH 3Y.O. CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHIES…How can SUMMER BIRD be a champion when he’s lost to the best 3y.o. and best older horse this year?
• GIVE ZENYATTA THE OLDER HORSE CHAMPIONSHIP WHICH MAKES HER THE SLAM DUNK FOR HORSE OF THE YEAR…She participated and won on championship weekend, defeated a more seasoned SUMMER BIRD at a classic distance while RACHEL beat him at just 9f when SUMMER BIRD had just one G.1 win, defeated GIO PONTI who’s a contender for Older Turf Male (although I believe CONDUIT should be the one in that division).

Finally, here are my year-end champions:
• JUVENILE FILLIES TURF: TAPITSFLY…how hot is PULPIT as a sire of juvenile fillies like this one and STARDOM BOUND last year.

• JUVENILE TURF: POUNCED…he was a prompt 2-1 shot.

• JUVENILE FILLIES: SHE BE WILD…slam dunk.

• JUVENILE: VALE OF YORK…gotta be consistent, he beat LOOKIN AT LUCKY on the square but LUCKY’S still my favorite juvenile going into the Kentucky Derby trail next year; it’s not a award I base on popularity.

• FILLY & MARE SPRINT: INFORMED DECISION…another gimmee.

• SPRINT: DANCING IN SILKS…again, upsets happen in championship events like in NCAA Men’s Basketball finals when NORTH CAROLINA ST. shocked HOUSTON (Phi Slamma Jamma) in 1983 and VILLANOVA surprised GEORGETOWN in the 1985; Honorable mention to CALIFORNIA FLAG, who would have been the choice had his race carried graded stakes status.

• OLDER TURF FEMALE: GOLDIKOVA…back-to-back BC Miles trumps MIDDAY’s single BC win; FOREVER TOGETHER and DIAMONDRELLA proved they were the best of a subpar group in the U.S.

• TURF MALE: CONDUIT…successfully defended his ’08 Turf win but arguably against a softer field (although PRESIOUS PASSION is a very game gelding); I’m leaving out poor GIO PONTI with four G.1 turf wins and finished 2nd in the Classic, but to win this division in my book he had to go on the grass in the Breeders’ Cup.

• 3Y.O. FEMALE: RACHEL ALEXANDRA…did I even have to type that?

• 3Y.O. MALE: RACHEL ALEXANDRA…no, it’s not a typo; she won the Preakness and the Haskell over the Derby and Belmont winner.

• OLDER MALE: ZENYATTA… beat ‘em all in the Classic, she’s the “mostest hoss” this year.

• OLDER FEMALE: LIFE IS SWEET…she can thank her stable mate for choosing to beat up on the males and hand this division to the sister of Champion Juvenile Filly SWEET CATOMINE.

• HORSE OF THE YEAR: ZENYATTA!!!

As I concluded the comments I made at another blog…lemmee have it! I can take it!!!


The crowd goes wild!