In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round. Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works: Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round.
Here is the Bracket.
Today, we feature what looks like a lopsided matchup on paper, but who knows how it will shake out when it comes to voting. Shared Belief, a two seed (who had a strong argument for a one seed) goes up against Havre de Grace. Havre de Grace was undoubtedly one of the best fillies of her generation, and famously took on – and beat – the boys, but today she runs into an absolute dynamo. Shared Belief is the “now” horse of horse racing, and could very well be undefeated if it weren’t for some roughhousing by Bayern at the start of the 2014 Breeders’ Cup Classic. Let’s break it down.
Shared Belief
Since his winning debut in October 2013, you really can’t argue with anything that this horse has done. He has won every single time out with the notable exception of the Breeders’ Cup Classic. And in that race, even the most strident Baffert/Bayern apologists have to admit that Shared Belief faced “extenuating circumstances.” I will never be able to prove this, but I firmly believe that if the start of that race went smoothly, and Moreno was able to take off as expected, we would be talking about Shared Belief as an undefeated super horse. But let’s move on from that. Shared Belief’s Pacific Classic last year was sublime, and he has opened this year with consecutive wins in the San Antonio (over California Chrome) and the Big ‘Cap. He is unquestionably horse racing’s current star. Further, as a gelding, I am hopeful that we will get to enjoy his work for years to come. Havre de Grace is in real tough here.
Here are Shared Belief’s near perfect stats.
You can watch his unforgettable domination in the Pacific Classic here.
Havre de Grace
Havre de Grace’s coup de grace was her victory in the 2011 Woodward Stakes. She triumphed in gritty fashion over Rule and Flat Out, showing yet again that a filly could take down the colts at Saratoga. But though that race was her crowning acheivement, her resume includes far more than that. She had 9 wins in 16 lifetime starts and finished out of the money just twice in her illustrious career. Conditioned by Larry Jones and ridden by Ramon Dominguez, she also took down wins in the Beldame and the Apple Blossom, both Grade 1s.
Here are the stats for Havre de Grace.
Watch her turn back the boys at Saratoga here.
Who’s going to move on to the next round? Vote on Twitter, and tune back in tomorrow to find out.
