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. In the first two matchups, flare and dominant victories appeared more valuable than grind and gameness as Uncle Mo defeated Shackelford and Main Sequence put away Blind Luck. Yesterday, in a battle of mares, Royal Delta soundly defeated current star Untapable.
Today, we feature another inner-divisional battle–California Chrome v. Blame. We all remember what happened the last time Blame squared off against a Left Coast hero. Can Blame break the hearts of the Golden State again?
California Chrome
Last June it appeared as though California Chrome was on the fast track to rewrite history. He had captured the Derby and Preakness in impressive fashion, and stood a mile and a half from completing racing’s greatest challenge, the Triple Crown. However, an awkward start, a gashed leg, and an arguably late move down the stretch squashed Chrome’s bid. His legacy was further tarnished by his owner’s post race rant and a subsequent 6th place finish at Parx.
When all appeared lost, Chrome rallied with a strong show finish in the Breeders Cup Classic, followed by a display of versatility with a Grade 1 Turf score at Del Mar. The campaign earned Chrome 2014 Horse of Year Honors.
Unfortunately, Chrome’s 2015 campaign did not begin strongly, as the horse went toe to toe with Shared Belief and was put away in the final sixteenth. Did Chrome move too early? Were the fractions too fast? Or is Belief just better? We’ll have to wait for that answer, as Chrome has headed to Dubai.
Here is California Chrome’s Profile
Here is Chrome winning the Derby:
and the Preakness
Blame
“B–lame”, as Trevor Denmon proclaimed, will always best be known for his dethroning of Queen Z in her final race, the 2010 Breeders’ Cup Classic. However, Blame was much more than a one race wonder.
In 2010, Blame started 5 races, at four different race tracks, winning four times and finishing second once (to a freak performance by Haynesfield in the JCGC). Blame also played giant killer in the 2010 Whitney, catching 1-2 favorite Quality Road in the final strides (I had forgotten Mine That Bird was in this race–he got one call).
Here are Blame’s DRF PP’s: blame-lifetime
And here are the aforementioned Classic and Whitney wins.
Retweet our tweets if you think California Chrome should advance or favorite them if you believe Blame is the winner. Voting ends at 10:00 p.m. Thursday.
Friday’s matchup is an intriguing one featuring Rachel Alexandra and Mucho Macho Man.
