Horse of the Year 2019

[cherokeescot]

If other please list name .

[tenfurlongs]

Bricks and Mortar, easily. Five GI wins. Won the Pegasus Turf Invitational, Arlington Million, BC Turf. Shipped all around the country and won every time.

Mitole won the Met Mile, got beat by Imperial Hint at Saratoga. That one scratched out of the BC Sprint, making Mitole's task somewhat easier there.

Two-turn dirt horses, no standouts other than Midnight Bisou, but she lost the big prize in the BC Distaff.

Pretty straightforward in my opinion.

TW

[tc]

I think the NY mafia does what needs to be done to ensure they raise a glass of red wine to toast the HOY winner.

Maybe they make an offer that cannot be refused?

[cherokeescot]

My problem with Bricks and Mortar is he never really beat any good horse.  Mitole beat Shancelot , Firenze Fire , McKinzie and Thunder Snow to name a few.

[mattcoll]

Not voting for Bricks and Mortar is basically saying he never had a chance. He raced in all the right races and beat everyone who lined up against him. Not his fault those line ups were weak. I personally would not vote for him. He never had a chance.

Do most voters cast ballots/make up their minds before a horse like Maximum Security runs in the Cigar Mile/Clark? Florida Derby/Haskell/Cigar Mile with a Kentucky Derby first place thrown in is a solid HOY resume and would earn my vote, but the 4 listed all make some sense to me.

[phlierfreak]

i have to vote for mambo dancer. if that horse can do as well as she did owned by an idiot such as myself in the claiming contest, then i can think of no other horse more deserving.

[mysaladdays]

Nov 3, 2019 17:36:28 GMT -5 tc said:

I think the NY mafia does what needs to be done to ensure they raise a glass of red wine to toast the HOY winner.

Maybe they make an offer that cannot be refused?

After repole's "speech" after the BCC, on the heels of Mongo breaking down, his lack of humility in general made me hope I don't have to listen to another one of his speeches any time soon.  He needs to take a course in how to show some class during a difficult situation, because he sure missed that boat on Sat.

[1hooper]

In case anyone forgot, it was announced in August that Bricks and Mortor is off to Japan for stud duty.

DRF
According to the terms of the stallion deal, Bricks and Mortar will continue to race in the U.S. for owners Klaravich Stables and William Lawrence through the Breeders' Cup, on Nov. 2 at Santa Anita. The horse will then be shipped to Japan to begin stud duty for the 2020 season. The deal is for the horse’s stallion rights only, according to Eugenio Colombo, the bloodstock agent who brokered the deal.
Bricks and Mortar will give Japan a son of European Horse of the Year Giant's Causeway, a perennial leading sire in North America who died last year at age 21. Giant's Causeway's best sons at stud, from his 48 advertised worldwide, stand in Europe, and have had international success. The stallion's European champion Shamardal, residing at Kildangen Stud in Ireland, is the sire of Hong Kong Horse of the Year Able Friend; Hong Kong champion Pakistan Star; Australian champion Faint Perfume; French Derby winner and prominent sire Lope de Vega; additional French Group 1 winners Dariyan and Speedy Boarding; English Group 1 winner Lumiere; Italian Group 1 winners Amaron, Crackerjack King, and Zazou; and Singapore Guineas winner Gingerbread Man. Meanwhile, Giant's Causeway's English 2000 Guineas winner Footstepsinthestand, standing for Coolmore, is the sire of Argentinian champion Infiltrada, Irish Group 1 winner Chachamaidee, Italian Group 1 winner Shamalgan, and New Zealand Group 1 winner Steinbeck.

[shoes]

Tough call but I just switched my vote to Mitole as I was persuaded by arguments that he beat better fields.

[gam]

The interesting thing about both horses is that they, at some point this year, stepped away from their standard and competed at a distance perhaps out of their comfort zone and a Classic distance. I was skeptical that Mitole could dominate at a flat one-turn mile in the Met like he had at 6 Fs, but he did. Similarly, I didn’t like Bricks and Mortar stretching out to 12 Fs in the Turf but he won anyway. Truly a tough call. Both had stellar campaigns.