NEW ZEALAND HORSE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

[Baz (NZ)]

When are the category nominations announced ?

New Zealand Thoroughbred Horse of the Year Awards 

 

[We're Doomed]

Perhaps we could all contribute and list who we think the noms will be for various categories and who we think "should" win.

I will start by doing the 3yo category. Probably the easiest category.

There will obviously be 5 noms: Savaglee, Captured by Love, Leica Lucy, Willydoit and Alabama Lass. 

The first four all won Group 1s. Alabama Lass won Group 2s and 3s and was placed at Group 1 against 3yos and against older horses in the Railway. As well she won a $500,000 race in Australia. Possibly the biggest NZ trained stakes winner in Aussie for the season.

I think Savaglee will win the category. He won a Group 1 in NZ, was placed at Group 1 in the Australian Guineas and placed at WFA in a Group 1.

I think Savaglee should almost be horse of the year as well as he was the only likely category winner who managed to carry his NZ form overseas.

Perhaps others could sort out the other categories, since I took the easy one.

[scooby3051]

Come on El Vencedor should be horse of the year...he won the most group 1's of any horse in the season...if he does not win then the scoring is rigged...his record was clearly the best all season.

[We're Doomed]

1 hour ago, scooby3051 said:

Come on El Vencedor should be horse of the year...he won the most group 1's of any horse in the season...if he does not win then the scoring is rigged...his record was clearly the best all season.

I have decided you are correct. He did win three group 1s from memory. I was tending to under-rate that because he didn't beat much and he failed in HK. But really, he can only beat what lines up against him, and he did. You can't really argue against three Group 1s. So yes, I imagine El Vencedor will be horse of the year, and rightly so.

[rdytdy]

 

CHAMPION JUMPER*

CHAMPION TWO YEAR OLD*

CHAMPION THREE YEAR OLD*

CHAMPION SPRINTER (-1500M)*

CHAMPION MIDDLE DISTANCE HORSE (1501-2100M)*

CHAMPION STAYER (2101M +)*

[scooby3051]

You should go close in the 2yo section Ted.

[rdytdy]

56 minutes ago, scooby3051 said:

You should go close in the 2yo section Ted.

 

[We're Doomed]

2yo will be interesting. La Dorada a group 1, and group 2 win and 2nd. Return to Conquer a group 1 and a couple of group 3s. Might be one of the closest votes.

[rdytdy]

2 hours ago, We're Doomed said:

2yo will be interesting. La Dorada a group 1, and group 2 win and 2nd. Return to Conquer a group 1 and a couple of group 3s. Might be one of the closest votes.

La Dorada also won the Karaka Millions. She has highest rating of this season's 2yo at R80. Return To Conquer is R77     

[Leggy]

33 minutes ago, rdytdy said:

La Dorada also won the Karaka Millions. She has highest rating of this season's 2yo at R80. Return To Conquer is R77     

True. Though 6 of those rating points came from an LR race. It will be an interesting one.

[We're Doomed]

The sweepstakes shouldn't count towards horse of the year. It should be established group race performances. A couple of years ago the voters went for the sweepstake winner rather than the Group 1 winners and ended up with egg on their faces as I don't think he won another race. Admittedly it was a very poor 2yo crop that year. 

The sweepstake should only be used to split two horses if everything else is equal. But I don't think the other 2yo was eligible for the sweepstake so it would be a bit harsh to penalise one horse because he wasn't eligible for a race.

In Australia they wouldn't even consider any restricted entry races when deciding on horse of the year. Sweepstake stakes money doesn't count when determining entry for races like the Golden Slipper.

[rdytdy]

29 minutes ago, Leggy said:

True. Though 6 of those rating points came from an LR race. It will be an interesting one.

Not sure what your point is there Leggy.  Return To Conquer got 20 points for winning a LR race. 

At the end of their 2yo season La Dorada had a higher final rating which was the point of difference I was making.

Return To Conquer won at 1100m and 1200m. La Dorada won at 1100m, 1200m & 1400m.

Whilst they never met race day in the  G1 Sistema Return To Conquer narrowly beat Landlock by a head. As a comparison La Dorada beat Landlock by three lengths the start prior in the Karaka Millions and beat Landlock by four and a half lengths in the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce. 

 

 

 

 

 

[Leggy]

8 hours ago, rdytdy said:

Not sure what your point is there Leggy.  Return To Conquer got 20 points for winning a LR race. 

At the end of their 2yo season La Dorada had a higher final rating which was the point of difference I was making.

Return To Conquer won at 1100m and 1200m. La Dorada won at 1100m, 1200m & 1400m.

Whilst they never met race day in the  G1 Sistema Return To Conquer narrowly beat Landlock by a head. As a comparison La Dorada beat Landlock by three lengths the start prior in the Karaka Millions and beat Landlock by four and a half lengths in the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce. 

 Probably wasn't a point Ted sorry. Was just a comment. I agree that on performance you'd have to rate La Dorada slightly the better. Good luck.

[We're Doomed]

12 hours ago, rdytdy said:

Not sure what your point is there Leggy.  Return To Conquer got 20 points for winning a LR race. 

At the end of their 2yo season La Dorada had a higher final rating which was the point of difference I was making.

Return To Conquer won at 1100m and 1200m. La Dorada won at 1100m, 1200m & 1400m.

Whilst they never met race day in the  G1 Sistema Return To Conquer narrowly beat Landlock by a head. As a comparison La Dorada beat Landlock by three lengths the start prior in the Karaka Millions and beat Landlock by four and a half lengths in the G1 Manawatu Sires Produce. 

 

 

 

 

 

As he said, Leggy wasn't comparing horses, merely commenting that the sweepstake winnings don't count. On balance, I think that La Dorada just wins it thanks to her Group 2 win, and a Group 2 placing, compared to the other horse winning a couple of Group 3s in tiny fields. Although ironically her Group 2 win was restricted to fillies, but that form of restricted entry is permissible.

[Baz (NZ)]

CHAMPION STAYER (2101M +)*  = Wolfgang ?
CHAMPION TWO YEAR OLD* = La Dorada ?
CHAMPION THREE YEAR OLD*  = Savaglee ?

A shame Damask Rose won't get a look in as she was one of our better 3yo performers.

[nomates]

25 minutes ago, Baz (NZ) said:

CHAMPION STAYER (2101M +)*  = Wolfgang ?
CHAMPION TWO YEAR OLD* = La Dorada ?
CHAMPION THREE YEAR OLD*  = Savaglee ?

A shame Damask Rose won't get a look in as she was one of our better 3yo performers.

I see She along with La Dorada and Return to conquer have all headed straight to Victoria for spring racing , they are going to leave a huge hole in our spring racing .

Seems all that extra cash hasn't helped retain horses in NZ .

[chiknsmack]

21 hours ago, nomates said:

Seems all that extra cash hasn't helped retain horses in NZ.

The type of horse (ie. sprinter) that is suited by the 2yo schedule isn't suited by the 3yo one, which is all about Guineas/KM 3yo/Kiwi, Guineas/Filly of the Year Series/Oaks, or Guineas/WFA/Derby. It's the same reason Bellatrix Star went straight to Melbourne at 3; she wasn't going to get 1600m so the better opportunities were over there.

If we want continuity of our best 2yos also being our benchmark 3yos we either need to tweak the 2yo schedule (Ellerslie Sires' back to 1400m, Manawatu Sires' to 1600m) to favour horses who are also suited by the 3yo schedule, or tweak the 3yo schedule to add more 3yo sprints.

There's also the upside of out best horses going to Oz; if they perform well over there they frank the form of our races. If Return to Conquer wins the Coolmore it makes those 2yo races he won here look like proper group races and not "soft NZ form" as they're widely perceived.

It could also be interpreted as a positive that all the extra cash isn't keeping these topliners here; it could mean the cash is being spread more widely rather than only going into the pockets of those at the top. If the money's not keeping top 2yos here, perhaps it is instead encouraging people to keep racing R65s and keep buying/breeding in the hopes of finding something better than that level (with the expectation that if you miss and end up with a horse who is only average it can tick along and pay for itself). That's a better outcome than it all going to Te Akau or Aussie raiders.

Throw in uncertainty around the Spring Triple Crown and the fact that Te Akau have an Aussie stable and so, for the good of their business, want to be winning things in Melbourne in the spring, and it just makes too much sense - regardless of dollars - to send all three of those you named straight to Melbourne.