Who do you think will win horse of the year?

Based on their success in 2009 only. please give your reason for why the vote should go to Rachel Alexandra or Zenyatta.

In all due respect for the fans of Rachel Alexandra, Zenyatta is, by far, the most deserving. after Zenyatta consistently beat many of the greatest fillies and mares qualified to run against her, she ultimately stepped up to run against the greatest males that were qualified for the 2009 Breeders' Cup Classic. She not only won that race, she performed the greatest comeback a thoroughbred race fan could ever imagine. She will be honorably remembered for all of eternity for that one performance alone. as great as Rachel Alexandra is, it can't be said of her about impacting the hearts of racing fans as profoundly as Zenyatta has unquestionably done.

Either Zenyatta or Rachel Alexandra is deserving of the honor. I wish the proposed change in Eclipse Award voting that would have allowed people who have a vote to split it had been passed. Co-horses of the year would be wonderful, but it's not to be.

If I had a vote, I would very reluctantly cast it for Rachel Alexandra, even though I believe that had they met on the racetrack, Zenyatta would have won.

My reasoning: I think Rachel Alexandra had the riskier campaign of the two. Rachel Alexandra ran against the top males of her crop three times: in the Preakness, the Woodward Stakes and the Haskell Invitational. Zenyatta ran against males just once, in the Breeders Cup Classic. Rachel Alexandra ran at 7 different racetracks in 6 different states. Zenyatta ran in California only. Rachel Alexandra ran on off tracks as well as fast tracks and Zenyatta only ran on fast tracks.

Zenyatta had a more conservative campaign than Rachel Alexandra did. Jess Jackson took risks in sending Rachel Alexandra against males three times and in racing her at so many different tracks. The Mosses were much more conservative about Zenyatta's campaign. No blame to them, if she was mine I'd probably have done the same thing.

…However, I believe that it's necessary to reward the risks that Jackson and Asmussen took in sending Rachel Alexandra on the road and against males three times. you want to encourage owners who take the risk of having their horse beaten by putting them up against top opposition and racing them in locations and under conditions that aren't necessarily favorable to them. so I think Rachel Alexandra should get the horse-of-the-year Eclipse.

If you don't give it to her, what can you say if in years to follow, other owners follow the campaign plan used for Zenyatta and don't send their horse out of state to race, if they don't go for higher risk races, if they keep their horse in the barn when the track isn't fast? you have to reward people who take chances successfully, if you want other people in the future to take chances.

I suspect that Zenyatta would have beaten Rachel Alexandra had they met. And I hope everyone who saw these two fabulous females race last year understands that it will be decades before we see anything like them on the racetrack again. in Rachel Alexandra, we got a chance to see what 1975 might have been like if Ruffian hadn't raced in that stupid match race. And in Zenyatta, we got to see what perfection on four hooves just might be.

I would vote for Zenyatta – a filly winning the Breeder's Cup for the first time ever, plus having the highest winnings, makes it Zenyatta all the way.

I love Rachel Alexandra as well, and had she won the Kentucky Derby as well as her other races she'd have my vote, but she missed the big one. not her fault, but her biggest win wasn't one of the top two races to my mind. might as well give it to Mine that Bird, even though he fizzled out.

I love both of these horses, so I hate to see people fighting over which horse is better and discrediting the other horse's achievements. On websites like NTRA, I've seen a lot of people saying that Rachel deserves Horse of the Year because she won a bunch of races and Zenyatta only won one. of course that's completely ignoring Zenyatta's races against the older females in California. I think it's interesting that Rachel never faced older female racehorses. of course Zenyatta's races weren't as flashy as Rachel's and in a couple of races Zenyatta's beyer figures were very low with a very slow final time for the race. But that doesn't mean that Zenyatta's performances weren't as spectacular as Rachel's. Zenyatta very nearly lost the race at Del Mar, but she was closing into a glacial pace and Mike Smith waited to long to ask her for run… the fact that she got her nose in front at the wire was as spectacular as Rachel's 20 length win in the Oaks.

As for who I'd choose as Horse of the Year… Zenyatta. Admittedly, Rachel faced males more than Zenyatta. But I wouldn't say that the 3 year old colts were spectacular horses this year… and the older male division was even weaker. People say that Zenyatta didn't face any tough horses, but she defeated Life is Sweet 3 times and all Life is Sweet did was come back and win the Breeders Cup Ladies' Classic. She also faced Lethal Heat and Allicansayiswow and both of those are decent horses. I think it's stupid to assume that the male horses that Rachel faced are better than the fillies that Zenyatta faced… in a year when the two best horses are fillies, people ought to recognize that the male divisions aren't always superior. Rachel ran a great race in the Woodward, but Macho Again was flying at her at the finish… and he's certainly not nearly on the same level as Zenyatta… if that was Zenyatta in that race, she would have had Rachel every step of the way.

People say that Zenyatta should have left California this year and faced different horses. I don't understand how that's a discredit to Zenyatta. were there any better fillies running on the East Coast than in California? And why on earth would they want to ship Zenyatta 3000 miles across the country when the biggest race of the year was in her home state. Rachel raced at a bunch of different tracks, and that's great, but does that really make her a better horse than Zenyatta?

In any other year, if a horse won the Preakness, Haskell, and Woodward, skipping the Breeders Cup, that horse wouldn't be in serious contention for Horse of the Year. It's only because Rachel is a filly that we consider those 3 races to be that spectacular. Meanwhile people are saying that Zenyatta doesn't deserve horse of the year because she only won the Breeders Cup Classic.

To me, Zenyatta got snubbed last year when Curlin was awarded Horse of the Year. But the voters gave Curlin the nod for Jess Jackson's sporting move to put Curlin in the Breeders Cup despite the fact that the track would be an extra challenge. One year later, Jess Jackson chose to keep his star horse out of that race for the same reason. to me, the fact that Zenyatta ran in the Classic and won the race makes her Horse of the Year.

Some of the people on the committee wanted to have RA and Z as co-nominees for horse of the year. it was voted down, unfortunately. Tough call.

Who do you think will win horse of the year?

alexandra, due respect, fillies, horses, mares, race fan