First and Last Word on Horse of the Year

It was suggested to me over the weekend that the Indianapolis Colts' 0-10 record proves beyond a doubt that Peyton Manning is the MVP in the NFL; and that he should be given the award despite not playing a game!

By similar logic, I hereby propose that Zenyatta be Horse of the Year. After all, a year after her final race (which she lost), she was still a (if not the) main part of Breeders' Cup weekend discussion. [UPDATE: Some statistical evidence c/o Pull the Pocket and o_crunk.) And without her, the total Breeders' Cup handle dropped by 5% (despite there being an extra race). The centerpiece Classic was almost completely lacking in drama; the horse who was supposed to be its biggest star ended up going off as the 4th choice and finished up the track straight into retirement. And boy, was that ever reflected in the ratings, which were down quite precipitously from those for the epic Blame/Zenyatta showdown last year. We didn't need Matt Hegarty to note:

All together, the declines underscored the impact that Zenyatta had on last year’s event, when handle and television ratings soared to records despite negative trends buffeting the racing industry. [DRF]

So, there's my take, and that's just about all I have to say on the matter, which has already been discussed to death with still months to go. As I've stated here each year, awards ceremonies don't really interest me, be it horses, music, movies, or whatever. And especially so this year, when selecting Horse of the Year is akin to (at the risk of being extremely obvious, but here goes) picking out the GOP presidential candidate. There really is no legitimate Horse of the Year. I saw someone mention Acclamation, and I had to look it up on Google to remind me who he is. If you're going to give it to he or....(Googling again...)...oh yeah, Cape Blanco - American grass horses who beat other American grass horses, a group universally derided as being suck-y during Breeders' Cup week - you might as well just give it to me or Herman Cain. Though I guess neither of us need anything more twirling around in our heads.

- Saw ending tax breaks for...the horse-racing industry mentioned in an article about the deficit "super committee" which is racing quickly towards a stalemate and the automatic spending cuts that that would supposed to trigger. So I guess that those breaks - in the form of accelerated depreciation rules - are back on the table. They're only valued at around $125 million, of the $1.2 trillion in reductions the committee is supposed to come up with, and probably won't be able to due mostly (if not totally) to the Republicans' intransigence on tax increases. And when they try to blame Obama, keep in mind that, over the summer, the president attempted to negotiate a $4 trillion "grand bargain" with the Speaker of the House, ultimately scuttled by the House Republicans, that would have made both sides miserable, the truest sign of a fair compromise. But what do the Republicans know about 'fair?'