Equus Awards 2016

Horse of the YEAR - LEGAL EAGLE

so Abashiri WON nothing WOW.

See if not part of the Manne in this game u will be excluded from everything

Sylvester wrote: so Abashiri WON nothing WOW.

See if not part of the Manne in this game u will be excluded from everything

He did get an achievment award

Sylvester wrote: so Abashiri WON nothing WOW.

See if not part of the Manne in this game u will be excluded from everything

100%

ABA 2 Gr1
Marinaresco 1 weak one

ABA MR 117
Marinaresco MR110

This was never a contest and Azzie and van Vuuren being punished

Over the Air wrote:

Sylvester wrote: so Abashiri WON nothing WOW.

See if not part of the Manne in this game u will be excluded from everything

100%

ABA 2 Gr1
Marinaresco 1 weak one

ABA MR 117
Marinaresco MR110

This was never a contest and Azzie and van Vuuren being punished

aba 2 gr1 against jhb 3yr olds
mara 1 gr1 in open company and 2nd in july also open company 2 legs of cape tri crown.
are u saying jhb 3yr olds better than rest of country horses of any age?
to me triple crown carries no weight as its only jhb 3yr olds.
i don't see how the panel could make any other choice

Winzip , Abashiri on merit (injured) beat Marinaresco in the July

Over the Air wrote:

Sylvester wrote: so Abashiri WON nothing WOW.

See if not part of the Manne in this game u will be excluded from everything

100%

ABA 2 Gr1
Marinaresco 1 weak one

ABA MR 117
Marinaresco MR110

This was never a contest and Azzie and van Vuuren being punished

The only conclusion you can draw is that the "esteemed" panel have complete contempt for the Merit Ratings applied by the NHA.
....................or maybe they read the emotional opinions on ABC.....lol

That is a great panel!

Carry On Alice, yet again denied as per her case when she was a 2 year old. Hope she stays in training.

Marineresco is a top horse but has much to do to live up to the hype. Running second in the July is an achievement but probably the last race on which to judge him the top 3 yo. Likewise winning a G1 in style usually would go a long way to proving the hype but the race literally had none of the countries top horses in it . Hence the relatively low MR

It's my Turn has as much claim to being the top horse having beaten most contenders in the G1 Cape Derby, including Marineresco, and being a smidge unlucky not getting up in time in the Daily news. Running behind Marineresco in the July only makes it 1 all .

Abashiri was probably over MR 'd. but deservedly is higher than his contenders and even with his issues in the July ran a more than creditable race, and a better performance at those weights than the other 3yos.

Racing is all about opinion but the case for giving the award to Marineresco is very thin.In a case like that you would have thought the achievement of winning the triple crown, being the joint highest MR horse in the category , would have made Abashiri a shoo in.

I guess everyone agrees that Abashiri is the best 3 yr old of last season and should have won the award, except the panel who decided.
I think the panel had taken the KZN 1800m race into account as it was a gr 1.The fact that it was a weak race is not in dispute,but it was in open company and maybe they used that race to base there decision on.I don't know, maybe someone should ask them.

Even the 2 yr old filly, they gave it to the Tarry horse because she beat the colts in the gr 1 nursery.The Marshall horse also unbeaten won her gr 1 against fillies in KZN.
I can understand the logic in both of the decisions by the panel.

Was definitely a case for COA having twice beaten TTTS in wfa G1 although if you factor in the sex allowance the MR for those has TTTS in front. I think the Scottsville race which was an amazing run but made more impressive by the better oppositions weaker performances won it for him. He was very consistant and deserving of recognition.
No real issues with the choice but personally, if someone took every penny I own and forced me to take a bet on a sprint between the top 5 contenders in the category at level or wfa my money would not be on TTTS.
Would the panellists have their money on their selection? would you?