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The choice for Horse of the Year this year is an especially difficult one.

Three-year-old filly Rachel Alexandra was 8-for-8 this year, beating the boys three times including in the Preakness Stakes.

The mare Zenyatta is 14-for-14 lifetime and beat the males in the premier race for older horses, the Breeders' Cup Classic, coming from last to first in an incredible stretch run which saw her go around the whole field, from the rail to the outside, to win by a length and a half.

It would be unusual enough for any filly or mare to win the prestigious award over males, so this year really is an anomaly. Had they run against each other, the choice might have been easier (short of a dead heat), but that did not happen.

There is even talk of going the unprecedented route of naming Co-Horses of the year, although purists balk at that.

Personally, I think they both deserve it, but I am going to express a prejudice for age here and go with the mare, Zenyatta, five years old. It is so rare to have an undefeated horse at this level, and who knows if she will race next year. Rachel will have at least another year or two to compete and win it then.

This writer disagrees with me:

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Despite missing perfection by a nose this year, she finally gets her due.

Zenyatta wins Horse of Year

By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer Jan 18, 3:33 am EST

MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP)�Zenyatta went out a winner after all.

It seemed only fitting.

The remarkable mare whose charisma earned the public�s affection, and whose perfect career was ended in her final race, was voted Horse of the Year on Monday night over the only opponent ever to defeat her on the track.

Zenyatta received 128 votes from the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, Daily Racing Form and National Turf Writers and Broadcasters. Breeder�s Cup Classic champion Blame, the only one to beat Zenyatta to the wire, received 102 votes, and Goldikova finished with five.

�This makes it all OK after getting beat last time,� said Mike Smith, Zenyatta�s jockey.

Purchased for just $60,000 by Jerry and Ann Moss as a yearling in 2005, Zenyatta went on to have one of the most memorable careers in horse racing. She won 13 Grade I stakes, including five last year, and totaled than $7 million in earnings.

She was 19-0 and already had become the first female to win the Breeders� Cup Classic when she attempted to defend her title against the boys at Churchill Downs last November. On the unfamiliar surface, Zenyatta made her patented late charge from the back of the pack, chewing up dirt down the front stretch only to come up a nose short of Blame�and of perfection.

Jerry Moss, a record executive who named the horse after the album �Zenyatta Mondatta� by The Police, was worried the final blemish on Zenyatta�s career might cost her Horse of the Year.

�A little bit, because we lost the big one,� Moss said. �I guess it�s our turn in a way.�

Zenyatta was runner-up for Horse of the Year in 2008 and 2009.

�We always hoped,� Ann Moss said. �We hoped last year, and the year before that. We�re just so happy. She�s such a gift.�

Zenyatta�s three-year body of work and charismatic personality appear to have swayed voters her way. The massive mare has been racing�s leading lady and boosted its popularity, while Blame wasn�t widely known outside of the sport.

When video highlights of the three finalists were shown before the award was announced, the ballroom crowd reserved its applause for Zenyatta. And after the Mosses accepted the trophy, the crowd gave Team Zenyatta a standing ovation.

�We�re such a niche sport,� Jerry Moss said. �The fact she transcended all that and people were interested in seeing her�she was a crossover hit.�

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