Opinion: Girl Power

 After Rags to Riches’ victory over Curlin in the 2007 Belmont Stakes, a wise man, who had met the great Ruffian, told me that I needed to watch the mares because “In the next couple years you are going to see something that horseracing hasn’t seen before.” He was right. The following year I watched Zenyatta win the Breeder’s Cup Ladies Classic and never looked back. The last three Horses of the Year have been mares, something that racing has never seen before. Zenyatta, Rachel Alexandra, and Havre de Grace have taken the last several years by storm, dominating their divisions and winning against males. I am a believer in girl power and the fact that the mares have been making more of an impression than the males says something. Now, that doesn’t mean that the males are weak, the up and coming derby contenders just haven’t had a chance to prove themselves quite yet. Yes, Hanson, Union Rags, Alpha and several others look promising, but the last couple years, the derby favorites just haven’t been able to hit the mark. The females of racing have outshone the males because the boys have been inconsistent in their victories.

It doesn’t help that some of the males in the spotlight have been plagued by injuries, such as Algorithms, now off the derby trail due to a fractured splint bone, and Animal Kingdom, no longer headed to Dubai because of a stress fracture, his second career altering injury. Fed Biz, a Baffert hopeful, is also off the derby trail due to an unknown ailment in his hind end. Last year it was Uncle Mo and Tapizar, years prior also show many hopefuls that never make it to the Derby because of soundness issues.

The tendency of the younger males to be unsound really makes it difficult for horse fans to rely on such an inconsistent bunch. But the mares in the spotlight have shown themselves to be sound and more consistent than their mare counterparts. Is is genetics? Maybe. Even if Animal Kingdom returns to racing, eventually he will be retired to stud. He has had two soundness issue, namely stress fractures, that have taken him out of racing for an extended amount of time. There is no doubt that he is a good horse, but as a stud he may or may not produce sound offspring. Although that seems to be a common problem these days.

As for me, I will continue to watch all both the males and females with great interest, but if it ever come down to male versus female, the female always has my support. Royal Delta, another filly, is headed to Dubai to take on the males in an attempt to become the first female racehorse to win the $10 million Dubai World Cup. Such a victory could bring us another female Horse of the Year. Of course, there are several good males in the Dubai field, and several good horses back here in the USA, but unless the three year olds can bring it, or Game on Dude wins the Dubai World Cup over Royal Delta, it is possible that the mares will once again dominate this racing season. 

For more information check out these article from Blood Horse:

Havre de Grace

Royal Delta

Photo by Malthea Kelley from Blood Horse