The voting was tight once again, but for the second consecutive week Somebeachsomewhere sits atop Deweycheatumnhowe on the 2008 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll.
The voting for week 29 of the poll saw 'The Beach' receive 22 first-place votes and 333 points overall, while 'Dewey' attracted 13 first-place votes and 327 votes overall.
Mister Big (257 points), Shadow Play (228) and Art Official (174) rounded out the top five.
Somebeachsomewhere has drawn Post 3 for the $500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Pace (Race 9) Saturday, November 29 at the Meadowlands Racetrack in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Driver Paul MacDonell and the Brent MacGrath-trained Mach Three colt have been installed as the 3-5 morning line favourite. MacGrath stated Monday that his colt is sharp and in good form heading into the event.
Deweycheatumnhowe, trained and driven by co-owner Ray Schnittker, has drawn the eight hole for the $500,000 Breeders Crown Three-Year-Old Colt Trot, carded as Race 6 Saturday at 'the big M.' The duo have been installed as the 6-5 favourite in the early odds, but Schnittker stated Monday that Dewey is not 100 per cent and his status for the rich dash is uncertain.
Week 28 of the Hambo/BC Poll was the first time The Beach sat atop the rankings since Dewey captured the Hambletonian on August 2.
To view the fields and morning lines for the eight Breeders Crown races, click here.
The results for week 29 of the 2008 Hambletonian Society/Breeders Crown Standardbred Poll are listed below.
Rank - Name - Points - Previous
1 - Somebeachsomewhere - 333- 1
2 - Deweycheatumnhowe - 327 - 2
3 - Mister Big - 257 - 3
4 - Shadow Play - 228 - 4
5 - Art Official - 174 - 5
6 - Crazed - 150 - 6
7 - Enough Talk - 88 - 7
8 - Lantern Kronos - 65 - 8
9 - Artistic Fella - 42 - 9
10 - Muscle Hill - 33 - N/A
Also: Tug River Princess (31), My Little Dragon (30), Major In Art, Nebupanezzar (29), Native Bride (21), Badlands Nitro (17), Corleone Kosmos (12), Buck I St Pat, Honorable Daughter (8), Darlins Delight, Explosive Matter (7), Btwnyurheartnmine (5), Arch Madness, Hawaiian Drink, Tidewaterdragonfly, Won The West (4), Chancey Lady, St Lads Popcorn (2), Federal Flex, Lite Me Up, Sheer Desire (1)
Beach has beat Art Official
Beach has beat Art Official 5 times, FIVE times! He wins on the short track, fastest of all time, he wins on the big track, fastest of all time.
Those who feeel this drtamatic need to downplay his achievements, you honestly sound like a hockey fan who says, "Gretzky wasn't that good", there is no credibility in such an argument. Your claims of dodging races, and soft competition, you're grasping for straws, and you are not just arguing with other fans.
Ken Warkentin, just yesterday, proclaimed the Beach, in his humble, but experienced opinion, the greatest Standardbred of all time, period. Pacer or trotter. For God's sake Bob Heyden claimed he was the best racehorse he had seen since Secretariat.
If you want to argue with them, and the countless other horsemen who have publicly said the exact same, feel free, but you are not winning that argument.
It's not the fans or the media that have created the hype, it is the experts, the peolpe with the real credentials, listen to any interview of randy Waples when he's been asked about the Beach, there in end to the admiration that the horsemen themselves show this horse.
When you throw your loose argument out there against the tidal wave, you have no chance, heck thats what happened to the poll voters, they finally couldn't resist the overwhelming evidence any longer. They too were using the Jug crutch, but eventually you just have to be honest, if Beach had decided to go to the Jug, or any other of the borderline premier events mentioned above, the only difference would be . . . . more wins, more money.
He is the best, accept it.
I thought this discussion
I thought this discussion was about the Hambo-societies horse of the year vote and the last time I checked it was Dewey that was sitting in second, not Shadow Play. If the argument was about competition, then maybe we should notice that the 3yr old trotting ranks has been fairly soft this year with the exception of a couple of races by Crazed. These are two great athletes that both deserve credit for their accomplishments. In my opinion the award should go to both of them, because for what they accomplished they both are deserving of the award.
Any doubts about the Beach
Any doubts about the Beach being a true champion in the mold of Ali should have been laid to rest when he bounced back from the Meadowlands Pace defeat to set I believe 2 world records. For a horse to rebound from probably the most brutal trip I've seen a horse of that calibre get and only improve shows he is nothing but a true champion. And as for ducking everyone? Art Official was entered the same day at Lexington but drew the other division, and the Messenger was there for anyone enter against him.
Trust me, as much as everyone would like to have the horse that beats him, I'm sure they breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't have to race against him every time they stepped foot on the track. Any horse can be beat on any given day, but over the course of the year no other horse has brought his "A" game as often. Shadow Play is in his own right one heck of an animal, he just happened to have the misfortune of being born in the same year as the Beach.
In reply to Any doubts about the Beach by Anonymous (not verified)
He should have responded to
He should have responded to his nemisis, Art Offical and he never did, he had that opportunity by going to the cane or the jug and he did not. Art Official was a done pony after the jug - he couldn't handle the half mile from an inside post and he wasn't the same after the jug, so if they had met in Lexington so what, the beach connections knew this. No one is calling them stupid, just afraid!!
In reply to He should have responded to by Anonymous (not verified)
Were you on another planet
Were you on another planet this year, the beach has beaten art official several times before the Meadowlands pace. He has beaten every grand circuit horse that was put in front of him. Foolish arguments when the top horse people in the game(even Americans) say the Beach is superior to any horse they have ever seen!!!!
It seems rather cowerdly to
It seems rather cowerdly to me that people with such strong opinions , withhold there identity . Can it be possible that there are more than 1 good horse in one year , possibly 1 that is good on one surface and not on another ? , does a horse become a failure due to an injury ? ETC.....
Truly im sure that no matter who you intend on cutting down , there watchefull piers would tell you , THE Amount of time and effort they spent campaigning a healthy horse . Congrats to all you people racing in the crown TOO BAD YOU COULD NOT ALL WIN ..!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
VINCE QUEVILLON
In reply to It seems rather cowerdly to by VINCE QUEVILLON (not verified)
Vince by the way this is the
Vince by the way this is the internet, it takes no courage to post here at all. Whether one gives their name.. alias.. or not. You could be Dick Tracy for all anyone knows.
Also, to the person that is claiming Artoffical dodged or is dodgeing Beach this is not factual. Artoffical made himself available up until such time that he ran into soundness problems. The reality is that it was Beach that did the dodging. What is it 5..6 starts life in the U.S. and he should be named USTA harness horse of the year?? Canada for sure, but not the U.S., he didn't do enough south of the border. Shadowplay did far more south of the border and as such is far more deserving of being named USTA horse of the year!!
To all you "Beach" haters
To all you "Beach" haters out there, this horse is the fastest horse of all time period. Anyone who doubts his effort in Canada in the Super Finals need to be reminded that some of the best 3yo fillies on the continent could only muster up a mile in 1:56 on that track that day, and yet the Beach romped in 1:50 and a piece on a track rated off by three seconds. All along the horses connections stated that the Jug was never in the horses schedule... right from the start of the year. And the horse of the year award as far as I know is awarded to the horse of the year, not the horse of the Jug. Lets be honest, the Jug isn't as prestigious as it once was, the Pace and the Cup have become the must have events on all three year old's schedules and the Jug has become an after thought for many trainers these days.
In reply to To all you "Beach" haters by Anonymous (not verified)
By the way I love the
By the way I love the beach... just not in the winter time! lol!
No, honestly I believe he had all the tools necassary to be crowned horse of the year but alas his connections didn't allow him to show us what he might have done! And shame on them for selling Beach out to the highest bidder and not allowing him to race next year. For shame indeed!
In reply to By the way I love the by Anonymous (not verified)
In all honesty did anyone
In all honesty did anyone expect the Beach to be racing next year ?,By over exposing him,you take away some of the awe about him,who can blame them for taking top dollar for him,he is going to a farm that will give him every chance to be a top sire.
As for his connections not showing us what he could have done! They raced him on half mile tracks at 2 & 3 (grand river/flamboro/yonkers),twice in one day(confederation cup)and in poor racing conditions(yonkers & woodbine). Name a top 3yo he has avoided and hasn`t defeated more than once? Ok,he missed a race that everyone holds in great affection,but what would that win have proved? He could race twice in a day - Done it. He could handle a half mile track - Done it. He could beat Shadow Play,Art Official,Santana Blue Chip,etc - Done it. He could be the fastest 3yo on a half mile track - Done it. Somebeachsomewhere ticks all the right boxes !
The fact that this horse is causing so much debate says so much about him.
In reply to In all honesty did anyone by RYAN (not verified)
By the way you can't over
By the way you can't over expose a great horse but you can sure under expose them! If you want to live in a dream world of what you believe a horse might be all well and fine but some of us want to see it proven. Seen too many could have been champions to fall for that fallacy.
In reply to By the way I love the by Anonymous (not verified)
You're all NUTS! He didn't
You're all NUTS! He didn't prove himself?! Yeah, you're right, the fastest race mile in history isn't anything special, right? As for Shadow Play having the harder trip that night, you're off your rocker. Beach was the ONLY horse that won from off the pace that night, every other winner was on the front end or in the pocket.
Art Official had ONE big race.
The horse has 4 world records, FOUR! Let's be honest here, anyone who says they should've raced him at 4 is obviously a complete armchair quarterback, I'm sure you'd all pass on 10 million right? He's an absolute champion, and the connections should congratulate themselves on a perfectly managed season.
In reply to You're all NUTS! He didn't by Anonymous (not verified)
Beach hasn't won the
Beach hasn't won the breeders crown yet and he just may not. I personally thought he looked very soft at the end of that mile everyone was so enamored with. 29.3 home and stopping fast towards the wire. Good job a horse like Shadowplay wasn't behind him heading for the wire. Yeah, I have to wonder if the connections in their vain attempts to show him off against weak opponents might not have softened him for the breeders crown?? I have to wonder about the wisdom in needlessly sending a horse full bore into a cold strong wind like that.. horses have been known to taste a little blood at the end of a mile like that especially a horse that is displaying that they've had enough which beach did. He was stopping big time at the end of that mile!! Only a few days left now to see who's right and who's wrong. I hope for the horses sake I am wrong.
In reply to Beach hasn't won the by Anonymous (not verified)
sure is an awful lot of
sure is an awful lot of anonymous replies.the truth is no respectable horseman would put his name on some comments above
Who cares if he skipped the
Who cares if he skipped the Jug, for the first time in a a LONG time harness racing is getting into the sports pages of papers! People came to see the Beach who maybe would never have tried to watch harness before. How about we all focus on the fact he is helping the sport this year and hopefully introduced some new fans to harness racing.
I can't believe how people
I can't believe how people go on about the Beach yes he is a spectacular horse there is not doubt about it. But how can you be voted horse of the year when you don't participate in the Little Brown Jug. Anyone who is anyone always goes to the jug and as for who has the better horse that would have been the race to enter the horse in. And as for Shawdow Play and the Beach go the Beach never beat the Big Bad Shadow that much and Shadow had the harder part of that trip that is for sure. This weekend is going to be a great races yes but I agree don't cut the cheque just yet there may be a few more things up others sleeves just yet. And no horse should be horse of the year without going to the Little Brown Jug!!!!!
In reply to I can't believe how people by Anonymous (not verified)
even though he did not race
even though he did not race in the jug . dose not mean he is not one of the greatest pacers . one race dose not make a horse !
In reply to even though he did not race by Hughie jnr (not verified)
Didn't race in the jug,
Didn't race in the jug, didn't race in the cane, didn't race in the windy city, didn't race in the american national, didn't race...
In reply to Didn't race in the jug, by Anonymous (not verified)
Didn't race in the adios,
Didn't race in the adios, defeated in the meadowlands pace!!!
In reply to I can't believe how people by Anonymous (not verified)
vince said it best very
vince said it best
very brave comments in anonymity .the facts are the big bad shadow raced the beach four times missed the board 3 of those times and was a game second to somebeach in the messenger.while the beach has been beaten only once lifetime .i am certain if you asked ian moore at any level of press or radio he would concede the beach a superior standarbred compared to any past or present.with $1,083,830 from 37 lifetime starts (nothing to scoff at )it is still merely a 3rd of the beach's money in almost double the amount of starts .folks there is no comparison here.the fact is santanna blue chip would be a more likely comparison to shadow play.
In reply to vince said it best very by little ralph (not verified)
The fact is Shadow Play won
The fact is Shadow Play won more big races than Beach end of story. And the fact is Beach avoided Art Offical after Art Offical annihilated him in the Meadowlands Pace. The facts are that Beach has raced five times life south of the border where the grand circuit horse race and he was beaten by Art Offical in the biggest race he raced in south of the border and he didn't even compete in what has long been regarded as the holy grail of harness racing the Little Brown Jug. Those are the facts live with it.
In reply to The fact is Shadow Play won by Anonymous (not verified)
Which 3yo pacer has the
Which 3yo pacer has the highest earnings this season ?
If Art Official annihilated Somebeachsomewhere,why did they record the same time ?
Since the meadowlands pace has Somebeachsomewhere been defeated ?, has Art Official ?
Shadow Play,Santana Blue Chip,Badlands Nitro,Keystone Horatio & Art Official are all brilliant horses,but when you listen to people like John Campbell,Ron Waples,Jody Jamieson,Steve Elliot talk about Somebeachsomewhere,you just know he is in a class of his own,not one of these other horses is being compared to niatross or cam fella
In reply to Which 3yo pacer has the by RYAN (not verified)
Fact is Beach beat both Art
Fact is Beach beat both Art Offical and Shadow Play when they were not in their best form. Beach did beat Shadow Play in the Messenger but it could have gone either way both horses put in valiant efforts and it was a see saw battle through the stretch. Beach has raced his career in top form as he has barely raced his connections have seen to that. He had a couple of surprise off races but that was about it. The fact is his connections made every effort to see that he went unbeaten this mainly by not racing him. He never raced enough to know just how great he might have been. Not the horse's fault but his connections. A horse like needs to be tested to be called a champion no different than a man. Beach drew inside holes his entire life and this had a lot to do with his doing so well. It's a big difference racing from outside holes. Check out Shadow Play's posts and compare them to Beach's... big difference. Anyone that knows anything about racing horses knows how important post position is. Especially over the long haul! Drawing outside all the time will sour the best of horses drawing inside all the time will brave up the pea-hearted of horses.
Little Brown Jug - September
Little Brown Jug - September 18th
Article where MacGrath said SBSW was going to Messenger, dated September 5 http://www.standardbredcanada.ca/news/the-beach-art-official-to-meet-ag…
I'm almost 100% positive
I'm almost 100% positive that MacGrath went on the record months before the Jug as saying that Beach was going to the Messenger.
In reply to I'm almost 100% positive by Anonymous (not verified)
I am 100% sure that mcgrath
I am 100% sure that mcgrath stated AFTER the jug that "it was always in their plans to race in the messenger"... AFTER THE JUG!!
BEACH may have been as great or the greatest horse ever but we'll never know as his conections never afforded him the opportunity to prove this! Sad indeed!!
I can't believe so many
I can't believe so many people got so exited about a horse beating a bunch of tired OSS horses by x# of lengths... so what not one grand circuit horse in the field. I've never seen a horse draw more inside posts in my life. That many inside posts would make a pea-hearted horse brave. This horse dodged the best horses all year long. He only went into the messenger after seeing Artoffical couldn't handle a half mile track. How much more obvious does it have to be? And don't be signing the breeders crown check out just yet.. it's not over til it's over!!
In reply to I can't believe so many by Anonymous (not verified)
He beat everybody and
He beat everybody and anybody. He beat every three year old on the planet by open lengnths including art official. Art official went one big race and has been ducking the beach since!
In reply to He beat everybody and by Anonymous (not verified)
It's possible beach would
It's possible beach would have been a true champion but alas he wasn't afforded the opportunity to prove it. Sad that his connections didn't allow him to display whether he had what it took to overcome adversity. Had he raced in the jug and other major events he might well have taken his place on the mantle but alas he did not. Champions don't use excuses and don't duck their major competitors. Mahumad Ali was a champion, a true champion, he faced all comers, he didn't duck anyone, indeed he suffered defeat, but it was through those defeats he showed what a champion does, he rose above defeat.
Albatross, suffered defeat in the jug but it didn't alter or diminish the fact that he was a true champion, he took on all comers and came to the big dances. Beach has left nothing but a legacy of maybe's and might have beens. Sad indeed!! His connections, like his followers should have realized that there is no shame in losing the odd race along the way. The shame is in not participation.