For the third year Sunline wins Horse Of The Year beating Ethereal by 6 and a half votes.

Truly deserved!

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Treat your selection and staking methods not with optimism, nor with pessimism, but with realism.

Firstly she's a great mare and horse.

However, given she lost to Northerly twice and that her group 1 victories were fairly weak (even the doncaster where she got a gift weight and beat backmarkers), was it truly deserved or more a case of the heart ruling the head?

Manikato,
Why do you say Sunline was throw into the Doncaster?
She became only the third horse in 100+ years to carry 2.5 over WFA to win it.
Half a kilo more she probably gets beaten and the handicapper is crucified.
Given the closeness of the finish I say the weight was spot on.

What odds a fourth straight title next year?

Weight compared to WFA scale in handicaps is not all that meaningful - read some of Don Scott' books on this.

If the handicapper was fair dinkum she should have got 59kgs minimum.

Explain this,

How could a two-time Cox plate winner only get 2kgs more than a 3yo?
Sunline had 11 group 1 victories prior to the race
Lonhro (who was scratched anyway) had 1.

If the 58kgs was not a joke, then I don't know what is?

It's probably just me but I think the joke is actually awarding a "Horse of the Year" prize in the first place! I am sure Sunline doesn't care that she is horse of the year! The owners of all the leading horses are probably not that worried about it either - they get their rewards (financial and otherwise) from the horses winning the races not from what people think about their horses.

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"Computers can do that????" - Homer Simpson

Sorry Manikato we'll have to agree to disagree.
The 11 Group One wins argument is fine but didn't you say they were against inferior opposition? Also, didn't you say the WFA scale is not reliable when used in handicap racing context? Taking all of that into account on what basis do you weight Sunline or any horse switching between WFA and Hcps?
Given that in a mares handicap a fortnight before the Doncaster Sunline fell in to beat Singo's mare (forgotten her name) with 60kgs, surely 58 in a race many lenghts stronger was not excessive.
I would be interested to know how many of the "she was thrown in" exponents actually backed Sunline. I'm her biggest fan and backed El MIrada because I thought 58 against the best milers was a bit steep.
Wrong again and you may well think my logic is wrong too but if we all agreed there would be a lot of $1.20 favourites running around wouldn't there?
Cheers.

Different opinions are good for ensuring better prices.

It's all history now, but polls taken after the weights were allocated indicated most thought the 58kgs was generous, which I agree with. How a two time Cox Plate winner only gets 58kg is hard to fathom.

Surely you would agree the 56kg given to Lonhro was harsh?

I had Sunline and Hey Pronto as my two picks for the Doni. HP was largely due to Waterhouse influence.

If Northerly was from NSW or Vic would he get the recognition he deserves? I think so.

Quote from another punter:

"Last night just showed how much how much the press know. 62.5 votes for Sunline, 53 for Ethereal and for the one who beat those two EVERYTIME they have met, 42.5.
How did they work it out? A win in the Coolmore is better than a WFA G1 race called the Underwood stakes? A win in the All Age stakes is better than another WFA G1 named the Caulfield Stakes? What about the WFA championship of Australia, the WS Cox Plate, a 2nd is now better than a 1st. And that 1st is not as good as a handicap mile.
Just goes to show you lot that 26% of our press don't know what they are talking about."

Are you from the West Manikato?

No.

Northerly's head-to-head record with Sunline and Ethereal is superior.

Either the media in Melb and Sydney have a dislike for WA horses or they are in love with Sunline? I think it's a combination of the two.