A Year to Remember

2009 will be a year that will be talked about for years to come. From the early Derby and Oaks favorites Old Fashioned and Stardom Bound, to the eventual Horse of Year candiates Rachel Alexandra and Zenyatta, and don't forget Mine That Bird, Summer Bird and Gio Ponti. And that's only in America! In Europe Yeats won his fourth Ascot Gold Cup, while Sea the Stars became one of the best horses to ever run there with the history making season he had. Bambera and Vivian Record beat the boys one race after another in Latin America. 2009 will be a year to remember and one that I certinally will never forget. The following is my favorite moments (not in order) from this year.

Yeats wins his 4th Ascot Gold Cup

Yeats has been a horse I've been following for a quite a few years now, and was quite happy that he was able to get this win. He'll be standing for the first time in 2010 at Coolmore.



Rachel Alexandra's KY Oaks

I have a feeling that everyone knew she would win, but to win as much as she did? No way anyone could have predicted that. She is amazing and this was just the halfway through her magical season.



Rachel's Woodward

Everything that could go wrong, went wrong. But she showed why she is one of the favorites to win Horse of the Year.



Zenyatta's Breeders' Cup Classic

Any other year, this would earn her Horse of the Year honors, but this is the Year of the Girl after all. It's a shame that she and Rachel didn't meet up on the track, it would have ended all of the speculation of who was the better horse.


Man of Iron's Breeders' Cup Marathon

Jazil and Rags to Riches little brother does good in his final start for Coolmore, he has since been sold to Dubai owners and will be running at Mayden City when it opens up next month I believe. It was a heart breaker for Cloudy's Knight who came back to win 2 stakes races this month.



Swift Temper's Delaware Handicap

In all honesty, I the first thing that went through my mind after this race as a fluke win. Well she showed me I was wrong with a 2nd place finish in the Personal Ensign and then a win in the Ruffian. Sadly she won't be back to defend her title as she was injured and retired.



And last, but not least my boy Rule breaking his maiden

He may not be WinStar's best chance to win the Derby, but the nephew of Funny Cide hasn't disapointed since he broke his maiden on his third try. I'm not sure what his next start will be, but hopefully he's doing well in Florida.


Please keep in mind this is just a snipet of my favorite moments (I didn't include She Be Wild's BC win or Blind Luck's Starlet win, or Bon Jovi Girl's Susan's Girl win). I hope that 2010 brings more excitement and personally I'm really excited on how this years stars turn out next year.

I'll be back tomorrow with a preview of the first stakes of the new year. :)