TCR Awards

The results for the first annual Thoroughbred Championship Ranking Awards are in! The results have been checked and doubled checked. There were some surprises and some obvious choices but enough with the commentary lets get to the actual results.

Horse Of The Year: Invasor
Invasor was second ranked overall in this category in the point standings but rode strong voting support to victory over Lava Man. There was a faction of support for Lava Man based on his stellar campaign and consequent top point ranking. But the Breeders Cup was the true decider for this award.

Older Horse : Invasor
Very much the same story as above but the margin between Invasor and Lava Man was much closer because Bernardini was not in there to siphon off support.

Older Mare: Fleet Indian
She was the top ranked horse on points and was the runaway votes leader. Distaff winner Round Pond had the distinction of getting the most votes relative to her placing. She was just the 5th ranked filly in the point standings but strong support for her beneath Fleet Indian moved her all the way up to 2nd overall.

Turf Horse: The Tin Man
Maybe a surprising selection in this very tight division but he got enough support to just overturn points leader Aragorn. Either selection would have been fitting champions but The Tin Man was undefeated in North America in 2006 and was also the only candidate to distinguish himself internationally.

Turf Mare: Wait A While
Again a top ranked horse who also got the most voting support. It really wasnt close at all in the end. Gorella did move into second above Honey Ryder but Wait A While won all on her own.

Sprinter: Thor's Echo
A fairly obvious choice in what was a weak year for Sprinters. I was happy to see that Behaving Badly was not disregarded by the voters and she retained her rightful place.

3yo Colt: Bernardini
Bernardini led both the point standings and the voting. Although Barbaro was a strong second it was clear that Bernardini was the deserving champion of 2006.

3yo Filly: Wait A While
The Pletcher filly grabs her second award in a somewhat surprising vote. I had figured that the ill fated Pine Island would garner more support. She did manage to outpoll and consequently outrank Bushfire but the final result between the best turf filly and the best dirt filly really was not that close.

2yo Colt: Circular Quay
This is easily the most shocking result. Circular Quay was the top ranked horse in the point standings but only by a narrow margin over Street Sense. Street Sense did slightly hold the voting edge but it wasnt enough to breach the gap between them. In the end the gap was just 0.33. Poeple obviously had as hard a time seperating the contenders of this division as the point rankings indicated they might. As well as the close finish for 1st overall there was a tight finish for 3rd overall as Scat Daddy and Great Hunter were seperated by just 0.16

2yo Filly: Dreaming of Anna
The 2yo Colts were easily the closest division and the 2yo fillies were the most straighforward. Dreaming of Anna was the only unanimous selection and I think rightly so. She was the most dominant horse in any division and really there was no alternative to her.

Here are the final results. These scores are made up of 50% of the TCR total and 50% of the voting total.

Horse of the Year
Invasor - 886.80
Lava Man - 803.56
Bernardini - 713.06
Aragorn - 469.34
The Tin Man - 440.09

Older Horse
Invasor – 799.88
Lava Man – 769.47
Premium Tap – 465.02
Thor’s Echo – 444.81
Siren Lure – 277.14

Older Mare
Fleet Indian – 508.00
Round Pond - 364.24
Take D’Tour – 326.28
Behaving Badly – 293.68
Healthy Addiction – 260.36

Turf Horse
The Tin Man – 591.23
Aragorn – 588.61
English Channel – 532.90
Miesque’s Approval – 471.53
Showing Up – 416.99

Turf Mare
Wait A While – 409.08
Gorella – 311.65
Honey Ryder – 307.23
Film Maker – 234.35
Foxysox – 155.20

Sprinter
Thor’s Echo – 513.84
Siren Lure – 385.11
Behaving Badly – 316.11
Silver Train – 260.31
Nightmare Affair – 238.22

3yo Colt
Bernardini – 701.29
Barbaro – 515.95
Showing Up – 432.10
Discreet Cat – 418.10
Bluegrass Cat – 306.73

3yo Filly
Wait A While – 398.41
Pine Island – 318.62
Bushfire – 278.24
Foxysox – 173.36
Balance - 172.53

2yo Colt
Circular Quay – 259.74
Street Sense – 259.41
Scat Daddy – 177.59
Great Hunter – 177.43
Stormello – 157.49

2yo Filly
Dreaming of Anna – 219.79
Octave – 136.29
Point Ashley – 109.62
Romance Is Diane – 88.61
Sutra – 66.28

I am quite pleased with the results, some may be controversial but I think all the champions crowned were worthy of the accolade. Each one had the best combination of on track accomplishments and voter support. Of the 10 awards 7 winners were the top ranked TCR horses. The 3 champions who werent were the 2nd ranked horses so I feel that the points standings have been well aquitted in terms of actual relevance. 9 of the 10 top voters choices were crowned champion. In most cases the top ranked TCR horse was the top vote getter I do wish we had recieved more voters but hopefully this will only grow in popularity for next year.

If you would like to see the breakdown of the TCR points and the votes you may visit this link.

Thank you to all who supported this project. It would have been impossible without you!