Byrnes: Popularity defined Horse of the Year 2018 vote

I'm a bit late to the party, but wanted to get some thoughts on paper about the Horse of the Year announcement. First off, this merits no disrespect to Justify and the accomplishments he made in 2018. To go from un-raced maiden in February to Triple Crown winner in June is a historic accomplishment of which we may never see again.

Justify proved a lot of the doubters wrong in the 112 days he spent on the track. That amount of time, however, should not be enough to merit the sport's most prestigious year-end honor.

Rather, the title should be given to a horse that raced throughout 2018 -- who showed up at all his or her division's made events. Days after the Horse of the Year announcement, I still feel like Eclipse Awards voters got it wrong.

Justify's crowning proved the second half of the racing season -- think about all of the major races run, with most of the lead up to the Breeders' Cup and the championship weekend itself declared a wash. The Horse of the Year vote feels like a popularity contest, and it's a troubling sign in racing that needs to be addressed. 

The rightful Horse of the Year, in my opinion, is Accelerate, a horse who won five Grade 1 races in 2018. Four of them came at the "classic" mile and a quarter distance, with the son of Lookin At Lucky the first to win each of the Big Cap, Gold Cup at Santa Anita, Pacific Classic and Awesome Again in the same season before a Breeders' Cup Classic.

It takes a truly special horse running at a consistently high level to pull off that feat.

Then, about the Breeders' Cup: He won it from the 14 post, defeating both the best of the 3-year-old crop still in training and older horses. Of course, Justify never faced elders, leaving it an unknown as to how he would have stacked up.

Justify may have been the Triple Crown winer -- only the 13th in racing history -- but comparing him to American Pharoah and that 2015 campaign doesn't hold water. American Pharoah continued racing and beat older in the Breeders' Cup. He was, unquestionably, the Horse of the Year.

As for Accelerate: Each of his wins earned Beyer Speed Figures of 100 or higher. He ran fast races, won by open lengths, and dominated in all of his wins. His only loss in 2018 was to the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile winner and recent Pegasus World Cup winner City of Light in the Grade 2 Oaklawn Handicap. He defeated Grade 1 winners both foreign and domestic. He ran sound and injury-free. 

Whether bestowed Horse of the Year, Justify was already going to live on in racing lore given how he accomplished the Triple Crown. That doesn't mean he merited the championship nod over Accelerate, and definitely not by the margin announced Thursday, with Accelerate receiving just 54 of 249 first-place votes.

Horse of the Year title is not a popularity contest. It is an accolade meant to go to the best horse in a given season. How does that not define Accelerate?