GRAND PRAIRIE, Texas - With the Breeders’ Cup Classic in our rear view mirror, the race for Horse of the Year honors is boiled down to two – Ghostzapper and Smarty Jones – in a confrontation between generations that could come down to a tussle between sentiment and grudges.

In almost any other year, Ghostzapper would have sewn up the accolade that traditionally goes to the best older dirt horse in America. But this isn’t any other year, and the Bobby Frankel-trained colt must deal with the afterglow of the feel-good story for the ages acted out earlier this year by Smarty Jones.

In capturing the Classic, Ghostzapper punctured the arguments that could be made for his active rivals for the Eclipse Award for best older male and Horse of the Year. That’s because nearly all of them were in the field he handily defeated Saturday in the fastest Breeders’ Cup Classic in 21 runnings.

If he doesn’t race again, Ghostzapper will end the year with a perfect 4-for-4 record in four graded stakes ranging in distance from 7 furlongs to 1 ¼ miles.

That sort of versatility is rarely seen, and Frankel made it clear Saturday he thinks his horse has done enough.

“It’s a no-brainer,” the trainer said in response to a question about the awards. “(He’s) handicap horse of the year, Horse of the Year.”

But because Ghostzapper didn’t get a chance to conquer Smarty Jones on the racetrack, his connections have to hope that his relatively brief campaign this summer and fall is enough to break the spell that Smarty Jones cast over racing fans and non-racing fans alike in the spring.

For those with short-term memory loss, a quick review of his rival’s accomplishments is in order:

After beginning his career in the obscurity of Philadelphia Park, the son of Elusive Quality burst into the national consciousness by winning his first eight races this year, including the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, and carrying his “just plain folks” connections to undreamed-of heights.

By the time Smarty Jones lost to Birdstone in the Belmont Stakes, he had compiled a record $7,613,155 in earnings and become the first undefeated horse since Seattle Slew to win the Run for the Roses and the Preakness.

Then came the announcement of his retirement Aug. 2 due to what was described as a series of microscopic cracks in his ankles. Because the malady was described as relatively minor, the decision by owners Roy and Pat Chapman led some to suspect that the decision had more to do with the astronomical profits to be made by breeding him than the severity of his injury.

Though the Chapmans say that subsequent tests have shown the problem was more serious than the initial diagnosis indicated, some fans – including some with Eclipse votes – are still nursing bad feelings.

Bill Finley, a long time turf writer who has covered racing for the New York Times, among other publications, told USA Today recently he is considering voting against Smarty Jones because of his untimely retirement.

“Personally I'm very disappointed they retired him and retired him under a scenario where it appeared they could easily have brought him back next year, if not sooner,” Finley said, according to the newspaper. “Maybe it's not up to the voters to punish people, but the sport needs superstars, and these people didn't keep their promise to keep him around. I may keep that in mind, and I may just punish them for that."

It’s impossible to gauge how many voters in the three blocs that cast ballots -- the National Turf Writers Association, racing officials and employees of the Daily Racing Form – share Finley’s view, or how many are still influenced by the fact that Smarty Jones was the biggest racing story to come along in decades.

There’s also another imponderable that could come into the play: The always outspoken and occasionally volcanic Frankel has a fair share of detractors, despite his Hall of Fame accomplishments. That could cost his horse a few votes.

As a member of the NTWA, I do have a small voice in the outcome, and I think the way I intend to cast my ballot is how the overall vote will turn out:

• Smarty Jones will win the Eclipse for top 3-year-old (he is a virtual shoo-in after Birdstone’s defeat in Saturday’s Classic).
• Ghostzapper will win the awards for best older horse and Horse of the Year.

My vote has nothing to do with grudges. It is based on the tradition that the best older dirt horse deserves the Horse of the Year award unless all candidates are deficient. In my mind it is hard to make that argument in Ghostzapper’s case.

But one of the beauties of horse racing is that you get proven wrong regularly (and keep coming back for more). We’ll find out in January, when the 2004 Eclipse Awards are announced, if the rest of the voters see it that way.

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