Her accomplishments speak for themselves..

To the poster(Reality aka Delusional) who says its east coast biased, that is an absurd comment. While Hollywood Wildcat was a very nice horse and a BC winner, her resume outside of the BC is nowhere near that of Sky Beauty. Hollywood Wildcat accounted for just TWO Grade I wins in her entire career outside of the BC.. Sky Beauty had NINE.. if you think beating the likes of Educated Risk and Dispute is no one, you have an alarmingly short memory. How many Times did Hollywood Wildcat carry 130lbs to win a Grade I?

The east coast bias argument gets weaker and weaker the more it is used, be sparing with it in the future.

But if you are a HW or SB fan, all is not lost. On a different thread, I figured only 9 sure fire HOFers for the ’00s. And I considered Xtra Heat (good call), but I feel Safely Kept should be there before her. I didn’t consider Point Given but pointed out that AP Indy opened the door for lightly raced 3 year olds with near flawless records. Is PG the first male HOFer to race only to 3 and not beat his elders since Majestic Prince?

To the Hollywood Wildcat supporter: both of these horses were a mile better than Silverbulletday, who built her entire record on beating on third tier horses–she never ran against Excellent Meeting or Three Ring after the BC Juvenile Fillies and was ordinary against older horses. She’s the one in the HOF that we should be annoyed about.

The only quibble I have with your comment is when you concluded with “The answer, at least in the minds of a majority of the Hall of Fame voters, is, apparently, yes.”

In truth, we have no idea what the majority of voters thought. There were 10 nominees and we don’t know if either Point Given or Sky Beauty got a vote from the majority of balloters. Since the Hall of Fame steadfastly refuses to publish vote totals, only a few sequestered bean counters know.

It is very possible Point Given could have been a winner with less than a majority of votes, while Sky Beauty could have finished fifth, one vote behind him and been excluded.

Some how the Hall of Fame manages to turn what should be a celebration into a bumbling controversy year after year. The 2010 rules for voting were an improvement, but still below the standard of excellence which the nominees exhibited during their careers. They, and racing fans, deserve better.

The reliance on “Easy Coast bias” feels a little too easy to me here, even given the preponderance of East Coast voices on the nominating committee

All of that said: thanks for stopping by. I’m not sure that it’s necessary to denigrate Sky Beauty’s accomplishments in order to laud Hollywood Wildcat’s, but everyone’s entitled to his opinion, and thanks for sharing yours.

If Sky Beauty is a HoFer, then so is Hollywood Wildcat. The latter crushed the former in the 1993 BC Distaff, while defeating HoFer Paseana in a classic stretch duel. HW actually defeated SB in the 1994 Distaff, as well, though both ran up the track.

SB couldn’t warm up Hollywood Wildcat, but you’ll see no clamoring for a HoF spot for a west coast horse the same way you will a NY darling. All of those GRI wins in NY, where she beat no one, sure look daunting now. But, there are too many of us who actually remember her beating no one, and being incapable of shipping anywhere to defeat a real mare.

If you really want a horse (and a mare to boot) to compare against the agreeably pathetic record of Point Given, then look no further than Xtra Heat. That’s a mare that should be in the HoF and put together a career that should be the envy of all in the upper echelons of racing today. Sadly, she’ll never be considered for her worthy and due honor.