A deserving Horse of the Year
After the crowning of Seeking My Dream as 2016 Horse of the Year for the second time in a row, many trainers were of the view that the right choice was made by the voting committee.
Seeking My Dream received 14 of the 17 votes available, with Bigdaddykool getting the other three votes. Horse of the Year votes were cast by 14 members of the media plus three representatives from the promoting company, Caymanas Track Limited.
Seeking My Dream was also voted champion four-year-old and up, champion middle distance performer and champion local bred overall.
Trainer Michael Marlowe said that the Horse of the Year title is a deserving culmination for some good performances by Seeking My Dream.
“His ( Seeking My Dream) body of work all year long has been the best of them all. He won all his races in style; he didn’t get any of them in steward’s room, he earned all of them. I believe that he won the Eros Trophy (1,400 metres) and Legal Light Trophy (1,820 metres) in Stakes record times while carrying top weight of 57.0 kilogrammes, not to mention his breathtaking performance to win the Diamond Mile for the second year on the trot. Seeking My Dream was my original pick from the get-go. When he lost against them, he was carrying the big weight and whenever they sat level with him, we all saw the end result.
“ Bigdaddykool is a nice one. He is a distance horse and as the years will go on and Seeking My Dream starts to fade away, it will be his time. He is that type of horse, that if he remains fit and healthy, he will run for a very long time. Both are two good horses; the two best at present,” Marlowe said.
Trainer Barrington Dawes said that it would have taken a miracle for Seeking My Dream not to be voted as Horse of the Year for the second-consecutive time.
“Yes, he’s well-deserving of the Horse of the Year crown. That horse was only unplaced one time for the entire year and that was in the Gold Cup, which was won by Buzz Nightmare. He was giving weight all round and after that race I said to myself that they won’t beat him going 1,600 metres. He won the Diamond Mile, which everybody wants to win, and he did it twice and so he is deserving of more than just the Horse of the Year title. Bigdaddykool is a long distance horse, he will be hard to beat going two turns,” said Dawes.
Margaret Parchment, the lone female trainer at the Park, said that Seeking My Dream was the highlight of 2016 racing year.
“Without a doubt, it was the right choice to vote Seeking My Dream as the Horse of the Year.It is a well-deserved accolade, as he earned every bit of his glory. He is a very nice and talented colt and we are still going to hear much more about him. He was really the part of racing last season,” Parchment said.