Secretariat “Vox Populi” Award Voting is Now Open

Voting is now open for the 2012 Vox Populi award. The Vox Populi award honors the racehorse that generated the most fans during the season. “Vox Populi” is a Latin expression that literally means “voice of the people.” The 2012 Vox Populi nominees are, I’ll Have Another, Paynter, Royal Delta, Frankel, Wise Dan, Shanghai Bobby, and Shackleford.

Secretariat’s owner and horse racing legend Penny Chenery created the Vox Populi award. Penny Chenery stated she created the award so fans would feel a connection to their favorite racehorse.

Penny Chenery stated, “Racing has an established award system in place that is fundamentally based on past performance. But there is nothing that honors the horse that best captures the attention and affection of the public. The fans are the life-blood of our sport and their collective “voice” deserves to be heard and formally recognized. In the past decade alone, extremely popular horses like Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, and Barbaro all captivated the imagination of the public but were ultimately left unrecognized in terms of traditional divisional year-end honors. How can we, as an industry, expect the rest of the world to embrace our sport, when we don’t annually honor our most beloved horses internally?”

The inaugural winner of the Secretariat Vox Populi was the champion racemare Zenyatta, and last year’s recipient was the tenacious Rapid Redux, who retired with 22 consecutive wins. Social media and blog sites are exploding with fan comments since the 2012 Vox Populi nominees were announced. The seven nominees include: Frankel, Europe’s undefeated Cartier Horse of the Year; Shackleford, winner of the Clark Handicap; I’ll Have Another, the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes winner who earned $2.63 million in 2012; Paynter, who has definitely received the most prayers from loyal fans to wish him back to health; Royal Delta, the 2011 champion who captured a second consecutive win in the Breeders’ Cup Ladies’ Classic; Shanghai Bobby, the 2-year-old who finished the year undefeated in five career starts; and Wise Dan, the Horse of the Year contender who broke a Santa Anita course record in winning the Breeders’ Cup Mile and accumulated earnings of $2.62 million in 2012.

The 2012 Vox Populi winner will be selected by the input from Penny Chenery, consensus from the Vox Populi Committee, and the outcome of the public online poll. Public voting in the online poll ends Sunday December 23. The 2012 Vox Populi winner is scheduled to receive the prestigious Vox Populi award on December 29, 2012 at Santa Anita Park.

Lady and The Track would like to congratulate Frankel, I’ll Have Another, Royal Delta, Paynter, Shackleford, Wise Dan, and Shanghai Bobby with their 2012 Vox Populi Award nomination!