The Cartier Awards, Europe's horse racing championship awards, were given out this weekend.  And as previewed last week by ToTT, everything went according to plan.  Super filly Zarkava was the big winner, bringing both the 3yo filly and Horse of the Year trophies back home.  All other awards, but one, followed the script as well, with Coolmore racing being the other big winner, as their horse Duke of Marmalade and Yeats brought home the gold.

But as we feared, a third trophy was not in the cards, as stablemate Henrythenavigator was beaten by '07 Juvenile Champ New Approach for this year's 3yo title.  Ironically, that was the only time this year that 'Approach beat Henry', as he was 0-2 after suffering defeats in the English and Irish 2000 Guineas.  Its a shame the voters chose to lean so heavily on the later end of the season, where Approach flourished while Henry did not, instead of focusing on the entire year.  Henry's four Gr-I's and head to head record should have been more than enough but unfortunately it was not.

Now, on to 2009.  And with every non-juvenile champion being retired, it will be interesting to see who emerges next year....