The race for Horse of the Year may not be as competitive as you might think.

I polled as many Horse of the Year voters as I could track down and the results overwhelming favored Ghostzapper. Fifty-two voters replied to an e-mail message, with 36 of them saying they would vote for Ghostzapper. Smarty Jones received only 16 votes. No other horse, of course, received a vote.

Though the poll is not definitive, it's pretty close. There were 248 votes cast in the Eclipse Awards last year, meaning the poll consists of 21 percent of the voters. With such an overwhelming majority in the poll favoring Ghostzapper, there's little doubt that not only will he win the Horse of the Year vote he will do so in a landslide.

From among those who shared their opinion on the race, few Ghostzapper voters were intent on punishing the Smarty Jones camp for what may have been his premature retirement to cash in on the millions offered in the breeding shed. Rather, most simply saw Ghostzapper as a brilliant horse who deserves racing's top honor.

"Ghostzapper won all four races in 2004, including the BC Classic while earning Beyer Speed Figures in the range of Secretariat," wrote noted handicapping author Steve Davidowitz.

"I'm voting for Ghostzapper," wrote Rich Eng, who write for the Daily Racing Form and the Las Vegas Review Journal. "I'm excited that he's coming back in 2005 and if he run similar numbers, he will run the table again next year. That would establish him as one of the greatest racehorses of all time. Ghostzapper would have crushed Smarty Jones if they'd met this fall. If Horse of the Year was strictly popularity, Smarty Jones should win. The fall races proved the 3-year-old crop that Smarty Jones beat wasn't much. Ghostzapper beat much better horses, albeit only four times."

Said the Los Angeles Daily News' Kevin Modesti: "My instinct is that although this will be remembered as the Year of Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper should be remembered as the Horse of the Year. I say that while hoping I'm not unduly influenced by my revulsion at the Smarty Jones retirement decision or by the Breeders' Cup's freshness in my memory. Not to put too fine a point on things, but I just got through comparing the horses' seasons in 10 categories. Ghostzapper had the edge in seven (earnings without including bonuses, Grade I wins, total graded stakes wins, variety of winning distances, average winning margins, Beyer figures, and -- slam dunk -- wins vs. older horses). Smarty was better in only one (earnings including his bonus). I called it a wash in two (won-lost record and versatility of style, the latter because although Ghostzapper has demonstrated big off-the-pace ability, he did that last year and not this year).

"Interestingly, I think, Hollywood Park morning-line maker Russ Hudak said he thinks Smarty would be a slight favorite (if only because of his popularity) if the two horses could race right now. And Hollywood Park racing secretary Martin Panza said he would weight them Ghostzapper 126, Smarty 124 -- Smarty a pound over scale -- and actually would expect Smarty to win the theoretical race."

Among those who said they are voting for Smarty Jones, most cited his brilliance and the impact he had on the American public while nearly capturing the Triple Crown.

"I am extremely disappointed that Smarty Jones will not run at 4," wrote Tom Pedulla of USA Today. "I think his early retirement highlights many of racing's most serious problems, including tracks that are akin to paved highways and owners who are less than sporting. I will not hold that against the horse, however. He did everything right on the road to Kentucky. His Derby and Preakness performances were brilliant. He ran valiantly and narrowly missed in a Belmont Stakes in which everything went against him. As for Ghostzapper, four races is not my idea of a significant body of work."

"Only 1.8 tuned in to see the Classic while the TV rating was over 13 for the Belmont," points out the New York Daily News' Jerry Bossert.

"I think there is little question that (Smarty Jones) was America's horse," writes freelancer Steve Schuelein. "I fear that voters in December remember the more current events of October more clearly than those of May and June. I also hope that voters upset with owners they claim retired the horse too early do not punish the horse. Smarty Jones was dominating in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness and took an unbeaten record into the Belmont, which he barely lost. Charismatic had a less accomplished year but won the Derby and Preakness and was named Horse of the Year. Ghostzapper ran four great races and I think would have beaten Smarty Jones had they met in the Classic. But Horse of the Year transcends mere statistics. Smarty Jones captured the imagination of the public like no other horse this year, or for that matter many years. He should wear the crown."

Apparently, he will not. Smarty Jones will have to settle for the 3-year-old championship and victories in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness. He had a very good year. Ghostzapper had a better year. The voters have spoken.