From an Olympic gold medalist to the winning team at a Saturday soccer tournament, every winner deserves recognition. But lately it seems we would rather analyze why a team lost instead of focusing on the winner.

Recently, business took me to Louisville, Ky., for the North American International Livestock Exhibition, a place where winners are awarded and pictured and the losers are not. The winners are congratulated, but the loser goes home with little to nothing. The winners are announced, but the losers are not. And this is how it should be.

While this age-old livestock event was taking place, across the highway was the marquis horse racing event: The Breeder’s Cup, the final Thoroughbred race of the year. Taking the track at Churchill Downs were the likes of Lookin’ at Lucky, Fly Down, Blame and, of course, the favored mare and last year’s undefeated winner, Zenyatta.

She was the one to beat, with more media hype than when Bush defeated Gore in 2000 – well maybe not that much, but you get the picture. Zenyatta was one of a kind. In the finish column, since her racing debut in January of 2008 until Nov. 6, 2010, in 17 races she was first and flawless.

In fact, on her stat sheet under “Weaknesses” is stated, “Simply put, there are very few flaws.” In the industry this “massive filly could make her own race, not needing pace help, and finishes with a flourish like few before her.”

Get the picture? She should have won … but on Nov. 6, at Churchill Downs, she lost. She was second, or as my sons like to say, she was the “first loser.”

Up to this point I have written 280 words and unless you are a horse racing fanatic or you pay attention to more than the football highlights on “SportsCenter,” you still have no idea who won the grand finale in Thoroughbred racing for 2010. But you know who’s second.

While stuck in Breeder’s Cup traffic, I was visiting with one of the traffic cops while waiting for the onslaught of high-priced vehicles exiting Churchill Downs. I asked the policeman who won and he just shrugged his shoulders.

The next morning I caught the news in the hotel and they had a piece on the race. But guess what? It wasn’t a piece on the winner, but an entire story on Zenyatta losing. When I logged on to the Breeder’s Cup racing website I had to read 18 words into the lead sentence to learn that Blame won the race. What was the first word?
You guessed it: Zenyatta.

Why? Why would we rather analyze who lost rather than discuss the virtues of the winner? It’s almost like we would rather give the glory to the one who lost than celebrate the one who finished first. Why?
If you’re waiting for my answer, I don’t have one. I’m still trying to figure it out.

I do know this: Competition is good and it serves to make us better. We were all created equal, but certainly not all the same. There will be days when we win and days when we lose, and I hope on those days when we win we are congratulated, rewarded and celebrated.

And those days when we lose, an encouraging word is needed, not a reward for mediocrity.

The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of Farm World. Readers with questions or comments for Melissa Hart may write to her in care of this publication.