I thought the Black Tie Affair BC Classic was a giant let down for many reasons.

I didn't see it, but I bet the Success Express Juvenile wasn't too pretty.

Twilight Agenda was one of the greatest locks in BC history, but knowing Macaroon was riding him, I knew he'd cede the easy lead to BTA and that exacta was almost a certainty.

Even though I did okay on that race, it pissed me off, as TA was a much better horse.

Success Express looked pretty decent winning that race actually.

These are the first three, in order, that I thought of. Kona Gold's track record at Churchill was the best I saw in person.

I still think if Honest Lady gets a better trip she wins that race.

the 20.80 opening quarter wasn't quite fast enough to setup her close.

you can add Serena's Song and Mariah's Storm.

Wild Again ran 6 lengths slower than Princess Rooney - and I guess if Personal Ensign's Distaff win is the best distaff performance ever - that means a washed up Winning Colors and a washed up Goodbye Halo ran better races than Inside Information, Princess Rooney, or Lady's Secret.

I would have thought a professional such as yourself would know to take the 1st quarter time in 6 furlong races at CD with a grain of salt...and that same pace set up favored a stalker such as KG much more than Honest Lady who was fanned to the outside fence. You know that 10 wide move works all the time at CD in sprints, she certainly didnt have more than few lengths of trouble and lost by...

Even though CD opening quarters come back much faster at 6fs because of the run-up - that pace set by Caller One was still wicked - and I refuse to believe that you believe KG did not run a better race than Honest Lady.

Mariah's Storm? Wasn't she a multiple Grade 3 winner?

Or are we suddenly including beaten uteruses as part of the selection criteria?

I guess we have to look at Tasso's Juvenile in a whole new light when you considered he edged out Storm Cat's testicles at the wire...

And Goodbye Halo was washed up? Maybe by the end of '89, but not '88. If it weren't for Bayakoa in her prime, she arguably would have racked up 3 or 4 more Grade 1 wins in '89 aside from the two she won outright.

By the way - this post here is nothing more than a product of NBC's horrible coverage of the 2000 Breeders Cup - which featured some insane camera angles.

I have the actual simulcast feed video of all the 2000 BC races - a teller/better friend who worked at a local OTB would tape them for me.

I remembered Kona Gold being wider than Honest Lady - and in fact she clearly was.

Thoro-Graph only had Kona Gold 1 path wider than HL in the '00 Sprint - but it was closer to two paths than even.

The NBC feed of the race is bonkers - and you don't even see HL until inside the 1/8th pole when she was wide and flying.

Kona Gold was under a drive throughout that race and had to work very hard to hold position - he was also up much closer to the pace than Honest Lady was. Maybe Honest Lady had a bit of a tougher trip than 3rd place finisher Bet On Sunshine ... but those two were the two who got the best pace setup and had the nicest trips.

Mariah's Storm ran a 120 Beyer figure and destroyed Serena's Song about six weeks prior. She repeatedly ran triple digit figures over and over that year.

I watched the race in person, not on tv. Honest lady was not only wide she was behind horses going nowhere which is why she was fanned so wide coming into the stretch. The pace setter caller One was not beaten very far.

The Turfway Budweiser BC? Where Lukas just couldn't stand to see Serena's Song in stay in the stall for 14 days straight and had to run her there in between wins in the Gazelle and Beldame.

Now that we've established that only speed figures matter, what about the undercard races?

What Beyer did Light Of Morn get when he won the Dancing Spree on the '92 Gulfstream undercard? Or Memo in the Smile on the '93 undercard?

Caller One was an AWESOME sprinter - and was almost joint favorite with Kona Gold.

If you want to argue that Honest Lady had a slightly worse trip than fellow deep closing longshot 3rd place finisher Bet On Sunshine ... ok.

However, that was some performance by Kona Gold and he was clearly much the best.

You are doing your best to try to prove that they don't matter.

And that is a pretty foolish position to take - even for an all-world ankle biter such as yourself.

Mariah's Storm was an outstanding horse that year.

Clearly much the best? On what basis? if the race was 6 furlongs and 15 feet he was beat. There was no bigger Caller One fan than me but you stated how the pace meltdown helped the deep closers yet the pace didnt really meltdown. Kona Gold tripped out in that race and you want to say he had a tougher trip than a horse who broke from post 13, was caught behind dead horses for a quarter mile, was fanned 10 wide coming into the stretch, losing all momentum and held her off by half a length.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5UUpFHDP4I

Where exactly does Kona Golds trip be considered tough?

He was under a ride the whole way up on a hot pace and had to work to not get shuffled.

You are getting real silly with this HL was 10 wide stuff - you are reminding me of the old CD chart caller. Try 2 wide on the turn - and than she fanned out around horses tiring because of the pace.

But the comment that the hot pace favored KG more so than HL and Bet On Sunshine is just bananas.

He had a clear trip behind a fast pace. "he was under a ride not to get shuffled" in now considered a trouble line? The fact that every race in Southern Califoria pre poly was ridden like this and the fact that the vast majority of his races were run under these conditions dont matter? He had clear aim at the quarter pole on a horse setting fast fractions. All the other stuff you are contending is tough is the silly part.

You are putting on a dazzling exhibition of sucker horse race watching 101.

Caller One had run 3 straight 117 Beyers going into the race - got a 106 that day. As a 4yo, he returned to win the Dubai Sprint by 4.5 and than post 3 straight 117's again.

Kona Gold also went backwards on figures in that race despite setting a track record.

But you loved the suck up efforts of the 8 year old Bet on Sunshine and the likewise dream setup Honest Lady.

Shrewd.