Favorite / Best Crop
 

With all of the talented three year olds running this year it kind of reminds me of 1987. It also got me thinking about which crop or crops of horses could be considered outstanding after their racing careers were over and were into their stud careers.

I'll start off with my favorite which was a crop that what was originally considered a weak crop as I recall. After all the derby winner still qualified for Non-Winners of 2 Other than Maiden Claiming or Starter as he entered the gate on the first Saturday in May.

The 3 Year Olds of 1987.

Alsheba, Bet Twice, Brave Raj, Capote, Cryptoclearance, Gulch, Gone West, High Brite, Java Gold, Lost Code, Miesque, Personal Ensign, Polish Navy, Sacahuista. Plus I'm sure I left some off of the list.

So what is your favorite crop?

I'd have to say the year before that... 1986.

Easy Goer and Sunday Silence... got me interested in racing as a kid.

Mines the same..
My all time favorite filly is Personal Ensign...saw her beat the males in the '88 Whitney.
Gulch was impressive after the Derby that year when he came back to win the Met Mile and won it again the following year.
He's one of the top underrated sires.

The Class of '57.. Have been working on a book about them for ages.

i dont go back that far could you please throw a few names out.

Round Table.. Bold Ruler.. Gallant Man.. Clem.. Barbizon.. Iron Leige.. Federal Hill.. and the best horse you never heard of, and the best of this immortal crop, Gen. Duke.

Born in '54 though, right?

i have herd of a few of those but never Gen. Duke.
what races did he win ?

Gen. Duke was a Calumet colt that exchanged 4 decisions with Bold Ruler leading up to the 1957 Derby including a track record performance in the Florida Derby (9f-1:46.4) that stood for 40+ years.. (Think about that..)

On Friday before the Derby, where he would have been favored, he was scratched with a sore hoof. He continued to have problems the rest of the year not making another start. At 4, he developed a rare case of the wobbles, which almost never strikes adult horses, and had to be put down.

At Calumet Farm, hands agreed he was the best horse they ever bred.. better even than Citation.

i think this years crop is pretty bad..if we had one smarty/alex/ point/ skip..they would win the tc easy this year..

A fascinating crop to choose. Blood-Horse did an excellent article a few years ago. Finish the book! :)

they just dont make them like they used to.

thanks rob for posting that...round table is never given enough credit, an amazing horse--both turf and dirt...and arguably the BEST turf horse ever in america. sound as the day is long too.

that was an incredible foal crop, with round table and bold ruler both born on the same day on the same farm. that year would be hard to top.

Another amazing thing about this horse is he lived for 33 years!

the queen was visiting kentucky, and when she found out round table was still alive, she took a detour to go visit him. now she's knows a good horse!!

Get the "bounce" theorists to hash over Bold Rulers's PP's

His first two tries around two-turns weren't exactly awe-inspiring....

Thank you...How on earth can you say this is a special crop at this point? I would say last years group pees on this one.

Post Slew/Affirmed/Bid days, I'd say the best 4 year period for 3YOs were the 3YO classes of 1984-1987 (foals of 1981-1984). The 1986 group was so so but the others were all very strong.