First of all your list would have taken EIGHT horses out of other BC races.
Secondly, five competed in a $200K Grade 2 or 3 race earlier in the day, so I can't imagine how you could even suggest they belong in a Grade 1 championship race.
Thirdly, of the remaining seven, one was hurt ( Commentator )or he would have belonged in the my first grouping, Mass Media had barely competed in 2006, Sharp Humor had made his first start off an injury in a race restricted to NY Breds two weeks earlier and Sir Greeley was too busy sucking up for second in a race that collapsed on that very day in NY ( and was also coming off a layoff ).
That leaves my friend Wanderin Boy, who I am biased about, and while he might have been reasonable, I can't defend his being one of the main contendors in ANY championship race....Silver Train who won the BC Sprint in the prior year and yet did not defend that title so one could say he belongs in my initial category, and Discreet Cat....who I already said belonged. however, one could also argue that there were other BC races for him and he chose to simply sit out.
|