Originally Posted by cmorioles

Afleet Alex was a good horse, nothing more, nothing less. He beat very little in the Preakness, and even less in the Belmont. Maybe he would have been competitive against older later in the year if he stayed healthy, but his figures say he would have struggled.

Smarty Jones I think was a very good horse. He was obviously best in the Belmont, and should have been undefeated. He most likely could have held his own later in the year against older, but you never know.

The problem with horses that retire like them is you just don't know if they would have been true stars. Beating 3yos in May and early June only means the horse was the best 3yo at that time. Most horses fail when facing older, yet fans of these horses make it out to be a foregone conclusion they would have excelled. Thus, I say they are probably both overrated.

As a frame of reference, War Emblem ran similar winning races figure wise in the Derby and Preakness as these two, yet was a total non factor against older later in the year. The same with Funny Cide. People were drueling over his Preakness. We know how that turned out.