My only contention was that it was reaching to say he was far and away the best horse of '83 when he clearly lost several important starts. Not saying he didn't deserve the 3yo championship, either, but you shouldn't have to make a bunch of excuses for the horse if he was the standout of his crop.
If Cordero was messing up that many times, you'd think they would have got him off that horse. Certainly he didn't ride him any different the following year, and he wasn't having a tough time with the fractions then, which were just as fast if not faster. Then again, he wasn't having to beat up on much in '84, which may explain why the final times were much slower than the year before.
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