Hey I had a link to a list of PPs for the derby winners from 93-03, so I decided to put the BSF idea to the test. I decided to take the best five BSFs from the sophmore year for those 11 Ky derby winners. You could take 2 races you might take 8, I dunno I took the best 5; I rounded to the nearest half I dont think there was much rounding error. If anyone has more BSF from other seasons I'd like to see them...

Here is the order:


Silver Charm 112 1/2
War Emblem 111
Funny Cide 109
Fu Peg 109
Real Quiet 108 1/2
Go for Gin 107 1/2
Thunder Gulch 107
Charismatic 105
Monarchos 105
Grindtone 101 (four races only)
Sea Hero 100

I dont know what overall conclusions to draw from all this but I will make a few comments about BSF in general as applied to this question:

1) THe avowed purpose of BSF was to make comparisons between horses shipping in from different tracks and those moving up and down in class ranks. At least that is my understanding. I have no doubt that they perform this mission quite well I have serious doubt whether they can perform the same mission when making subtle distinctions among the top horses running in different years.

2) Taking Funny Cide's best 2 races and comparing them to Smarty Jones is not really what the question was about since it is asking for the entire season not just 2 races. You have to consider all the races in the season and you might want to consider the strength of the particular fields they faced. Not sure BSF from one or two races really gets you there.

3) Measuring greatness has to mean more than just final times and/or BSF. Two fine examples of this have to do with Seattle Slews Jockey Club Gold and Personal Ensign in the BC distaff; when the factors that people talk about have to do with trip/adversity that these horses faced. Stuff that is not measured by a BSF or final time. BSF does measure surface in a sense, but Personal's Ensign's run in the slop was more than that.

4) To say that FUnny Cide had a better BSF than Smarty presents an insolvable Chicken/Egg problem. It could mean one of several things: That FUnnyCideis Underrated. That Smarty is OVerrated. Or that BSF are simply not well attuned for this purpose.

In lieu of more information, there is no answer to that question.