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Originally Posted by Pedigree Ann
So instead of cheering at having a 14-horse field in a major race you grouse about the quality. Heads up, lads - 14-horse fields of the past contained questionable horses, too, who got real weight concessions (105 lbs vs 130 on the top-weight) to give them a shot. Not every SA Hcp winner has been one for the ages, either - do the names Azucar, Olhaverry, and Linmold ring any bells? Milwaukee Brew, who won this one twice (the first such dual winner who didn't have help from the stewards' room), didn't look like much, either, until he got to run 10f.
If you have a star, or two or three, you get a small field. If you don't have a star, you get a big field and an interesting betting contest. Be thankful for what you have, and shed a tear for the grand old Gulfstream Park H, once a 10f test of champions, like Round Table, Coaltown, Armed, Kelso, Pretense, Forego, etc., now merely a shadow of its former self.
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I think you are basically right about this, but it wasn't always that way. In the 1979 Big Cap, Affirmed ran in an 8-horse field. I am pretty sure he was something of a star. As for field size in general, big fields are of course nice for betting, but as a fan, I would take the 4-horse field of the 1988 Big Cap (Alysheba, Ferdinand, Super Diamond, and Judge Angelucci) over the big field for the race today.
As for the winner, he does seem like at distances of 9f and up on synthetic, he is a pretty decent horse.