Artax is a difficult one for me to judge. When he was on his game, he was incredible. Even when he lost some of the races he lost, he ran very well. But the thing that always will bother me about him is that even in that championship year, he lost more than he won. When I think of champions and dominating performers, it's hard for me to go with a horse that loses more than he wins. His Sprint may have been the single best of all of the sprints though but I don't think it's a clear best. I thought Cherokee Run's race was huge in beating a returning champ in Cardmania and a super filly in Soviet Problem. And what about Very Subtle completely dominating the race as a 3yo filly? I think I'd go with Cherokee Run's as the best win, Precisionist as the best horse to win the race and Artax as the best sprinter when he ran his best race. One that I thought was underrated and didn't get selected was Reraise. I never have thought he got the credit he's deserved.
__________________
The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
|