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Originally Posted by King Glorious
I'd like to know how many horses are on that list period. It's probably a very short list. Tabasco Cat came really close when he lost the 1994 Classic to Concern.
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Actually, given that US races have only been graded since 1973, there are only two horses other than Sunday Silence who won at least two classics and a G1 vs. older as a 3YO. Those two occasions were Spectacular Bid winning the Marlboro and Pleasant Colony winning the Woodward. (Secretariat won the Marlboro, but the race was not graded until its third running in 1975.)
Still, there have been 17 classic seasons since Sunday Silence, a span of time that saw 11 dual classic winners. Not one was able to win a G1 vs. older as a 3YO and of those, Tabasco Cat was the only one who placed in one. There were 17 seasons between 1973 and 1989, with the same number of horses that won at least two classic races, with three of them going on to win a G1 vs. older as a 3YO. Secretariat at least won a race of central importance (the Marlboro was ungraded, but was the richest race of the year). Affirmed and Alysheba both finished second in G1s vs. older. There simply was a greater presence of multiple classic 3YOs in the fall vs. their elders in the earlier period vs. the later period.
Those of us who came of age in racing in the 1980s and before remember champion 3YO males who were both dominant classic horses and credible late in the year. Expecting that, however, is probably obsolete, given the increasing rarity of classic winners having much of a post-classic career.