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Originally Posted by brianwspencer
I think that it was more like that was the type of race that he needed to win in order for this conversation to be even slightly legitimate.
Beating some turfers (and "look, he beat Thorn Song" probably isn't the best place to start when trying to make a case for HOY) and Commentator while failing to win even a single big name race all year doesn't hold a candle to a horse who wins the Derby and Preakness the way Big Brown did -- or the accomplishment of winning the Dubai World Cup and Jockey Club Gold Cup while running second to a BC Turf champion in his first start on the green stuff in the Man O War and then beating home more than a couple Grade I winners in the BC Classic on a surface which was a question mark for him, but the surface over which some of those Grade I winners were already proven commodities.
Yes, he's underappreciated, but this is apples to oranges.
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So beating grade one horses in grade one races means nothing because the names of the races weren't the Derby, Preakness, Dubai World Cup, and JCGC? First, I thought more people mastered reading comprehension than this. Obviously, I was wrong. I am NOT trying to make the case the Einstein should be HOY. I wouldn't even vote for him myself. Second, let's not be silly here. The names on the races don't mean squat. It's the quality of the competition. Curlin beating up on Asiatic Boy, Past the Point, Wanderin Boy, Well Armed, and Merchant Marine was not more impressive than the horses that Einstein beat. Big Brown beating on Macho Again, Ichabad Crane, Eight Belles, and Denis of Cork was not more impressive than the horses the Einstein beat. Let's be real. Sure, we all can bemoan the state of racing these days and know that a grade one in 2008 is not the same as a grade one used to be in 1988. But that still doesn't change the fact that in any given year, some horses will rise above other horses. Those horses will be the grade one horses. The horses Einstein beat were grade one horses. The horses those others beat barely qualify as more than allowance horses. Who cares about the name of the races?
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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
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