The problem is a horse can beat everything he is put up against, and still lose ground. A new horse arises that could be a challenge, he races against said horse that might be considered great, and the great one blows the horse away and then.... awww, he really was not that good. One thing that helps is having a champion that you go back and forth with. Ali/Frazier. Affirmed...Aly.. the list goes on.

I really think Mineshaft is vastly underrated for this reason. No TC races. Megs ran away. Mineshaft did not run in the BC. Done, overwith, forgotten. But anyone who watched the animal run saw the talent. And the horse had a few grueling performances. But he does not make many people's list as a top horse. Its always comes down the horse has to be born in the right year and always beat an up and coming horse, the "now we will see how good he really is" has to happen multiple times. And some horses never get a chance to put on this display.