Quote:
Originally Posted by smartbid09
I feel like both of these horses places in history were diminished by running against each other in 1989. If not for Sunday Silence Easy Goer would be considered one of the greatest horses of all time - right up there with Seattle Slew, Secretariat, etc. Although Easy Goer is highly regarded today, I doubt many would call him a horse worthy of being mentioned in the same breath as Secretariat.
IMO Sunday Silence benefitted more than Easy Goer did from the fact they both raced in the same year. By beating such a highly touted rival Sunday Silence earned a lot of respect. Had Easy Goer raced in the triple crown in 1989 and Sunday Silence raced in 1990 theoretically both would have won the triple crown. However, no one would believe Sunday Silence was the better horse. People would say Sunday Silence could never have beaten Easy Goer. But the fact they raced together in 1989 and SS won more than Easy Goer took one horse out of the top 10 in my opinion and put another horse slightly above him in the top 40.
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Neither horse stayed sound enough to have a meaningful 4yo campaign. That was probably more damaging to either horse in terms of legacy than not winning the Triple Crown.
Because they faced each other, Sunday Silence and Easy Goer were tested thoroughly on the racetrack--the only place that should matter--where their strengths were highlighted and their weaknesses exposed.
Forget them being rated too low, others are probably rated too high.