I don't think much of Orb but I can't help but feel like he would have won this race if he hadn't been compromised by his trainer. Coming into the lane, he had every look of a winner but he got tired and I feel like with a prep under his belt, he would have gotten the job done. There are two ways to look at it. He'll be better next time (Jockey Club Gold Cup?) and then the BC Classic will be his third race so could be his best. The other way to see it is that even if he is better in the next two, it probably won't be good enough to beat what he's likely to face and he missed a golden opportunity to take a huge race and possibly lock up a divisional title by looking ahead and forgetting the present.
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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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