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Originally Posted by todko
Invasor is no lightning bolt -- his times are relatively slow for an older horse. Discreet Cat is the sprinter's version of Bernardini -- he's beaten nobody.
Barbaro could beat either. Any distance. Any surface. Any condition.
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Except Invasor is really NOT an older horse.. He's a Southern Hemisphere 3 year old, less than six months 'older' than our sophomores. When you win races like the PIM Special, Suburban, Whitney and BC Classic, you're the best horse, and Horse of the Year... Period.
Discreet Cat? The Jerome and Cigar Mile won't cut it as a HOY resume. And please don't drag out the ridiculous "UAE Derby". There aren't too many people that would count anything that transpires at Nad al Sheba as a legitimate result towards determining anything. (Ian Jory's two horses were likely drugged up by someone for gods sake... He's got the test results to prove it. And then there's the horrific treatment Buff Bradley and Brass Hat received as further evidence of the phony shenanigans that go on in the 'Desert Oasis'...)
Barbaro is Barbaro. It's difficult to quantify his half season in the context of those that ran complete seasons, but he wasn't the 'best' horse of 2006. Everyone is so quick to attack Bernardini's opponent list, but other than the great Derby performance, which itself is quantity over quality, who exactly was Barbaro beating in the Tropical Park Derby (Wise River 2nd, Lewis Michael 3rd); Holy Bull (Great Point 2nd, My Golden Song 3rd); and FL Derby (Sharp Humor 2nd, Sunriver 3rd)??? The also rans behind him in the three pre-Derby races were hardly frightening groups..
So that leaves a wonderful Derby performance as Barbaro's great accomplishment of the year. Fine. But it hardly makes him the 'best' horse of the year when there's a candidate that won 4 straight Grade I races that are among the most important of any racing year. And as a reminder of the initial point, Invasor has been facing elders from May onward. I can appreciate the adoration of Barbaro as much as anyone, but in these discussions, he simply doesn't qualify from a body of work basis.