I get all that but I also get that looking for or expecting horses to be raced like they were in the past is almost unrealistic these days. Would I prefer to have Life is Good, Flightline, Knicks Go, Mandaloun, Midnight Bourbon, and Hot Rod Charlie facing each other multiple times throughout the year? Of course. 1991 comes to mind with that handicap series and the year we had Formal Gold, Skip Away, Gentlemen, etc). But that’s just not how the game is anymore. So I try to enjoy what I can get. I’m not comparing them to the all-time greats but I’m also not just going to dismiss them as good horses because they aren’t doing what the all-time greats did. If I’m watching a basketball game, I’d rather see Michael Jordan or LeBron James play once a week instead of watching lesser players play four games a week.
Maybe running a campaign like Midnight Bourbon did would expose Life is Good. Maybe it wouldn’t. Maybe Flightline will get exposed in deeper waters. Maybe he won’t. For me, there is always more excitement in the unknown that could be special than there is in the known but average. I’ll watch this race with great anticipation because there is a chance we’ll witness something special. I watched the Louisiana race last week and while it was a good performance from two good horses, it wasn’t anything that I’d set my alarm for to make sure I don’t miss the next one.
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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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