Most Overrated Horses

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Justify was a really good horse. No question about that but I think the accomplishment makes people think he's better than some horses that didn't accomplish the same thing because they faced better competition.

No one accomplished what Justify did when he debuted in mid-February and by early June was a Triple Crown winner. He outdueled a Grade 1-winning sprinter through ridiculous fractions in the Kentucky Derby with a horse with one of the fastest 2yo performances ever right at his hip for a mid-race challenge and still won the race clear. In the Preakness the juvenile champion went right for his throat from the bell (much to the chagrin of his trainer) and he pried out the upper hand in the final furlong with enough left to hold off any opportunistic upstart. He got no breaks at any point of his brief racing career.

Justify, Rock Hard Ten, and Risen Star were all horses whose careers were derailed by injury and were to an extent martyrs of the Triple Crown.

Rock Hard Ten tried to pull the same stunt as Justify, and nearly pulled off the first part when debuting in February before just missing in a photo in the Santa Anita Derby 2 starts later. Not taking time to reflect on the ridiculousness of the campaign they were pursuing with the horse when excluded from the Kentucky Derby field, his connections continued to push the horse in distance and class with each and every start. Even started only 4 weeks after a second straight double digit loss in the Belmont. Unfortunately, the horse won that race, emboldening his handlers to put him right back on a plane and back into the frying pan. After bombing in the Haskell he mercifully got time off. When he returned he did little wrong but wasn't sound. Tagged the ascending Lava Man in Malibu and drowned Saint Liam in the Big Cap during that one's HOY campaign. Was sidelined until the fall and could make only one start beating the overrated Roman Ruler, a son of the overrated Fusaichi Pegasus.

Risen Star was falling apart leading up to the Belmont Stakes. He had a suspensory strain out of the Preakness and couldn't train much in the weeks leading up to the Belmont. He then ran off in a blowout, breezing 3 furlongs in :33+ the day before the race. In this day and age it's doubtful he would have been allowed to start with all that, but back then there wasn't as much scrutiny and there was a $1 million bonus on the line. Ran himself into the record books with a powerhouse performance second (at the time) only to his own sire. Not surprisingly was also ruined for racing afterwards.