Close but Not Quite

[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

Of course not. I'm saying that a couple of noses or heads in another direction and both could be in the convo of top 10 horses of the past 25 years. Imagine Ferdinand having two Big Caps and a Strub (back when that race meant something) added to his record. Or imagine Alysheba with a second Classic and a Haskell. As it is Alysheba is probably already in the convo but Ferdinand certainly isn't.

Depends on who is having the conversation. On the top of his game there is no horse in the last 25 years that either couldnt beat on a regular basis at 1 1/4. Despite the attitude that prevails now, close losses to fellow great horses does not show weakness. The problem now is that horses get nice clean records but they never beat ( or lose to) anyone truly great because those horses simply dont exist any longer.