Which horses were truly great?

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by RollerDoc

Danzig, I am curious. Where do you rank Alydar on this subject?

alydar had the great misfortune to be in the same crop as affirmed. affirmed got the best of alydar far more often than alydar returned the favor. most years alydar would have been called one of the best of all time, had he not faced a monster.
i think a lot of what made affirmed so great is that he had alydar as a measuring stick. i would have no problem with alydar being spoken of as one of the best the sport has seen, as i think he was.
it's funny that he sired another horse that faced the same situation years later. easy goer was one hell of a horse, but sunday silence beat him 3 out of 4, altho of course one was just a head bob. the picture of those two at the wire of the preakness is my favorite photo ever of a horse race. it's what we all want to see, and almost never do!