Easy Goer Was Better than Sunday Silence

[dean smith]

This is a great web site and I make sure to visit it everyday, but the "New York as the center of the universe" mentality does not escape it (which is fine by me -- these New York homers are pretty knowledgeable and a lot of what I know I've picked up reading their debates with each other). That being said, Easy Goer was THEIR BOY. Great pedigree, good looking, sky's-the-limit potential... he was the next Great One. The thought of Sunday Silence (from California, which takes him maybe a notch higher than your average dog in NY's eyes) being better than their boy makes any self-respecting fan with an East Coast bias vomit in his mouth a little bit. Regardless of whether Sunday Silence took three of four from Easy Goer, or three hundred of four hundred, they've both got their fans who will not back down. And that's the way it should be, really.

If they raced 100 times at different distances with random conditions, it probably would be closer to 50/50 and not 75/25 (wins for SS, that is), but we've only got what happened. Besides, looking at their racing careers, I don't see how Easy Goer was any better over the long haul. It's not like Sunday Silence was a flash in the pan while Easy Goer went on to be Horse of the Year three years running. SS won 9 or 14 with 7 major stakes wins and never finished below second. EG took 14 of 20 with 10 or 11 major wins. Hell, even in retirement, Easy Goer had some nice offspring, but Sunday Silence became the leading sire in Japan for over a decade (Deep Impact)!

Just the way I see it. Of course, a lot of people around here have forgotten more about this sport than I know, so take it for what it's worth.