Easy Goer Was Better than Sunday Silence

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by smartbid09

If SS was that much better than Easy Goer explain to me the huge margin of victory by Easy Goer in the Belmont stakes?

If Sunday Silence was so superior how could Easy Goer lick him in the Belmont? .

The answer is that the Belmont is run at Belmont. 12f circuit. Easy Goer was a large, big-striding horse. Such horses often have to shorten stride on the turns of 8f-circuits in order to keep their balance. If they are running against inferior competition, it doesn't hurt them, but if they are running against handier horses of similar ability, they are behind the 8-ball.

A similar difference occurs in the REAL Derby at Epsom. The track is up-hill, then sharply downhill around a turn, then up-hill to the finish, with the track sloped from side-to-side (a camber, they call it) in the final stretch. Big, long-striding horses that can handle flatter tracks with easier turns often come a-cropper at Epsom.