Ruffian was a mediocre filly

[Calzone Lord]

I got to get going, but here's Whirlaway's 4-year-old season.



Whirlaway was the only horse in history to officially win the Triple Crown and Travers.

He started 22 times at age 4 in all the important races, and his record that season was 22-12-8-2.

18 of the 22 races were handicaps. Of the four that weren't -- one was an ALW race on June 22nd that was probably designed to keep his weight imposts as favorable as possible for the upcoming big handicaps. The goal to win as unimpressively as humanly possible.

The second non-handicap was a special match-race against fellow Hall Of Famer Alsab. Whirlaway was a closer, and a poor fit for match races, but you can't turn down races like that.

The third non-handicap was the Jockey Club Gold Cup at 2 miles. Only 3 others showed up. Whirlaway and Alsab dominated the race. It was more than 8 lengths back to 3rd. Whirlaway won. One week later, 12 horses showed up in the New York Handicap at Belmont to face Whirlaway and Alsab under handicap conditions.

The final non-handicap was the Pimlico Special. Whirlaway won that race in a walk-over.