Melair could really fly. I was in love with a 3yo filly named Ski Goggle who destroyed Princess Rooney in the Acorn i believe. She was soon hurt, and never appeared again.

I was thinking the same thing.......he was a terrific racehorse, and extremely versatile. The problem is that he spent most of his career not sprinting.

Two-time Met Mile winner! :)

I know! He was the first horse I ever loved (well, aside from those I never saw, like Slew, Man o'War and Phar Lap), so I have a special place in my heart for him. Jolley ran him long all the time; Lukas had the smarts to turn him back into a sprinter. That BC is remembered for Personal Ensign, but my true joy was Gulch winning that Sprint

I do think Chinook Pass was the best sprinter of that decade.

I don't agree at all that John Henry was just as good on dirt as he was on grass.

Here's John Henry's career on dirt in stakes races - races from most recent on:

Hollywood Gold Cup: 2nd by 2

Santa Anita Handicap: 5th by 8

Jockey Club Gold Cup: 5th by 7

Meadowlands Cup: 3rd by 6

Santa Anita Handicap: 2nd by a nose - placed 1st through DQ

Jockey Club Gold Cup: 1st by a head over Peat Moss

Hollywood Gold Cup: 4th by 3

Santa Anita Handicap: 1st by 1 over King Go Go

Jockey Club Gold Cup: 2nd by 5.5

San Marcos Stakes: 1st by 2.5 over El Fantastico

Capital City Handicap: 4th by 2 (33K stake at Penn National)

Mass Cap: 10th by 8.5

I think John Henry was clearly a better turf horse. At age 9, he won the final six turf races of his career - all major turf races.

Chinook Pass might have been - probably was - the fastest/quickest sprinter of the decade ... but he never won a single Graded Stakes race.

CP was 0-for-3 lifetime in Graded Stakes attempts.

The richest race he ever won - and by far - was the Longacres Mile.

LOL, well, he won the Bing Cosby by 8 lengths, and got the Eclipse award for best sprinter.

Wasn't that the horse trained by a guy named Laurie?

The Bing Crosby only had a 54K purse at that time. I'm sure he deserved to be champion sprinter. Maybe he belongs on the list - I don't know.

Pincay says he's the still the fastest he's ridden or seen. That is bizarre (his fastest horse never won a Graded Race.)

Looking at the stats, I think you are right. It was so long ago. I remembered him winning the SA Handicap a couple of times. He was my favorite horse at the time. I remember him winning a lot of big races on the dirt.

Are you sure he ran 2nd in the Jockey Club Gold Cup? At pedigreequery.com, it shows that he won that race. It was so long ago, I can't remember whether he won it or ran 2nd. I think he won it but I'm not sure.

Maybe you should look at the list again.

I see it now. He had a win and a 2nd in the JCGC.

Conquistador Cielo's Met Mile followed shortly by his Belmont victory was one of the highlights of the 1980's - but I don't know if it would have occurred without the Masterful training of Woody Stephens - look at the career of Creme Fraiche and you can only start to appreciate his great talents as a horse trainer

I was at Silver Buck's win in the July 4, 1982 Suburban at Belmont and remember that Eliott Burch had the colt in peak condition - I don't think anyone could have beaten him that day

IMO Winter Tale was much better than his race record due to chronic shin problems that plagued him alot

I was curious how high Track Barron and Vanlandingham were ranked on the list of 1980 horses

no way. i can only think of one u.s. turf horse i would rank ahead of the great john henry, and that would be round table. i was a fan of manila, but no way he is ahead of john.

Manila beat the toughest BC Turf field ever assembled - and I think it's likely his best turf races were a little better than John Henry's best ... but when you take overall body of work into account .. it's really not that close between the two.

If you count 1 turn miles as a sprint, she'd have been untouchable.

By just about anyone.

I'll include the 90's and this past decade into this. You'll now have fields of 12.

2-year-old male:

80's: Easy Goer, Devil's Bag, Chief's Crown, Grand Canyon
90's: Afternoon Deelites, Favorite Trick, Maria's Mon, Arazi
00's: War Pass, Macho Uno, Stevie Wonderboy, Street Sense


2-year-old female:

80's: Princess Rooney, Landaluce, Before Dawn, Althea
90's: Meadow Star, Silverbulletday, Flanders, Phone Chatter
00's: Tempera, Storm Flag Flying, Halfbrideld, You


3-year-old male:

80's: Sunday Silence, Easy Goer, Spend A Buck, Conquistador Cielo
90's: Holy Bull, Skip Away, Unbridled, Silver Charm
00's: Smarty Jones, Tiznow, Point Given, Bernardini


3-year-old female:

80's: Winning Colors, Genuine Risk, Mom's Command, Bold N' Determined
90's: Go For Wand, Silverbulletday, Serena's Song, Dance Smartly
00's: Rachel Alexandra, Rags To Riches, Xtra Heat, Surfside


Older male:

80's: Spectacular Bid, Alysheba, Ferdinand, Turkoman
90's: Skip Away, Cigar, Criminal Type, Formal Gold
00's: Ghostzapper, Mineshaft, Medaglia D' Oro, Congaree


Older female:

80's: Personal Ensign, Lady's Secret, Princess Rooney, Bayakoa
90's: Inside Information, Bayakoa, Sharp Cat, Paseana
00's: Zenyatta, Azeri, Riboletta, Sightseek


Turf male:

80's: John Henry, Manila, Theatrical, Steinlen
90's: Daylami, Lure, Kotashaan, Paradise Creek
00's: Fantastic Light, Leroidesanemeaux, Kitten's Joy, Conduit


Turf female:

80's: Miesque, All Along, Pebbles, Royal Heroine
90's: Flawlesssly, Ridgewood Pearl, Miss Alleged, Borgia
00's: Ouija Board, Goldikova, Banks Hill, Six Perfections


Sprint male:

80's: Groovy, Precisonist, Phone Trick, Smile
90's: Artax, Housebuster, Kona Gold, Reraise
00's: Kona Gold, Midnight Lute, Swept Overboard, Fabulous Strike


Sprint female:

80's: Gold Beauty, Very Subtle, Safely Kept, Pine Tree Lane
90's: Safely Kept, Soviet Problem, Mefera, Capote Belle
00's: Xtra Heat, Honest Lady, Indian Blessing, Madcap Escapade


It's amazing how there doesn't appear to be one huge standout among the horses in any division. Maybe Spectacular Bid over horses like Skip Away, Ghostzapper, Cigar, Alysheba... but that's about it.