Originally Posted by NTamm1215 (Post 983426)

No, I agree with you and will admit that I've been guilty of it too. Compare him with a horse like Lava Man, who was absolutely beloved, perhaps in part because his career arc was highlighted by a bellowing announcer when he downed the true superstar AP Xcellent in 2007.

Between 2005 and 2007, Lava Man won the Californian, Hollywood Gold Cup (2x), Goodwood, Big Cap, and Whittingham. He lost the BC Classic in 2006, the JCGC in 2005, and ended his career on a 7-race losing streak.

Since 2011, Game on Dude has won the Santa Anita Handicap (3x), Hollywood Gold Cup (2x), Pacific Classic, Goodwood (2x), and San Antonio. Yes, he's lost 3 BC Classics in a row, but ran a winning race in 2011. His four failures in "big" spots have to be the reason, because he has had a damn fine career.

Originally Posted by NTamm1215 (Post 983423)

At this point, I can't see a horse with one ridiculous 6f race as a 3YO on the Tapeta winning the BC Classic. You obviously hold him in much higher regard than I do.

Your scenario is not ridiculous, but it is a tad far fetched. We don't really know how far he wants to go, we don't know how he's going to handle dirt, and we don't know if he's going to stay healthy. I wouldn't exactly be queuing up to get a BC Classic future on him. The fact that he's currently 12-1 at Wynn is laughable.

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie (Post 983398)

You can't see a plausible scenario in which SB wins the Classic?

How about this one?

He isn't rushed through a grinding Triple Crown series and is able to maintain his sheer brilliance as a three year old. Being by a sire that does just fine with dirt progeny, out of a Storm Cat dam that has some really good dirt runners in her family, he somehow is able to overcome the theory that he's a synthetic only runner and manages to beat what is a quite mediocre group of older horses on dirt.

I have strong doubts he'll even be in training when the Classic is run, but is it really that hard to believe he's better than the older horses?