Weren't Bertrando, Pine Bluff, and Dance Floor in there?

Tiznow running up to Albert the Great's hip,
I think he is gonna get cut off, he pushes through
and outgames Sahkee.

Most exciting award for me.

Define performance please

There is no way Wild Again's Classic performance rates with the races turned in by a Ghostzapper, Sunday Silence, Skip Away and almost every other BC Classic winner.

Personal Ensign's BC Distaff race was clear-cut below Inside Information and Princess Rooney's races. She - like Wild Again -won a desperate 3 way photo.

Publication!?

Imperial Gesutre was like 50/1 in that Juv Fillies - what might have been the deepest Juv Fillies race ever - and she ran fast enough to win the Juvenile.

Macho Uno's Juvenile win over Point Given and Street Cry would rate far above Johannesburg.

Booo Hissss!!!! Best effort? How bout he got his butt spanked by "the big guy",:{>: and then got it spanked agian in the DWC:tro: ??? Man, oh Man-della of a day!!!!! The stretch call for his BC win is my ringtone for my cell,,,,how sick am I? :D

You do realize that those desperate 3-way photos involved, in the case of Personal Ensign--Winning Colors (Kentucky Derby, SA Derby, SA Oaks, etc) and Goodbye Halo (Kentucky Oaks, Mother Goose, etc)...and in the case of Wild Again---Slew O Gold (Marlboro Cup, Woodward, JCGC, etc) and Gate Dancer (Preakness, Super Derby both in track record fashion)?

I guess you like those blow out wins over Whiskey Whisdom, Dowty, and washed up horses like Lakeway and Heavenly Prize.

Heavenly Prize was washed up?

I would put Favorite Trick's juvy performance over Johannesburg's, with both of them well behind Arazi.

Tough to name just 5, in no particular order

1. Go For Wand 90
2. Ouija Board 06
3. Lit De Justice 96
4. Arazi 91
5. Awesome Again 98

I guess that wasn't the right wording. I didn't think Heavenly Prize was all that great to begin with.

I realize she browbeat Forcing Bid a couple of times at Belmont as a 4yo, but given the fact that the 3yo Serena's Song staved her off in the Beldame right before the BC, you could argue she was at least tailing off (or simply got exposed).

Fair enough, although the field for the '97 Juvenile left a lot to be desired once Grand Slam got sliced up in the first turn.

I think she was one of the better fillies of the 90s.. Serena's Song stole the Beldame with a very easy uncontested lead... 48 for the half, Day waiting forever to ask her did not help either...

The worst thing to ever happen to Heavenly Prize was Pat Day...

She's better than you give her credit for...

Maybe. But she's more remembered for races she lost than races she won. In fact, in her principle win, the Alabama over Lakeway, she was 5-1 and considered something of a disappoint up until that point. Her subsequent victories were essentially gimme's outside the Apple Blossom, where she basically saved face by getting revenge on the OK Halo America (who lit her up in the prep race).

True, she was considered disappointing up to that, but I attribute that to Shug's handling.. prior to the Alabama he had her sprinting all year..

As far as Halo America, you're dealing with a horse that loved Oaklawn and would later in her career go on to win the Apple Blossom.. Either she was a pretty decent horse in her own right or Heavenly Prize had a phobia with passing gray front runners...

I'm surprised nobody listed Answer Lively for his breathtaking win over ally's aly in the 98 juvie.

I wonder if you would have even posted that if Kiris and I weren't talking about another John Franks runner in the three previous posts.

To be fair, that race produced a champion and classic winner in Lemon Drop Kid and a classic-placed, BC Classic winner in Cat Thief.

OK, I'm going to say it right here, and you'll send the rath to me....

Big Brown...if he does it will be something very special. Forget the owner/trainer.

I think she had some problems early in the year after getting upset in her comeback at GP. The Prioress-Test route seemed like a way of getting her in shape for the fall without having to get thrown into the wolves in the Triple Tiara (not to mention he already had Inside Information geared up for those). She lost both races, but she caught Lakeway on the downhill slide in the one that counted.

I guess her BC runner up effort secured her the Eclipse, but she probably should have done a bit better if she was only splitting two 50-1 shots (One Dreamer and Miss Dominique). Especially when she showed up that day and the two favorites (Hollywood Wildcat and Sky Beauty) did not.

Nothing of the sort. I just tried to come up with the most gut wrenchingly bad bc race I could remember, and it was between the Answer Lively race and the Cat Thief beating my big BC bet that year in the classic, Budroyale.

Sincerely though, I am surprised at the lack of mention for Chief's Crown. That race was loaded.

I thought the Black Tie Affair BC Classic was a giant let down for many reasons.

I didn't see it, but I bet the Success Express Juvenile wasn't too pretty.

Twilight Agenda was one of the greatest locks in BC history, but knowing Macaroon was riding him, I knew he'd cede the easy lead to BTA and that exacta was almost a certainty.

Even though I did okay on that race, it pissed me off, as TA was a much better horse.

Success Express looked pretty decent winning that race actually.

These are the first three, in order, that I thought of. Kona Gold's track record at Churchill was the best I saw in person.

I still think if Honest Lady gets a better trip she wins that race.

the 20.80 opening quarter wasn't quite fast enough to setup her close.

you can add Serena's Song and Mariah's Storm.

Wild Again ran 6 lengths slower than Princess Rooney - and I guess if Personal Ensign's Distaff win is the best distaff performance ever - that means a washed up Winning Colors and a washed up Goodbye Halo ran better races than Inside Information, Princess Rooney, or Lady's Secret.

I would have thought a professional such as yourself would know to take the 1st quarter time in 6 furlong races at CD with a grain of salt...and that same pace set up favored a stalker such as KG much more than Honest Lady who was fanned to the outside fence. You know that 10 wide move works all the time at CD in sprints, she certainly didnt have more than few lengths of trouble and lost by...

Even though CD opening quarters come back much faster at 6fs because of the run-up - that pace set by Caller One was still wicked - and I refuse to believe that you believe KG did not run a better race than Honest Lady.

Mariah's Storm? Wasn't she a multiple Grade 3 winner?

Or are we suddenly including beaten uteruses as part of the selection criteria?

I guess we have to look at Tasso's Juvenile in a whole new light when you considered he edged out Storm Cat's testicles at the wire...

And Goodbye Halo was washed up? Maybe by the end of '89, but not '88. If it weren't for Bayakoa in her prime, she arguably would have racked up 3 or 4 more Grade 1 wins in '89 aside from the two she won outright.

By the way - this post here is nothing more than a product of NBC's horrible coverage of the 2000 Breeders Cup - which featured some insane camera angles.

I have the actual simulcast feed video of all the 2000 BC races - a teller/better friend who worked at a local OTB would tape them for me.

I remembered Kona Gold being wider than Honest Lady - and in fact she clearly was.

Thoro-Graph only had Kona Gold 1 path wider than HL in the '00 Sprint - but it was closer to two paths than even.

The NBC feed of the race is bonkers - and you don't even see HL until inside the 1/8th pole when she was wide and flying.

Kona Gold was under a drive throughout that race and had to work very hard to hold position - he was also up much closer to the pace than Honest Lady was. Maybe Honest Lady had a bit of a tougher trip than 3rd place finisher Bet On Sunshine ... but those two were the two who got the best pace setup and had the nicest trips.

Mariah's Storm ran a 120 Beyer figure and destroyed Serena's Song about six weeks prior. She repeatedly ran triple digit figures over and over that year.

I watched the race in person, not on tv. Honest lady was not only wide she was behind horses going nowhere which is why she was fanned so wide coming into the stretch. The pace setter caller One was not beaten very far.

The Turfway Budweiser BC? Where Lukas just couldn't stand to see Serena's Song in stay in the stall for 14 days straight and had to run her there in between wins in the Gazelle and Beldame.

Now that we've established that only speed figures matter, what about the undercard races?

What Beyer did Light Of Morn get when he won the Dancing Spree on the '92 Gulfstream undercard? Or Memo in the Smile on the '93 undercard?

Caller One was an AWESOME sprinter - and was almost joint favorite with Kona Gold.

If you want to argue that Honest Lady had a slightly worse trip than fellow deep closing longshot 3rd place finisher Bet On Sunshine ... ok.

However, that was some performance by Kona Gold and he was clearly much the best.

You are doing your best to try to prove that they don't matter.

And that is a pretty foolish position to take - even for an all-world ankle biter such as yourself.

Mariah's Storm was an outstanding horse that year.

Clearly much the best? On what basis? if the race was 6 furlongs and 15 feet he was beat. There was no bigger Caller One fan than me but you stated how the pace meltdown helped the deep closers yet the pace didnt really meltdown. Kona Gold tripped out in that race and you want to say he had a tougher trip than a horse who broke from post 13, was caught behind dead horses for a quarter mile, was fanned 10 wide coming into the stretch, losing all momentum and held her off by half a length.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5UUpFHDP4I

Where exactly does Kona Golds trip be considered tough?

He was under a ride the whole way up on a hot pace and had to work to not get shuffled.

You are getting real silly with this HL was 10 wide stuff - you are reminding me of the old CD chart caller. Try 2 wide on the turn - and than she fanned out around horses tiring because of the pace.

But the comment that the hot pace favored KG more so than HL and Bet On Sunshine is just bananas.

He had a clear trip behind a fast pace. "he was under a ride not to get shuffled" in now considered a trouble line? The fact that every race in Southern Califoria pre poly was ridden like this and the fact that the vast majority of his races were run under these conditions dont matter? He had clear aim at the quarter pole on a horse setting fast fractions. All the other stuff you are contending is tough is the silly part.

You are putting on a dazzling exhibition of sucker horse race watching 101.

Caller One had run 3 straight 117 Beyers going into the race - got a 106 that day. As a 4yo, he returned to win the Dubai Sprint by 4.5 and than post 3 straight 117's again.

Kona Gold also went backwards on figures in that race despite setting a track record.

But you loved the suck up efforts of the 8 year old Bet on Sunshine and the likewise dream setup Honest Lady.

Shrewd.