Would of, Should of, Could of,,,,,,,,,,,, It's all Barbaro by daylite.

In a sublime performance....He runs away from them all...

This is why I would pick Afleet Alex.

FINALLY after the Derby Rose figured out that this colt was a HUGE one-run colt. Rose gave him a ride in the Derby that was not bad in a general sense, but it was specifically bad for the horse he was on. By the Preakness and the Belmont he had learned how to ride him perfectly (which meant basically giving him the same ride he had in the Arkansas Derby) and the results were ultra-impressive. Since the original poster asked us to factor in how these colts performed in May and June of their 3yo seasons I would give the edge to Alex. I think that if he had stayed healthy he would have won the rest of his races last year (including the Travers and the BCC) and would have gone down as one of the all-time greats.
I also think the pace scenario would have favored him, but the more I think about this hypothetical race, the cooler it gets. There would be the three pacesetters and then in the second group you would have Barbaro and Smarty Jones. Pretty cool. But I think Alex would mow them all down in the stretch.
My longshot pick would still be Birdstone. On a dry track in a race of 10 or more furlongs, he remains an underrated animal.
Someone should do one of these for the other decades too. Its fun.

You mean the whip the horse 37 more times than he needs to ride in the Arkansas Derby? That was a winner.

1. Smarty Jones
2. Barbaro
3. Point Given
4. Afleet Alex
5. Empire Maker

Photo between Smarty and Barbaro.

Hey Shane ... go to the "1970-2006" thread ...

... you're not going to like what you see there.

I just mean the one-run strategy. Once he got into the stretch....you are absolutely right. But if Rose had given him this ride in Louisville I believe we would have a triple crown winner.

i thought that since this is a slow time of year for racing it might be fun to revisit this thread which was (sigh) my first post on this board.
does bernardini's performance in the jim dandy, travers, and jcgc change some people's minds?
of course, it doesn't change my mind at all. i still like point given over afleet alex and aptitude.

how was the track set up? if like this year

1 war emblem
2 menarchos
3 alex
4 bernardini
slop
1 point given
2 barbero
3 alex
4 funny cide...

Thanks for bringing this thread back. I didn't post here much over the summer, so I didn't see this when originally posted.

If all horses are running healthy in peak form on a fast track 75degrees and sunny-

I gotta take Point Given to win.
I'd take Smarty to place.
But 3rd- If he's fresh off the layoff, and at 100%- I'm taking Red Bullet to get in the $$$$. Fu Peg won that Derby pretty nice, but Red Bullet destoryed him 2 weeks later.

In regards to Hooves last post-
In the slop, you gotta put Smarty up there. He won in the slop. Not against a very good field, but he smoked those mules in the slop.

loved smarty, backed that guy all spring. gratified to see him win. also was partial to red bullet. point given seemed a throwback to days gone by.

i'll take barbaro. that horse ROLLED this spring. that's going by their actual derby efforts. smarty to place. fupeg to show. slop, fast, in between. gimme barbaro.

i will forever be embarrassed that i knew, KNEW, that horse was the best in the field but i kept denying him due to the layoff alone. lesson learned. hard lesson learned, but definitely filed away for future reference.

my brother who worked at a hospital in louisville had a doctor who is in the game tell him that war emblem was going to win easy..i totally dismissed this info as corrupt....he won easy at huge odds.....infield line..my man...

the assumption is that the track is dry, fast, and honest.

about war emblems derby...

i don't know if i had a pick. but when i saw the first quarter split, i turned to my kids and said this race is OVER.

and then turns around and leaves everyone with their dork in their hand AGAIN two weeks later!! fool me twice....

No Medaglia d'Oro or Lion Heart?? I think they should have replaced somebody like RH10. He wasn't studly until after the Triple Crown trail. But most importantly, folks....NO MAGIC WEISNER??!?!?!!! Travesty. Gotta love that old boy.

I thought that Lion Heart's 2nd in the derby was as game as they come...

Lion Heart surprised the hell out of me in the derby. I didn't think he was capable of hanging in like that. Proved to me that he was a lot deeper than I had thought.

r u guys forgetting how good smarty was??? that is the triple crown winner with a better jock in belmont. the thing that sways me is that smarty had to have a special mouth piecs and 155lbs rider in am just to keep him in control. No doubt i think smarty/barbaro/alex what a great race it would be.

Can't believe no one has mentioned Congaree in their picks so far. At 25-1 he'd be a steal and my key in all three slots (more so for 2nd and 3rd, though). I'd use him with Barbaro, Point Given, Smarty Jones, FuPeg, Empire Maker and Bernie.

Giacomo would CRUSH all of them with his lightning quick turn of foot!!!!!!!! He will leave the rest of the horses quivering in their hooves.