i don't know that he even ran in the wood. won the gotham, ran in the lexington and left the triple crown trail after that effort.

after seeing some of the horses mentioned, i guess just about any belong at this point. but better than john henry? no.

Sure seems he has to rate as #1

Vanlandingham actually was VERY good ( he is somewhat the horse that put Shug on the map ), though his big turf win was in the DC International over an extraordinarily boggy turf course. For some reason, I think his other big turf win was at Hollywood Park. But, make no mistake, he was very good.

Just for kicks, I'll throw in the name of Perrault. He finished first in the Big Cap, won the Hollywood Gold Cup, won the San Luis Rey (then GI Turf) defeating John Henry, and won the Arlington Million in 1:58 and change. He was pretty good on both surfaces.

It's tough to beat old John' though. He's still the only horse to win both the Santa Anita Handicap AND the Arlington Million twice. And in addition to his wins in the San Juan Capistrano, Oak Tree Invitational (3X), and NY's Turf Classic, he managed to throw in a victory in the Jockey Club Gold Cup just for fun.

I don't know about 50 years, but it's hard to think of a horse that was better on both surfaces in the last 35 or 40 years than John Henry.

oh, i know he was good. you'll get no argument from me on that score.

i wrote that in my post since it was the original question. it seemed like it was forgotten as the actual point of the thread, at least where randall is concerned.

Did you not read my stream of consciousness post? I was thinking about a horse who would be just as likely to run turf and dirt in graded stakes....plus he was a favorite of mine. Maybe you have favorites too.:wf

I'm not sure they would be put into the "best" category but here were some I remember running very well on both surfaces:

Pearl Necklace (although she never raced against the boys)
Late Bloomer
Bowl Game Grade 1 winner on turf and dirt

How about a fun horse like Effervescing? Wins the American Handicap on July 4th on the grass, then wins the Citation 5 days later on the dirt, beating eventual Eclipse award winning sprinter Dr. Patches. One of D. Wayne's first big thoroughbred accomplishments.

Best to me were Waya and Secretariat.

i do have favorites. however, i'm not about to call them 'great' because i like them.

A new fun police member. Who said great? Arromanches....he was great.

Two horses that wouldn't be in the running for best but that won grade one races on both surfaces and haven't gotten a mention are Hawkster and Prized. Many people forget Prized was good enough to beat Sunday Silence on dirt and then a couple of starts later, won the BC Turf in his grass debut. My candidate for best or at least could have been in the running would be Candy Ride.

The best horse he ever beat was that Frankel horse in the Monmouth turf race, I dont believe he was awesome on either surface. I feel like he was fortunate to never face much on either surface.

Good call. He sure ran a few monster races on each surface.

Another C. Whittingham star who ran well on dirt or grass was Greinton.....

Bump.

Gentlemen. I think he's probably the best turf and dirt horse of the last twenty years or so. Candy Ride too might have been there.

When Gentlemen decided to run, he was truly freakish.

Overskate.........track record holder for decades and if not for a lost shoe at over 50-1 my freshman year at Fordham would have improved my chances of getting laid by decades

after today...........Declaration of War............

It is now Declaration of Byk