Hypthetical Derby--1970-2006
 

Well I guess we might as well do a 36 year race.

Take the form from the horse's 3 year season for the months of May and June. Everyone carries 126 lbs (interesting). And each horse is 100% healthy.

Here are the entries:

Secretariat
Affirmed
Spectacular Bid
Riva Ridge
Barbaro
Seattle Slew
Gato Del Sol
Sunday Silence
Silver Charm
Strike The Gold
Foolish Pleasure
Monarchos
Bold Forbes
Sunny's Halo
Swale
Spend A Buck
Ferdinand
Alysheba
Unbridled
Thunder Gulch

Where's Smarty Jones? And why not? Are Gato Del Sol, Strike The Gold, Monarchos, and Sunny's Halo all more deserving?

You're gonna make a lotta folks mad ... unless it was just an oversight.

Well...Secretariat is obviously the winner, but where oh where is his great son, Risen Star??

And I don't see Sham!!

You don't think the Bid would give him a run for his money?

Well no horse that didnt win the Derby is on the list. You have to at least win the Derby to be in this field IMO. No fillies and I tried to find the best performances for this field. Smarty's time of 2:04:06 coupled with a less than stellar field kept him off the list.

The only horse I would add would be Funny Cide. His 2:01:19 is impressive. Plus he beat Empire Maker and Peace Rules. However, that track was lightning that day and I think his preformance isnt as good as the horses above. If anything I would remove Strike The Gold and put Funny Cide in there. But

Freaking Pleasant Colony and Real Quiet should absolutely be on that list, especially over Thunder Gulch.

Well Thunder Gulch won in 2:01 1/5. He also beat a better field IMO than either of those two. Pleasent Colony was my 2nd choice to have behind Funny Cide. But PC ran a 2:02 against a crappy field.

So you're using raw times to determine who deserves to be in this mythical field? That makes sense.

Not just raw times. Times is just a factor. I am also considering the way they won, how tough the field was. I went back and watched each race. And I thought these 20 were the most deserving.

I don't me to be insulting, but I think this is not a very good list. The original deal was supposed to be May and June of their 3yo season. You used ONLY the Derby to make your list. Who cares if Smarty's time was slow? He was running in a swamp!!
Risen Star is so much more qualified than Strike the Gold that it boggles the mind.
Easy Goer CLEARLY belongs over Gato Del Sol. The list goes on and on. I think you had better factor in Preakness and Belmont results if you want to talk about May and June.

Maybe so, but a Derby win trumps any other race since it is the hardest to win.

It may be the most important, but I just can't take the list seriously when it does not include a horse like Risen Star but includes some one-race wonders.
I would say that overall in May and June of '91, Hansel was better than Strike the Gold, but I would not include EITHER of those on the list.
Smarty Jones DID win the Derby, and he went on to DOMINATE the Preakness and finish second in the Belmont. How was his TC season not better than Strike the Gold's?

I agree.. The best horse doesn't always in the Derby.. I think Little Current should be in the starting gate!

Strike the gold and no fusaichi pegasus?

Agree completely.little deserves to be on that list.he might not of been as good as Secretariat and Spectacular Bid,but if not for a horrendous trip in the derby he quite possibly would have been a triple crown winner.

Absolutely on Pleasant Colony ... and yes on Real Quiet.

And ... where is Canonero?

All three are far better than Gato Del Sol, Sunny's Halo, and Strike The Gold.

Little Current is not on the list because he did not win the Kentucky Derby.

The list consists of Kentucky Derby WINNERS only.

I agree with your including only Kentucky Derby winners ... but not for that reason.

Having winners-only makes compiling the list much simpler ... maybe ... because look at all the arguments that even winners-only generates.

Seriously though, if we're talking about solely TC form, don't see how Pleasant Colony AND Real Quiet aren't on that list. And Easy Goer for that matter. Hell, Genuine Risk probably deserves to be there over a few horses...even Unbridled (dare I say!).

How interesting would it be to put all the Triple crown winners in another
triple crown (3 races) and see if anyone thinks one could beat these to win a triple crown ? I know how tough it is to judge different horses of different years but Its ok to dream..right ? Would that make One horse, if they won all three races the true triple crown horse ? <<just some food for thought>>

Wouldn't that be something? Of course I believe Secretariat would win and win rather easily but it would be fun! Some are less highly thought of than others but I bet there would be some surprises! Citation and Man O War would seem to fill out the tri but I've always wondered how great Count Fleet really was??? Hard to judge because of the war-time restrictions and the fact that he never raced after the Belmont but deep down I have a feeling he might have been second only to the god of all horses....

What about War Admiral. I think he was better than Citation and Man O War. Didnt ESPN do this last year and Durkin made the call? Man I cant remember who won the race, I think it was Secretariat but I am not sure.

What about Charismatic being included? I don't think he'd win, but he did win 2/3 legs of the Triple Crown. . .

Absolutely..Where is Canonero II? He won the Derby and the Preakness (In record time), finished 4th in the Belmont and came back the following year and beat Riva Ridge..Not bad for $1200 and a crooked leg.

Yeah ... it is pretty boring over there without me ... isn't it?

Point Given, and Empire Maker dead heat

Yeah...and here pretty boring WITH you.

It seems there are a lot of young folks on this board, don't you think?

Me for example...I'm still trying to figure out what I want to be when I grow up!
These are indeed a lot of fun...lots of different ideas and you can tell about folks' age by their picks! I'm still lobbying for Kincsem to be included...lol!

Regardless of the age distribution ... the feeling here is much more adult. That's thing which distinguishes this forum from the other one ...

... an almost complete absence of hysteria.

Lots of rambunctiousness and contentious arguments ... but no screeching harpies ... and certainly the harpies aren't actually running the show here ... the way they are there.

This place is almost serene by comparison ... and all the credit goes to Steve ... because a board inevitably reflects the character of its management.

www.kyderby.com - you cant watch the replays of Derby's