Top Thoroughbreds (2000 to present)
 

In 1999, Bloodhorse produced a 'List of the Top 100 U.S. Racehorses of the 20th Century' rating horses who competed from 1900 through 1999.

The list was assembled by a 7 person panel made up of two racing secretaries, two stewards, and three writers (Jay Hovdey, William Nack, and Jennie Rees)

The list was so badly flawed in a lot of ways... but it could have been a lot worse.

Only 2 horses who raced at all from 1900 through 1912 made the top 93. Colin (#15) and Sysonby (#30)

Hermis was a very odd exclusion from the top 100. Hermis was the Horse of All Ages (or Horse of the Year) in both 1902 and 1903 -- and he was the retrospective champion handicap horse of 1904. He won the single most important race of his day (The Suburban Handicap) in front of over 50,000 people in stakes record time. He also won the Travers and a lot of other important races as well over a career that saw him win 28 of 55 career starts.

Historically , these ratings have come down to nothing more than impressions, press focus, win/loss records, and success in famous races.

The 3-year-old male division has always been the glamor division...and there has been nothing at all glamorous about its leaders since 2000. Other than Zenyatta, this will likely be an utterly forgotten about collection of horses when any lists are compiled in the year 2099.


Here are my current rankings for the top horses by division from 2000 to present based on North American form.


2yo Male: Uncle Mo, War Pass, Macho Uno, Stevie Wonderboy
2yo Female: Tempera, Storm Flag Flying, Halfbrideld, My Miss Aurelia
2yo Turf Male: Barbaro, Peace Rules, Interactif, Cowboy Cal
2yo Turf Female: Dreaming of Anna, J'Ray, Fantastic Filly, Winter Memories
2yo Male Sprinter: Officer, Came Home, Afleet Alex, Roman Ruler
2yo Female Sprinter: Cashier's Dream, Beholder, You, Hot Dixie Chick,

3yo Male: Smarty Jones, Tiznow, Point Given, Bernardini
3yo Female: Rachel Alexandra, Rags To Riches, Blind Luck, Royal Delta
3yo Turf Male: Kitten's Joy, Conduit, High Chaparral, Rock Of Gibraltor,
3yo Turf Female: Banks Hill, Ouija Board, Goldikova, Six Perfections
3yo Male Sprinter: Caller One, Squirtle Squirt, Lost In The Fog, Cajun Beat
3yo Female Sprinter: Xtra Heat, Indian Blessing, Madcap Escapade, Lady Tak
Older Male: Ghostzapper, Mineshaft, Medaglia D' Oro, Congaree
Older Female: Zenyatta, Azeri, Havre De Grace, Riboletta,
Older Turf Male: Fantastic Light, Leroidesanemeaux, Wise Dan, English Channel,
Older Turf Female: Godikova, Ouija Board, Golden Apples, Voodoo Dancer
Older Male Sprinter: Kona Gold, Midnight Lute, Swept Overboard, Fabulous Strike
Older Female Sprinter: Groupie Doll, Xtra Heat, Honest Lady, Informed Decision,

Given how US racing has moved towards sprinters its a weak group of sprinters there, I mean Cajun Beat and LITF are nice horses but hardly the type I think would have competed with the horses of the 80's and 90's.

Those are 3-year-old sprinters.

A lot of potentially top class 3yo sprinters are ruined by their connections who try to impose their will on these horses to make them routers.

In rare cases (Afleet Alex for instance) -- trainers can be successful on imposing their will and transforming a horse who really just wants to sprint into becoming a top class route horse.

In some cases -- horses will survive their failed attempts to be made into a router and revert back to sprinting with great success. Groovy, Artax etc. etc. etc.

I doubt Groupie Doll could have beaten Xtra Heat very often at 6f.

Trinniberg, though of course it was only one route race.

I would agree -- though Xtra Heat's best form came in the second half of her 3yo season...where she utterly exploded number wise.

Comparing her 4 and up form with Groupie Doll's 4 and up form, I give a slight edge to Groupie Doll.

That's a great compilation. I am curious, though, why Lava Man doesn't survive the cut for older male.

It's Ghostzapper and everyone else in the category of older male form.

Ghostzapper was utterly sensational in every start at age 4 and up.

Slots 2 through about 15 aren't separated by much. A horse like Invasor probably has the strongest claim of all that have missed the cut... though if you excuse Lava Man's non So. Cal form ... he's strongly in the mix with several others.

Horses like Curlin and Tiznow are hurt by the divisional structure ... both of them are strongly in the hunt for the claim of best 3yo ... and both of them had successful 4yo seasons...though not good enough to make the top 4 on their older horse form IMO.

Tiznow and Curlin would rate above Mineshaft imo from a generic sense ... but not on a strict comparison of age 4 and up form VS age 4 and up form.

I hear you. He's in good company to be with the likes of Invasor in not making the cut.

Artax was far from being just a sprinter.

He was probably a better router actually.

I suppose Congaree might be a stretch in the #4 spot ... but he did something truly rare in this last dozen years ... and that is hold top class form for a full calendar year while campaigning extremely hard and traveling all over.




The funny thing about Congaree... people would say "he didn't like 10 furlongs"

He beat the crap out of Harlan's Holiday when he won the Hollywood Gold Cup at 10fs. He was beaten in the last jump by 2-time Big Cap winner Milwuakee Brew in the Big Cap, but it was a big effort. He gave 5lbs to the horse he lost the photo finish to and Pleasantly Perfect was back in 4th with no excuse.

Congaree's 4th in the BC Classic was excellent as well. He dueled Medaglia D' Oro hard from the outside the whole way, through fast fractions, and was right there at the finish.

Candy Ride should have been included in older males, and probably older turf males too.

A claim made on impression that can't be backed up.

His lack of durability hurt him.

Well, you really can't back up anything you assert in this thread.

However, he did break his maiden by like 10 going long.

His next start, he lost the HP Futurity to Real Quiet by a nose or so.

His early 3yo season form, all routes, was outstanding, all while developing anemia and being trained by Randy Bradshaw, perhaps the worst trainer in Southern California history. By the time the classics rolled around, he was a wreck.

Anyone who races a horse while knowing its anemic should receive electro shock therapy.

Do you need me to define anemia for you? His races against RQ and IC at that time were utterly fantastic considering.

Really? Seriously?

Shall I go through your list and see how many I can apply that statement to?

Candy Ride would have smoked almost every single horse on your list, and you know it.

How durable was Bodemeister, btw?

It's a shame Artax was wasted in sprint races, I suppose.

When he was drilling superstar sprinters like Kona Gold and Big Jag while breaking Mr. Prospector's track record at GP and running monster number after monster number ... he could have been doing so much more in route races.

Bodemeister isn't on the list. I rated him the 4th best 3yo since 2010 even though I think he was the most talented.

Candy Ride had one great performance on dirt and one on turf ... part of being a great horse means coming back from big performances and repeating them.

Consider who owned Artax. Not exactly known for having the welfare of the horse as a top priority.

Artax's final race was the 1999 Breeders Cup Sprint, if anyone is wondering why he's not on the list of sprinters.

Indian Charlie's list would be made up of mostly all cripples. Which is fine, if you don't consider durability an important trait.

That's not my point at all, and you know that.

He was an all around freak. I don't know how he'd have done on turf, but he reminded me a bit of Ack Ack, a forgotten wonder horse.

Kind of like the horses above in bold?

Yeah, I know Bodemeister wasn't on THAT list, but you did put him on the other list. I didn't realize you changed your criteria from one list to the other though. My bad.

Also, part of being a great horse is being able to run races that nobody else can duplicate. I'd hardly call most of those horses on your list 'great'.

Maybe you meant to say something else instead of great, as the title of your thread would suggest.

Top thoroughbreds.

You are being silly if you really believe Candy Ride was not better than some of those you listed.

No.

For starters ... Uncle Mo, War Pass, and Stevie Wonderboy were healthy for their entire 2yo season.

Only an idiot considers the after career when they rate 2-year-olds.

You rate 2yo's on 2yo form.

if you're going to list gz, i guess you could also include candy ride. he had 11 lifetime starts, not a picture of good health and soundness.

His Pacific Classic might be rated better than their best race.

He has no body of work though. Just an alw race, a good turf win, and a great effort on dirt in the Pac Classic.

Is Bo Jackson rated better than Emmit Smith?

Ghostzapper is going to be rated a clear-cut #1 on the list of anyone with any credibility.

He has five sensational races from five starts as an older horse...ranging from 7f to 10f ... shipped from New York, to New Jersey, to Texas.

Candy Ride's alw win on dirt was nothing special. His turf win was very good, but hardly great. His Pacific Classic was his breakout race. He never returned after it.

Here is the contrast between Ghostzapper and Candy Ride:

Ghostzapper:



He got herded out to the hotdog stand by Saint Liam in the Woodward and probably would have been the winner via DQ had he not won the race. It was a LONG way back to 3rd.


Candy Ride:



An alw race, a turf race, a huge Pacific Classic win in a small field and he never came back from it.

Please show these PPs again but include the first three finishers.

Ghostzapper's races are OBVIOUSLY better, as charts are in LARGE, EASY TO READ print. Candy Ride, I have to squint and use a magnifying glass;)

Ghostzapper's wins:

Met Mile over Silver Wagon and Sir Shackleton

BC Classic over Roses in May and Pleasantly Perfect

Woodword over Saint Liam and Bowman's Band (Groupie Doll's sire)

Iselin over Presidentialaffair and Zoffinger

Tom Fool over Aggadan and Unforgettable Max


Candy Ride's wins:

Pacific Classic win over Medaglia D' Oro and Fleetstreet Dancer.

American Handicap win over Special Ring and Irish Warrior

Alw race over Primerica and Bonus Pay Day

I sent Indian Charlie a ton of PP's for good foreign horses. My computer crashed a few months later. He has them and I don't.

This is all I have left for Candy Ride:

I like most of the lists. A few horses that I would consider for inclusion:

2YO male sprinter: Cuvee.

2YO turf filly: Melhor Ainda.

3YO turf male: War Chant.

Older male sprinter: Speightstown.

Coincidence? Doubt it.

I'm with you on Ghostzapper. Just wish he could have run more frequently.

That is just being ridiculous.

Look at the gaps from 2nd place to 3rd place in those races. All of those races fractured.

That is just being ridiculous.

His precociousness kept him competitive at routes when he was young. He would have had little shot later on at top levels in routes.

Why did Candy Ride have 3 different jockeys in the 3 US starts?
Its not like the horse lost or the other jocks had better mounts

This PP shows Candy ride as the #2 and Megdalio D'Oro in bold. Was this a 2003 BC Classic early edition?