Most Overrated Horses
 

I’d say Songbird. What say you?

I wouldn't put Songbird high up on the list of overrated horses although she certainly wasn't very fast based on speed figures. There seemed to have been a lot of people on these boards that found her suspect based on those speed figures during her 3yo year as opposed to overrating her. In the end she didn't loose too many races and can't be accused of ducking a top race (until her owner pulled the plug).

I was impressed with her race in the BC Distaff against a genuinely good horse (Beholder) but it was a great disappointment that she didn't progress as a 4yo. She obviously had some physical issues to explain why. On the plus side, she made her 4yo debut in a Grade 1 across the country from where she was stabled and IIRC the race produced something like 3 or 4 subsequent Grade 1 winners.

Dollar Bill and Bellamy Road

Bellamy Road actually might be one of the single most underrated horses of my racing lifetime.

I see this differently ( for instance, Dollar Bill is actually underrated, as he was one of the best horses in his crop and people on message boards do nothing but dump on him like he was a $25K claimer ) than most. Songbird was overrated....she was also ( in the grand scheme of things ) a fantastic horse. She just wasn't an all-time great like some people want to suggest....but she was damn good. The true question is whether or not these horses are as good as their reputations....at least to me.

Tacitus is a funny one, as some of us overrated him ( myself included ) while others dramatically underrate him. He's a very polarizing horse. Zenyatta was as well ( polarizing that is ). She was tremendous, but overly deified by some, and unfortunately she passed on too many races where she very well might have proven herself worthy of many of her accolades. Rachel Alexandra was far superior to her....but only for one year, while Zenyatta did it for three. Different discussions.

Zenyatta
Azeri
Paseana
Maximum Security
American Pharoah
Big Brown
Arrogate
Medaglia d'Oro
Midnight Bisou
Sightseek
Havre de Grace
Close Hatches
Aptitude
Manistique

Can a horse be both overrated and underrated?

Commentator

Worst list ever.

And for the delusional speed figure people, why don’t you look at how many times ZENYATTA and Songbird ran, how many times they won, how many grade One wins they had and then maybe wake up and smell the coffee. Did you see what Songbird did to those fillies at Saratoga ? She drowned them all and broke their spirit. Rachel ducked Zenyatta at Hot Springs because her connections knew better then to try the Queen on for size.

More laziness.

Songbird broke their spirits? They were allowance runners at best. Look at the fields she beat beat. She was fortunate to be a 2 year old and 3 year old during the worst two years for that age group in recent memory. The only times she faced real horses she lost both times with cake trips.

He’s an interesting pick. What was overrated about him? Brilliant sprint speed and was able to carry it 9 furlongs in the Whitney not once but twice.

Melted at wildly short odds multiple times. Brittle as heck. Only ran once in the BC and got waxed.

At the same time, he ran HUGE races and over an extended period of time. That’s why I’m saying overrated and underrated at the same time.

I think you are confusing unreliable with overrated.

Could be.

I’ll offer up Kitten’s Joy.

What about him? He was a monster

Ashado

She won a lot of races and a lot of money, but, as a figure maker, I found her unimpressive.

She faced decent opposition (Stellar Jayne, Storm Flag Flying, Society Selection and others) but nothing spectacular.

I had her on my list originally, but ultimately thought she had been exposed enough times to not be severely overrated.

She did win the BC as a 3yo and those 2 rivals from her crop that you mentioned were in good form in the summer of the 3yo year. For a Pletcher trainee, she did more as a 4yo than I would have anticipated...

Gotta go with California Chrome.

Although, I’d love to see more horses run 20+ times.

Chrome was not overrated. Horse competed for many years and won tons of graded races. Wish they all ran like him

He’s another whose fans were so ridiculous it kind of made him overrated, but his 5 year old season was strong.

Yeah, that’s really why I mentioned him. It’s nothing about him. His fans just took it to a different level.

But he was a very good horse.

It was much more commentary on his fans than on him. I also wish they all ran like him.

I like this choice. Leave him alone up front and he was brilliant. But pressure him and it was usually a different story.

I'd say Justify.

What races was he not left alone and wilted? The Woodward when Dutrow’s TWO rabbits pressured him from the inside and outside?

I think BTW put it well saying he was unreliable. I don’t ever remember people talking about him a certain way. But his fragility was well known. When he was right, good luck beating him. When he wasn’t...well he was very beatable.

I’m just not sure how when you’re one of three horses ever to win the Whitney multiple times and the other two are Kelso and Discovery you can be overrated.

To your point, all his bad defeats were followed up by layoffs of 3 months or more (usually more).

Better than Powerscourt?

Recents include Tacitus the under achieving winner of not many. Cloud Computing who benefitted from bad rides from the opposition . Going back a little Empire maker and Easy Goer. Ran ok in New York, but failed on the road and vs top competition, like Sunday Silence.

Do you have a vagina?

Rock Hard Ten

Orb

That’s actually a pretty good one. I feel like a big part of his reputation was because physically he was so big. Never really lived up to the hype.

Completely agree. Not only big but beautiful and perfect.

So much more was assumed I think just because of that.

Why’d you delete your post? Based on your response and then deleting it I think we know the answer.

I think I forgot about what he did after the Triple Crown. Malibu, Strub, Big Cap was pretty strong

No doubt. But to me overrated can also mean not living up to expectations.

He only started 11 times.

I was in CA at the time and he was talked about as being a SUPER HORSE.

Need a much more extensive resume for that.

Was agreeing with Vic.

You know what I’m talking about. Man up for once

IMO it's inconceivable a horse could win the Triple Crown and be overrated.

I think competition matters. I'd argue that if either Sunday Silence or Easy Goer didn't exist, the other would be regarded much higher than they already are. I think Easy Goer might be proclaimed as the best horse ever had there been no Sunday Silence.

Horses like Smarty Jones, Alysheba, Point Given, even Real Quiet, these horses don't have the status in history that Justify does because he won the TC but they didn't have the advantage of facing the patsies he did. A horse like Risen Star doesn't get the credit he should get because he lost the Derby to Winning Colors and Forty Niner but in my eyes, he was much better than Justify. Justify was a really good horse. No question about that but I think the accomplishment makes people think he's better than some horses that didn't accomplish the same thing because they faced better competition.