Most underrated horse
 

I'm talking all-time. It seems that these days the world has to do "Mount Rushmore" and crap like that in every sport. But there have been some incredible horses that don't necessarily get mentioned with the all-time greats enough in my opinion.

I'm going with Affirmed. Man his 4-year-old season was incredible.

My Big Boy

50 10 12 10 $1,196,102

he was a workhorse blue collar type

Saginaw :{>:
41 21 6 3 $974K

Personally I think Eclipse doesn’t get enough credit.

Wise Dan

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Another one I’ll throw out there: Lady’s Secret

Was Ruffian actually better than her?

Seriously?

Go for Wand. I don’t think there are many horses that can be fast enough to run 7f in 1:21, come back just nine days later and run 10f in 2:00 4/5, then return a month later and go 9f in 1:45 4/5 (close to Secretariat’s track record). I was devastated when she broke down in the Distaff but people forget that she was going toe to toe with Bayakoa, a damn good horse in her own right. That Go for Wand did all that as a 3yo filly was incredible.

I would also submit Lammtarra for consideration. Few know of him because he only ran in Europe and only ran four times. But consider this:

-Broke his maiden in October of his 2yo season

-Didn’t run again for seven months then won the Epsom Derby in his first start as a 3yo (track record I believe)

-Won the King George next

-Won the Arc

Can't wrap my head around what the criteria is for being considered "underrated".

So far, based on the horses named, the only criteria I could come up with is the horse has to be considered a Top 100 Racehorses of all time...

Affirmed 12
Ruffian 35
Go For Wand 72
Lady's Secret 76
Lammtarra 11
Wise Dan 81

Loved her too.
But look again at 1980...The Bid
No one has ever had a better year!!!

Invasor.

Worth a discussion IMO…especially with nothing else going on he board.

Who do you got, Personal Ensign or Lady’s Secret?

If we are talking about good horses that rarely make a Top 100 list:

Paradise Creek
Manila
Singspiel
Kotashaan
Fantastic Light
Steinlen
Formal Gold
Forty Niner
Chief's Crown
Gulch
Broad Brush
Lost Code
Snow Chief
Flawlessly

I like this list.

I was a big fan of Roses In May, winner of the Whitney and Dubai World Cup, and second in the Donn (Saint Liam) & Breeders Cup Classic (Ghostzapper).

:tro:

Conquistador Cielo
Be Bullish
Spooky Molder
Storm Flag Flying
Storm Cat
Dubai Millennium
Calibrachoa
Discreet Cat
Fu Peg
Xtra Heat

Dubai Millennium is one of the highest rated UK runners of all time (I think he's in Timeform's top ten & was #36 in a UK/Irish Top 100 I looked up).

Also, Fantastic Light is also rated a lot higher than I thought (was number 40 on the same UK/Irish list).

I'll switch him out for Sahkee.

Timely Writer

Have been exploring this topic with the 'Horse That Time Forgot' segments.. Am going to make it a more regular and formal feature. Amazing how many near-greats there have been that aren't more 'well recalled'.

A hard-to-define topic. Some horses captivate us, others not so much. How do you describe and define underrated? Underappreciated? Underexposed? I loved Precious Passion. Was he great or underrated, or did I love watching him run as fast as he could as long as he could? You could argue what gave him a high profile overrated his actual results on track. I thought Dehere was a monster when he was running. He never ran super fast. He beat a meh champagne field and lost at 3/5 in BC, but for me, he was great—just a hard topic to define.
'

Tiznow seemed to be a pretty decent horse and I think he might still be the only 2 time Breeder's Cup Classic winner.

I agree, and I personally think of it more as underappreciated. Like if you took his record and hid his name and put it up against a similar but better-known horse you'd be surprised when the underappreciated horse's name was revealed.

It’s not really underrated but I always wonder where Easy Goer or Sunday Silence would rank if the other didn’t exist? Especially Easy Goer because he was an East Coast runner and he won the more prestigious races. With what his resume would have looked like as a TC winner along with the BC Classic, Travers, Wood, and the other races, I have a feeling he would be ranked top five.

I know there are many more you could say similar things about, especially horses that won the Derby/Preakness and lost the Belmont. Winning a TC would raise any horse’s profile. Imagine how much higher Smarty Jones would be. Real Quiet was so close to immortality. Risen Star would be looked at much more favorably.

Of course, they could have also simply run full campaigns as older horses & ranked up there alongside Spectacular Bid, Swaps, Alysheba, or Riva Ridge. Even Silver Charm is rated pretty highly.

How about a blast from the past

Bold N Determined

Underrated is an understatement

Wow, thanks for that history lesson!

I love how she never lost a stakes after an Allowance race 'prep.'

Good one; in a similar vein:

GOODBYE HALO

BANSHEE BREEZE

BEAUTIFUL PLEASURE - a bit inconsistent but obviously top class

LIFE'S MAGIC - wonder how her record would look if she focused on her division; 8 of 32 starts were against top class males