Greatest Living Racehorse?
 

With pitchers and catchers reporting, it got me thinking about how Joe Dimaggio required he be introduced as "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" and of course my mind wondered to who is the "Greatest Living Racehorse"? It always seemed to me that the title of the "The Greatest Living Ballplayer" was more out of respect for the old guy who was still upright, and not a title was representative of the truly "best" living player. Using that as a basis (and the fact the HRTV documentary about him was on last night, which got me thinking even more about this question) is it safe to say that Cigar is the "Greatest Living Racehorse"?

First one to come to my mind...

Of course the "you-know-who" will arriving shortly to disagree :rolleyes:

Hate to be specific, but might benefit you to declare the greatest living AMERICAN horse.

Absolutely, positively, no question - the unconquerable, invincible, unbeatable CIGAR

Cigar was a great ambassador for racing. He raced all over the US and won the inaugural Dubai World Cup.

It all depends on how you define greatest. Do you just look at a horse's record, such as how many Grade 1 races they won in a row? Do you extend the examination to include how many new fans are created by a particular horse?

I think they should go by how many friends they have on Facebook

Ghostzapper

zenyatta duh...

Holy Bull

Tiznow was pretty good. Won more BC Classics than Cigar.

But, I think it all comes back to the 2nd part of the equation... The "respect" factor. Back to Joe D, Willie Mays was better, but didn't get the "tag". Holy Bull is a good call, but that is the Ted Williams argument... Didn't win the big one...16 straight wins, the Breeders' Cup at Belmont, the performance in Dubai... It has got to be Cigar!

Who is "greater" out there?

I think Sadlers Wells is still alive, at the ripe old age of 30.

AP Indy is still kicking.

I can think of many horses that were better than Cigar, though obviously less accomplished.

Sadler's Wells, while pretty good, didn't really light the world on fire as a racehorse.

Sea The Stars

GZ is the best still around in my opinion.

The conversation would get interesting if you looked at sprinters. Who is the best living sprinter?

Storm Cat

Is not breeding part of being a racehorse?

I suppose not, but expectations for him were tremendous and he was one of the most highly anticipated new stallions I ever remember going to stud.

I don't remember all the details from 26 years ago, but he was regarded to be quite exceptional.

I can think of better though.

:tro::tro::tro::tro: