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Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS
My friend, there was nothing "fair and square" about the Southwest Stakes.
The winner took advantge of an uncontested early lead, through comically slow fractions, over what was unquestionably an inside-speed biased racetrack. That same day, a Lukas maiden parlayed the same circumstances, over the same track, into a jaw-dropping 107 Beyer.
Meanwhile, Hard Spun, who was on the early lead in every career start, was taken in hand hard as soon as the gates opened, rated wide and off the comically slow pace, and raced against the grain of everything.
However, the start prior in the stake at the Fairgrounds---Hard Spun beat Tueflesberg by something like 9 lengths---in that race---things were a lot more fair and a lot more square.
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I have read accounts like yours many times, and just see it differently. I think people have accorded too many excuses to Hard Spun for that effort.
It was simply not a comically slow pace. Of course it wasn't Hard Spun's best race, and I'm not saying Tueflesberg is the better horse.