Both horses had (have in the case of Smokey) a world of talent.
LITF was a lot more polished of a race horse than SS....and he had better natural speed...and that speed is certainly a weapon in sprints.
Smokey has really always been a monster talent...but, he had bad habits out of the gate, often would draw an inside post, and somehow seemed to find himself having one bad trip after another for a string of several races there.
Another SS (Street Sense) has developed a habit of getting one dream trip after another and seeming to be a super lucky horse---Smokey was almost the complete opposite...every race, win or lose, he'd leave you with the impression he was so much the best.
Lately, he's breaking clean, and his bad habits have gone away....and while some people might not want to hear it....I actually think he's got even a little more talent than LITF had....he certainly didn't have all the intangibles, but he's really become a better gate horse lately, and he's the best sprinter in the land when he doesn't get himself in trouble.
I annoyed the hell out of some people by talking him up after he was running races that wouldn't look impressive on paper. I told people on another board that he could win the Breeders Cup Sprint, and was the right bet if he made the race last year---they passed the Breeders Cup for a stake at TuP, which he lost to a nice horse in nice time after making things hard for himself. People had fun with me about that....but since that race, he's been nothing short of awesome.
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