They are sending over the possible favorite for the Mile in Excellent Art. That's probably a big factor in the decision. The second is that they have made it no secret that they would love to have a Danehill runner that has some success on the dirt. Why do you think they brought Dylan Thomas over for the JCGC last year? What do you think they ran Oratorio in the Classic a couple of years ago? Both of those runners would have had very good chances in the grass races but instead, they were run on dirt. The Coolmore operation looks at the bigger picture instead of just trying to win a trophy. They aren't in the racing for the purse of winning the Mile. They are going to try again with him in the shed and even if he didn't win, imagine if he finished in front of Street Sense or Curlin and it could be mentioned on his resume that he was not only one of the top grass milers in the world but also versatile enough to beat out an American classic winner on the dirt? Sometimes, there are bigger pictures than just trying to find the best spot to win.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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