[King Glorious]

Only considering U.S. dirt horses and in no order:

Alysheba
Risen Star
Sunday Silence
AP Indy
Holy Bull
Thunder Gulch
Point Given
Smarty Jones
Bernardini
Curlin
Lion Heart
Fusaichi Pegasus
Easy Goer
Winning Colors
Forty Niner
Seeking the Gold
Bet Twice
Java Gold
King Glorious
Touch Gold
Dinard
Serena's Song
Go for Wand
Lost Code
Coronado's Quest

Most notable absences are Tiznow, Silver Charm, and Real Quiet. I have always felt that Silver Charm was just a little overrated. Very good horse but I felt he was a lucky winner of the Preakness and it should have been Touch Gold that was the dual-classic winner that year and if that would have been the case, I think SC would be left off a lot more people's lists. If Silver Charm goes on, you almost have to put Free House and Captain Bodgit on too. I sort of feel like in 1997 and 1998, they had several really good horses but that they were very much like 2007 in that they were good and very competitive but no real superstars and so I only took the one I thought was the best one from each of these three years. Real Quiet got really good for the TC but those were his only two wins of the year and really, if you want to put him on there, Coronado's Quest also has to be on there since he beat Victory Gallop twice too (Haskell and Travers) in addition to wins in the Wood, Dwyer, and to show he could sprint too, the Riva Ridge. Tiznow just doesn't make it for me. He ran a great race to win the BC but that was over a grass horse. The rest of his campaign doesn't put him on the list for me.

I think the three that most will question on my lists are King Glorious, Dinard, and Lion Heart. I admit that Lion Heart is a stretch. I just thought he was more naturally talented than many people give him credit for. I wish he hadn't broken his leg in the Travers. I thought for sure with the way that race was unfolding that he was going to win it then not as many people would be questioning me putting him on here. Many people don't remember Dinard but he was better than Best Pal. He had beaten Best Pal in the San Rafael and the SA Derby and would have been the favorite for the 1991 Kentucky Derby but an injury took him out. Best Pal ended up a very close second that year. He also beat Olympio in that SA Derby and Olympio won the Arkansas Derby and the Malibu that year. King Glorious was just the best horse that's run in the past 20 years so I don't need to make his case for him.

One horse that was a tougher choice for me than probably for most was Risen Star. Just how good was he? I know a lot of people thought that he could have won the Derby with a better trip but on the flip side, was he really the best horse in the Preakness when he got a perfect trip? The Belmont was a tour de force for him but that's often a race where only one horse is ready to run and it's often a runaway and not indicative of the actual talent levels of the horses. EG was not really eight lengths better than SS. Bet Twice is not over 15 lengths better than Alysheba. It's a good thing Risen Star beat Forty Niner in the Lexington or else I'm not sure he makes it.