Maybe because I was biased towards Soviet Problem, I am giving Cherokee Run more credit than he deserves. However, when analyzing a single performance, I don't think what they had done in their previous few races has much meaning. Cherokee Run may have lost 6 of his last 7 going in and Gulch may have lost his last five going in and been well back in the Derby but that doesn't have anything to do with how he ran in the BC. And I think that in order to be completely fair about Gulch, you have to mention that in those last five loses were races in the Whitney (second to Personal Ensign), Iselin (third to Alysheba and Bet Twice), and Californian (second to Cutlass Reality). When he was sprinting, he was pretty damn good all year long, winning the Met Mile, Carter (1:20 2/5) and Portrero Grande (1:15) along with seconds in the Tom Fool and Vosburgh.
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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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