Young horses can fool you. You can work them alone, in company, whatever, and they don't show you much. So you don't think they are MSW class horse, especially if you didn't spend a lot for them (the Ramseys spent $20K), and you run them for a price. And in GQ's case, he just barely won, so it would have seemed that that was where he fit.
The new owner didn't turn him into a stakes horse immediately, either. It wasn't until December, after 7 starts, that GQ showed he might be a SW in waiting. Many of the higher profile trainers would have given up on him long ago, sent him down to the minors.
The high-class West Coast mare Manta (12 stakes wins, including 3 that were later G1 when grading came in) began her career in a MCl race, where she aired: she just hadn't been that impressive in her prep work.
Brass Hat started in a MCl race because his connections thought he needed a race, nothing else was in the book, and that no one was likely to claim a Prized gelding without any form.
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