[blackthroatedwind]

Lukas gave Azeri a chance to show everyone, and I was a non-believer before he got her, just how good she really was.

Horses often show more in defeat than they do in victory. Lukas gave her a chance to lose. Compare it to testing in college, where the tests are designed so that nobody can get a perfect score, and the scores are graded on a curve. You learn little about a student's true capabilities when they get a perfect score. One person's 100 is not the same as another's per se.

If you put Zenyatta and Rachel Alexandra together on the racetrack, especially in a situation that is reasonably fair for both, you will learn much more about them than we did this past Saturday. In all likelihood, both will emerge with their reputations furthered.