[Danzig]

also regarding secretariat....it's always difficult to debate this horse and what he did, and did not do. he accomplished quite a lot, his tc races were breathtaking performances. BUT the best horse ever doesn't lose 5 of 21. almost 1/4 of his races were losses. ignoring those would be like ignoring perfect drifts losses on turf when he was a potential hoy candidate--remember that argument by his trainer??

i think you could make the argument that there were ten horses who were better at three than secretariat. of course you could make an argument on just about anything....

so, if you truly thought about it--what ten would there be?

eclipse
colin
man o war--don't forget, this guy was placed ahead of sec on the top 100 by bloodhorse.
seattle slew--unbeated thru the tc, something sec was not.
count fleet
citation
spectacular bid
affirmed--after all, he had to keep beating alydar
war admiral--perfect 8 for 8, including a win in the belmont with one fourth of his hoof ripped off at the start. his preakness was ONE WEEK after the derby (in which he had the second fastest time in that race)-preakness time was two ticks off the track record, and the track was 'good' not fast. and in the belmont, he broke the belmont track record (set by man o war) and equaled the american record for that distance.

now, am i saying i really believe those ten were better??? lol maybe they are, maybe they aren't. my point is you could make that argument. it's all in the eye of the beholder.
secretariat gets most of his laurels due to three races. important races obviously....BUT overall at three?