The field is cut in half in terms of legitimate contenders by having it on synthetics.
Not every turf horse is going to try to synthetic Classic
All the dirt-only horses have no chance, even if they do try
Cut out the Eastern based G1 dirt horses because the record of the BC shows they have never won on a Pro-Ride BC race, and cut out the turf horses who choose to race in the Turf Classic,
And you have one watered down field filled with a couple of superb turf horses (Gio Ponti, Twice Over)
Eastern-based dirt horses who have no chance
(Summer Bird, Mine That Bird, Regal Ransom, and others)
Then you have the Southern California older horse division (lol)
(Colonel John, Richard's Kid)
Then you have Zenyatta, who can pull off 112ish beyers on any surface.
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