Quote:
Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin
Another great horse was Perrault. He was a grade I winner on both the dirt and the grass. You don't see too many horses these days winning grade I races on both the dirt and the grass.
Here is the famous 1982 Santa Anita Handicap where Perrault beat John Henry by a nose and got disqualified. I think the calll was correct. The head-on shows that Perrault came out several paths in the stretch and made contact with John Henry.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9gre1rB88 |
Perrault was certainly a very good horse - and he was excllent on both surfaces for a stretch over 6 months time in '82.
What's crazy about the 80's is that foal crops were absolutely gigantic in volume, the largest of any decade - that combined with the fact that horses seemed a lot more durable - seemed to make competition so solid in the major races in relation to what it is today.
There was a horse I looked at named Peat Moss - who was a close 2nd to John Henry in a 500K Grade 1 on dirt at 50/1 odds - this horse made 29 starts in a span of just over 15 months time .. ran at distances as far as 2.25 miles on two seperate occasions .. and carried as much weight as 145lbs.
