I'm not a believer that they know they are running against a certain rival and try harder or less based on that fact. That's why I'm not a big proponent of running horses in lesser races in order to face weaker competition. I think they are natural competitors that will usually do as much as the rider allows them to do in a race. I get frustrated when I see people say a horse should skip race A and go in race B because race B will be an easier race. Like there is really that much difference in a horse having to run a 1:35 mile or a 1:37 mile. To go 1:35 means u go an average speed of 37.9 miles per hour. To go 1:37 means u go 37.1 mph. U have to run hard either way.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020)
Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine
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