Quote:
Originally Posted by Calzone Lord
It does.
If you study Harbinger's best race (140) VS Frankel's (147) you'll see true absurdity.
Harbinger was undefeated at age 4 and had four Group wins that season -- in his 140 in the King George he won by 11 lengths.
* Second place finisher Cape Blanco was a 5-time Group 1 winner and came here and dominated our turf divison.
* Third place finisher Youmzain (beaten 14+ lengths) made over $5.3 million in earnings and was twice 2nd in the Arc.
* 4th place finisher Daraykana (beaten 15 lengths) was a Group 1 winner and had just been beaten a neck in Group 1 last out.
* 5th place finisher Workforce (Beaten 17 lengths) won the Arc next time out and had won the English Derby earlier in the year.
He also ran 5.41 full seconds faster (or about 33 full lengths) than the winner of the very next race on the same day at the same distance.
This all happened under perfect weather conditions and ground just like Frankel's win.
Both races were tremendously fast -- clearly the two fastest turf races I've ever seen that were clean (had a companion race to compare against on the same card and distance) 147 VS 140 would not jive on an American style figure. It's nonsense fueled by reputation of the winner.
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Doug,
You could pick so many holes in this logic, if I have time I'll propoerly respond - it was a fantastic performance by Harbinger but not absolutely unbelievable and - on the other hand Frankels was extraordinary and it was an absolutely privilege for me to be there at Ascot on Tuesday for it.