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Originally Posted by Linny
Commentator is a very good horse that has been very well managed. Obviously he has "issues" or he'd have run more. That said, Nick has not a fine job of spotting him. Though he only has 3 graded wins, he's rarely run in graded company that was not G1. He was 3rd in the Met Mile etc.
I do agreethat at 9f+ Commentator would be little match for MDO, who has a very high crusing speed and could then put away horses late. In some ways Commenator has been lucky but honestly, it's been luck and hard work that have kept him around this long.
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As much respect as I have for Zito, I don't agree with this. I think that Nick has wasted more than a few efforts with Commentator. He showed early that he's a horse that likes to control things up front and that his natural speed is more dangerous in longer races. He showed that when he beat Saint Liam in the Whitney. But instead of keeping the focus on two-turn races at distances over a mile, he was continously forced into top level sprints where he proved over and over again that he wasn't up to winning. When put back into the Whitney, he dominated. After that race, Zito said he'd look for a two-turn race at 9f and thus came the Mass Cap. It's better that the light came on late instead of never but I wish it had come on earlier.
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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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