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I'm sure this poster would say that he remembers all the annoying people who thought Barbaro was rather unimpressive in victory that day....and tried to convince him of that minutes after the race. ('Sup DrugS)
A few minutes after the race he made a 'Great Point' that Barbaro got very sloppy with his action late, and the big close by the 2nd place finisher was a total illusion, as he was never going to pass Barbaro. However, to suggest that Barbaro winning the Holy Bull over a certified bum was a top moment of the year, that is certainly no Great Point if you ask me.
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That does sound both compelling and vaguely familiar.
The reason it was a top moment for me was that in his first three races, all turf, I already considered him to be the best turf horse I've seen since Kotashaan, which put him in the top three turf horses I've witnessed since I started watching this sport (1984). Since he was just a two year old and I already considered him on the same level as Manila and Kotashaan, I was excited that with his potential to run on dirt (pedigree wise) that he might do similarly on dirt.
While his performance in the Holy Bull was not as visually pleasing as his turf races, I really thought it was entirely better than what most other people seemed to think. Besides what you already quoted me on above, I also felt it was a tall task for him to make his first start off the turf on a muddy track where he'd have a bunch of goop thrown in his face. In the end, I came away with the impression that he really did win alot easier than people gave him credit for and that his future on dirt was enormous (though I felt he was better on turf).
Also considering that he still hadn't put together a completely professional race through his first four starts at that point, I saw a huge upside to him and that he'd just keep improving. Again, in the Florida derby, he showed his tendency to run on the wrong lead at various points in the stretch and once he and his connections figured that out, I fully expected him to be untouchable.
You saw what happened when he finally did run professionally. That was in Kentucky.
After the Holy Bull was run, my only hesitation on that horse was his weird spacing of races and the planned schedule for him leading up to the derby. Otherwise, I saw him as unbeatable come Kentucky and also very likely to sweep the triple crown. That was even with the obvious up and comer named Bernardini looming in the background.
I get a thrill for some reason when a young lightly raced horse that I've fallen in love with meets and overcomes a likely obstacle, such as a turf horse going to the dirt.