2004 Woodward- Zapper vs Liam

[todko]

Originally Posted by miles2135

I watch this race from time to time and knowing what we know now this should go down as one of the top races in history. Neither of these horses had made a huge name for themself (St liam was nobody and GZ had some respect) at the time so the race never got the respect that it deserved. But seeing these two BCC champions and consecutive HOY winners duel in such dramatic fashion is something special. The time that is was run in was also something special.....the two dueled through fractions of 23.1 45.3 108.3 133.5 and finishing the 1 1/8 race in 1:46. Check the video out on NYRA's website under the video archive section

St. Liam might have been one of the most underrated horses of the last few decades. He wasn't the most professional and took GZ way wide but that horse could run.

St. Liam was odd though in that he only ran as fast as the top competition. He never really crushed fields but it was obvious that he could have. And he threw in a clunker out west.

That's why I didn't get off so much on this year's BCC -- it was a weak field compared to the last few years. St. Liam (not to mention GZ) would have crucified that field.

You see hype like Bernardini (never broke 1:35 in a mile race or 1:50 in a 9f race) get $100k in the shed and Liam starts off at $25k or so. And then people wonder why the breed has gone to hell.