Who was closer to the Triple Crown...Smarty or Alex?

[ateamstupid]

Originally Posted by pmayjr

Yeah man I'm warning you. Some posters on this site will slay you for posting about hypotheticals. I posted before that even if nothing woulda happened to Barbaro in the Preakness, I think Bernardini would have beaten him that day.

This isn't really a hypothetical.. It's based on stuff that already happened, and is actually one of the smartest and most intriguing posts I've seen on here in a while.

Smarty was unfairly sabotaged in the Belmont, but Afleet Alex ran on a dead rail for most of the Derby, and they both missed the TC by just a length.

I'm gonna give Smarty the slight nod, because the circumstance that cost him the TC is a much more tangible than the one that cost 'Alex. While I don't dispute that the rail was dead that day at CD, who knows how much it cost him and HOW dead it was? Smarty, on the other hand, was clearly sabotaged and it certainly cost him the TC in my eyes.

Very good post.