English Channel- Track Record

[randallscott35]

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

Being better than weak competition is nowhere close to greatness. English Channel is an exceptionally good horse, who has kept his form for a long time now, and he's a commendable racehorse. However, he has never overcome a scintilla of adversity or beaten a particularly good horse. No, it's not his fault the competition has been weak, but he has failed to deliver even a marginally good effort in his three biggest races....the Arlington Million and two BC Turfs.

Take a look at some of the races Theatrical and Manila ran back in the late 80s. I'm not sure they were great....but they would have devoured English Channel. Theatrical won six or seven Grade 1s in 1987, from February through November, and Manila easily bested him in that year's Arlington Million ( unfortunately his last start ). Now those were really exceptional horses.

Semantics. My fault.

[blackthroatedwind]

It's really just a pet peeve of mine...the way " great " is thrown around. And, having seen some truly remarkable horses over the years it bothers me the casualness with which people throw around the term. I feel insulted for the few great ones there were that they are thrown into the same category as so many lessers we have seen recently. These days we don't even get a chance to find out if a horse is great, as they get retired so quickly, and for that reason I guess we should be happy English Channel is still around.