What were the best stretch duels of all time?

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

Good catch

Can you imagine a time when the best horses actually raced against other and didnt need 2 months off or a specific surface or set up to run?

It seems as though when the great horses are talked about Alysheba's name is always mentioned yet Ferdinand's isnt. Which is a shame because they were really as close a matched pair of horses that there could be.

Ferdinand lost too many close ones. I think he only ended up with maybe 8 career victories. In addition to his close loses to both Broad Brush and Alysheba, he also got nostrilized by Snow Chief in the Strub if I remember it right. That said, he certainly was a cool horse to watch.

As far as Alysheba goes, in retrospect, how great was his '88 campaign? A lot of layers to it. First, he settled the rivalry started in the '87 BC Classic by beating Ferdinand in back to back races. The middle of the year he spent essentially renewing his rivalry with Bet Twice, losing to him in the resurrected Pimlico Special (Lost Code was there too) but beating him in the Iselin and Meadowlands Cup. The last part of the year, he took on 3yos, beating Forty Niner in the Woodward and Seeking The Gold in the BC Classic. Add in two track record times in the Woodward and Meadowlands Cup at 10f.

He basically beat the best from 3 crops of horses ('86, '87, and '88) in a single season.