Best horses of the 1980's by division

[Rupert Pupkin]

I'll give you a horse that may not be quite as accomplished as Ferdinand or Alysheba but when he ran his best, I think Lemhi Gold would have easily beaten either of those horses. He did win Champion Older Horse in 1982.

Lemhi Gold was an absolute freak when he fired. For those of you that have never seen him run, here is a replay of his win in the Grade I Marlboro Cup at Belmont:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovmxhqF-TJk

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

I'll give you a horse that may not be quite as accomplished as Ferdinand or Alysheba but when he ran his best, I think Lemhi Gold would have easily beaten either of those horses. He did win Champion Older Horse in 1982.

Lemhi Gold was an absolute freak when he fired. For those of you that have never seen him run, here is a replay of his win in the Grade I Marlboro Cup at Belmont:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovmxhqF-TJk

Those Vaguely Nobles sure could run.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

Those Vaguely Nobles sure could run.

They were mainly turf horses but Lemhi Gold could run well on either surface.

[dalakhani]

High chaparrel
Islington
Orientate
Ashado
Candy ride
Vindication

[dalakhani]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

High chaparrel
Islington
Orientate
Ashado
Candy ride
Vindication

What did you think of these drugs? Close? Vindy over street sense? Candy ride over mdo? Orientate over fabulous strike? Islington is a pretty underrated mare in my opinion as is ashado.

[keithting]

I am not doubting the remarkable career of Peat Moss - - I'm saying that horses typically ran much more frequently and at longer distances back in the 70's and 80's.

I pulled my old program from 1981 Belmont Stakes day (June 6, 1981) -

1st 1 Mile Dirt
2nd 1 1/4 Mile ITC
3rd 6 F Dirt
4th 1 Mile WTC
5th 1 1/4 Mile ITC
6th 1 1/2 Mile WTC
7th 1 Mile Dirt
8th 1 1/2 Dirt (Won by Summing)
9th 7 F Dirt

[FATPIANO]

Davona Dale..........

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

What did you think of these drugs? Close? Vindy over street sense? Candy ride over mdo? Orientate over fabulous strike? Islington is a pretty underrated mare in my opinion as is ashado.

I think Candy Ride might have been a better horse than MDO (who was a VERY good horse) - but he didn't run often enough.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by monipenny

She foaled Giant's Causeway who of course won 11 Group 1 races and narrowly lost to our only repeat BC Classic winner Tiznow.

Giant's Causeway won a total of 9 races, not all of which were Group 1s, in his entire career.

You might single-handedly keep the red pen industry afloat in this time of economic crisis.

[Rupert Pupkin]

Another great horse was Perrault. He was a grade I winner on both the dirt and the grass. You don't see too many horses these days winning grade I races on both the dirt and the grass.

Here is the famous 1982 Santa Anita Handicap where Perrault beat John Henry by a nose and got disqualified. I think the calll was correct. The head-on shows that Perrault came out several paths in the stretch and made contact with John Henry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9gre1rB88

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

Another great horse was Perrault. He was a grade I winner on both the dirt and the grass. You don't see too many horses these days winning grade I races on both the dirt and the grass.

Here is the famous 1982 Santa Anita Handicap where Perrault beat John Henry by a nose and got disqualified. I think the calll was correct. The head-on shows that Perrault came out several paths in the stretch and made contact with John Henry.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1c9gre1rB88

Perrault was certainly a very good horse - and he was excllent on both surfaces for a stretch over 6 months time in '82.

What's crazy about the 80's is that foal crops were absolutely gigantic in volume, the largest of any decade - that combined with the fact that horses seemed a lot more durable - seemed to make competition so solid in the major races in relation to what it is today.

There was a horse I looked at named Peat Moss - who was a close 2nd to John Henry in a 500K Grade 1 on dirt at 50/1 odds - this horse made 29 starts in a span of just over 15 months time .. ran at distances as far as 2.25 miles on two seperate occasions .. and carried as much weight as 145lbs.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by monipenny

Oh, thanks for correcting my post. That was off the top of my head, but i'm sure u spent countless minutes trying to research and refute my inaccuracies. How sad. It just proves that u are busted, disgusted, and maybe not to be trusted. Have a great day your royal sir.

Off the top of your head? You mean, "over your head".

"Countless minutes". "My inaccuracies" (as though you're OK with them being a staple of your posts).

Priceless stuff.

Going back to Indian Charlie's post on another thread:

"...But there's cause for Concern!"

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by RolloTomasi

Off the top of your head? You mean, "over your head".

"Countless minutes". "My inaccuracies" (as though you're OK with them being a staple of your posts).

Priceless stuff.

Going back to Indian Charlie's post on another thread:

"...But there's cause for Concern!"

LOL. He's actually making a bid for the lead now!!!

[keithting]

Overskate was a great Canadian champion who race primarily in the late 70's, but did win the Jacques Cartier, Jockey Club Cup and the Eclipse Handicaps in 1980.

Also, the filly Goodbye Halo had a gem of a 3-yr old season for Charlie Whittingham back in 1988.

[RolloTomasi]

Originally Posted by monipenny

It's easy to refute what u would neither have the knowledge or vocabulary to come up with on your own. I will have forgotten more about the game then u will ever know. You can ask the General Bob Knight on that one also.

Vocabulary? Hah! Are you being a little self-indulgent because of that silly, misplaced "As a prelude to the aforementioned post..." clause you came up with?

I was being nice when I let that clusterfucl< pass me by (like a guy going down a steep hill with one foot on a banana peel and the other on a roller skate).

By the way, Mariah's Storm is one of the greatest influences on American breeding because of Eskendereya and First Samurai?

[Indian Charlie]

Originally Posted by monipenny

I think a case could be made for Mariah's Storm as Older Female. She did beat Serena's Song on the square as a 4 yr old after practically breaking her leg the year before. And also, maybe because she is has one of the greatest influences on Ameriacan breeding as well. She foaled Giant's Causeway who of course won 11 Group 1 races and narrowly lost to our only repeat BC Classic winner Tiznow. Giant's Causeway has also produced the best 3 yr old this year in Eskendereya and First Samurai as the leading 3 yr old heading into the Derby preps. Don Von Hemel told Bill Peters she was simply the best horse he had ever trained period.

What about AP Indy for best older horse in the 90s? He won 28 grade one's in a row as a four and five year old, plus, the top 6 finishers of the BC Marathon this year all trace back to him tail male.