Personal HOY

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

I figured that this one that most people would think was the oddest.

I just didn't think Curlin was much good as a 4yo. He won a few big races but he appeared to me to be worse than he was as a 3yo, save for Dubai. Once he came back, he was pretty ordinary for a supposed HOY, with some pretty hard fought wins over really weak competition. Then he didn't help his case in the BC. I know that it was on a new surface he had never been on and for that, a lot of people gave him a pass. I didn't. I thought he ran the same race in the BC that he had ran in his last couple prior to it but that better competition made the difference. Also, I remember years ago, Karl Malone gave an interview and was talking about injuries. He said "if you can't play, don't.......but once you put the shoes on and step on the court, there's no excuses." I think had Curlin ended his season before the fall, he would have had a better case, sort of like Mineshaft and Charismatic and Criminal Type. For 2009, I wasn't impressed by the fact that Rachel beat the boys. I care more about the quality of the competition rather than the name of the race or the age/sex of the competition. For example, it would have meant more to me to see Zenyatta beat a 3yo filly in 2009 than it did to see her beat older males.