Greatest Living Racehorse?

smartbid09 · #1 02-16-2011, 02:19 AM

Wow! Very hard to say who the best living horse is. I think that most would argue one of these five

Cigar
Ghostzapper
Curlin (Maybe his fans)
Zenyatta
Rachel Alexandra

(These are just off the top of my head - and I have no idea who the best horse is)

I don't know much about him but Sea The Stars looked like an absolute FREAK!

But what a great thread. I would love to hear what Steve Haskin's opinion on this is.

miraja2 · #2 02-16-2011, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by smartbid09

Wow! Very hard to say who the best living horse is. I think that most would argue one of these five

Cigar
Ghostzapper
Curlin (Maybe his fans)
Zenyatta
Rachel Alexandra.

I think it would be very difficult to make a rational case for any of these three over Holy Bull. I imagine there is at least one irrational case that could be made, but on the whole I think Holy Bull easily bests those last three.

cakes44 · #3 02-16-2011, 10:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miraja2

I think it would be very difficult to make a rational case for any of these three over Holy Bull. I imagine there is at least one irrational case that could be made, but on the whole I think Holy Bull easily bests those last three.

I'd seriously take Pleasantly Perfect over those last 3 horses listed, and he was certainly no all-time great. Heck, I'd take Smarty Jones over the last two.

Antitrust32 · #4 02-16-2011, 12:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cakes44

I'd seriously take Pleasantly Perfect over those last 3 horses listed, and he was certainly no all-time great. Heck, I'd take Smarty Jones over the last two.

certainly Silver Charm.... is he still alive?

Princess Doreen · #5 02-16-2011, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antitrust32

certainly Silver Charm.... is he still alive?

Let's hope so - he's still in Japan. Would love to see him retire to Old Friends. Hope when the time comes they can get him back to the states.

OldDog · #6 02-16-2011, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Princess Doreen

Let's hope so - he's still in Japan. Would love to see him retire to Old Friends. Hope when the time comes they can get him back to the states.

http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/thoro...-in-japan.aspx

as well as Charismatic.

Cannon Shell · #7 02-16-2011, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miraja2

I think it would be very difficult to make a rational case for any of these three over Holy Bull. I imagine there is at least one irrational case that could be made, but on the whole I think Holy Bull easily bests those last three.

There is really no reason to think that Holy Bull wouldn't have beaten Cigar or Ghostzapper either.

The Indomitable DrugS · #8 02-16-2011, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

There is really no reason to think that Holy Bull wouldn't have beaten Cigar or Ghostzapper either.

Not that I disagree - but wasn't Holy Bull much more one-dimensional than Ghostzapper?

shanej974 · #9 02-16-2011, 10:55 PM

Holy Bull and Cigar belong in the same conversation. Ghostzapper....a higher level.

Cannon Shell · #10 02-17-2011, 04:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Not that I disagree - but wasn't Holy Bull much more one-dimensional than Ghostzapper?

He was but on his best it didn't matter, he would just run them off their feet. Don't forget that we never saw what HB could do as an older horse while GZ's career highlights were manly as an older horse in carefully selected spots.

GZ was a really good horse but he was trained by a guy who was unusually phenomenal during that time, was never entered in a race (outside of maybe the Kings Bishop which he still should have won) where everything wasn't in his favor and like Holy Bull was a sprinter that could stretch his speed. His claim to fame season consisted of two 4 horse races, a perfect trip slop race, essentially a match race and a perfect trip Classic. How this makes him better than Holy Bull is news to me.

slotdirt · #11 02-17-2011, 08:10 AM

Prized.

Oh, and Formal Gold.

The Indomitable DrugS · #12 02-17-2011, 08:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cannon Shell

He was but on his best it didn't matter, he would just run them off their feet. Don't forget that we never saw what HB could do as an older horse while GZ's career highlights were manly as an older horse in carefully selected spots.

GZ was a really good horse but he was trained by a guy who was unusually phenomenal during that time, was never entered in a race (outside of maybe the Kings Bishop which he still should have won) where everything wasn't in his favor and like Holy Bull was a sprinter that could stretch his speed. His claim to fame season consisted of two 4 horse races, a perfect trip slop race, essentially a match race and a perfect trip Classic. How this makes him better than Holy Bull is news to me.

I agree - but it's a textbook comparison of 4 and 5 year old form versus 3-year-old form ... and not surprisingly, Ghostzapper was clear-cut faster.

The Donn Handicap was setting up to be a great test for Holy Bull because a duel with Cigar was already underway and Bailey had established the inside position with Cigar. One bad step is all it took.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBAMVuD0zks

I think Holy Bull is the best 3-year-old to race since the 1989 season with Sunday Silence and Easy Goer ... but a Ghostzapper VS Holy Bull comparison is apples and oranges to me. Heck - so is a Holy Bull VS Cigar comparison. A lot of great 3yo's didn't progress as older horses (Easy Goer and Sunday Silence both) and quite a few have actually tailed off.