How would The Classic have been...

[Cajungator26]

Originally Posted by ateamstupid

Considering that Midnight Lute ran the Sprint in 1:09 and the Distaff went in 1:50, I'd say 2:00 2/5 is pretty freakin' impressive.

Do you know what the times were for the Sprint and Distaff last year, Oey? I just think comparing Churchill Downs to Monmouth is apples and oranges. Who is to say Curlin would have ran that exact same time over a different track?

I agree that the time was impressive. Definitely not taking anything away from Curlin, but hard to say how he would have stacked up against Invasor.

[Danzig]

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Curlin's performance in the BC Classic was obviously better than Bernardini's.

This isn't about who is better than who - Invasor only beat a hanging Sun King by a head in the Whitney when he had difficult circumstances.

With any kind of circumstances he would have needed a career best race to beat Curlin yesterday.

or vice versa

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by pgardn

Bernardini did not face any horse as good as Street Sense
or Rags in his TC races.

Bernardini only ran in one triple crown race....

And Invasor might have faced better horses than Street Sense in Uruguay.



.... My bad, no sense baiting ARyan since he's surely fixated on a lame Red Sox game.

[SOREHOOF]

It SHOULD take a career best to win the BC Classic!

[bogeydaman]

IMO I don't see how you can say the horse was "cruising" on an uncontested lead. There were 4 horses (AGS, LR, DS, and GW) trying to get to Hard Spun for the first 6 furlongs. Those 4 horses ended up getting beat a minumum of 24 lengths by Hard Spun. The only other 3 horses that were in the same area code as HS when the race was over were the horses that were "outrun early". Just because a horse was not head and head with HS by no means did he have an early lead. Just look at the results of the other 8 horses in the race.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by Danzig

or vice versa

Curlin, a 3-year-old making just his 9th career start...and 3rd start off of a layoff was probably more likely to deliever a career best race than a 5-year-old.

[The Indomitable DrugS]

Originally Posted by bogeydaman

IMO I don't see how you can say the horse was "cruising" on an uncontested lead. There were 4 horses (AGS, LR, DS, and GW) trying to get to Hard Spun for the first 6 furlongs. Those 4 horses ended up getting beat a minumum of 24 lengths by Hard Spun. The only other 3 horses that were in the same area code as HS when the race was over were the horses that were "outrun early". Just because a horse was not head and head with HS by no means did he have an early lead. Just look at the results of the other 8 horses in the race.

When he was 2nd in the Kentucky Derby - the horses behind him fractured as well. 2nd, 3rd, and 4th place finished up 17th, 19th, and 20th. The pace was much faster that day when you consider the speed of the track.

However, yesterday, he was cruising while well within himself, on an unpressured lead. The fractions were very reasonable considering the speed of the track.

[SOREHOOF]

Lawyer Ron had races that would have won this. Just not on this day. Post hurt him, and he seems to lose interest when things don't go his way.

[Danzig]

i don't know, invasor always showed a way to win, and never got much respect. i'd take him over curlin.
but then, it's all just a mental exercise anyway.

have to say, talented as curlin is, and seemingly special, i almost choked earlier this evening when i read gary west writing that asmussen might get the eclipse.
wouldn't that be just grand.

Originally Posted by The Indomitable DrugS

Bernardini only ran in one triple crown race....

And Invasor might have faced better horses than Street Sense in Uruguay.

.... My bad, no sense baiting ARyan since he's surely fixated on a lame Red Sox game.

I forgot about that, he did not go in the Belmont.

Curlin had a full plate and performed wonderfully.
A lot was asked of this horse and he came through.
This animal was definitley not pampered.

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by dalakhani

Just to add, Lusty Latin ended up running for cheap tags for every Juice guy in the mid atlantic.

Hey, Lusty Latin won stakes races at 5 and 6 in MD. And anybody who remembers that SA Derby knows that his third was what Harvey Pack calls 'a suck-up third' or the TVG guys call 'garbage collecting'. The front-runners were walking to the line and he kept on at his one pace and passed a few of them. Nothing more than that.

[Pedigree Ann]

Originally Posted by 2Hot4TV

Hope he liked mud.

Most South American horses do take to our mud, oddly enough. The consistency of their dirt tracks is different from that of ours, and it may be that the action required works wells on US off-tracks.

[Charismatic1]

I am no fan of the horse, but I felt that Curlin was probably the best three-year-old of the bunch going into Saturday. However, I didn't think he'd stamp himself as far and away the best horse in the race. His performance was awesome and left no room for excuses.

Having said that, there is no horse I have seen in my 10 years of racing "fanhood" that was as good a classic horse as Invasor. He could win from anywhere regardless of the track, trip, or bias. He had all the tools. The reason he doesn't get the uninhibited respect he deserves is because he didn't burn the stopwatch or win by 10 beautiful lengths like others we have drooled over in the past. Instead, he always showed up. He had tons of talent, but he had the rare intangibles as well. Because of that, the one thing I learned in watching his career is that no matter the situation or the competition, he will always get the job done. So, regardless of how brilliant and incredible I think Curlin's Classic was on Saturday, I firmly believe Invasor would have found a way and joined Tiznow in Classic lore had he stepped onto the Monmouth track Saturday.

As a side note, I may become a very big Curlin fan if he returns as a 4yo. I'd like to find out.