#101
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#102
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Chinook Pass too, I suppose. Who else? |
#103
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Others he mentioned were Affirmed and Grienton. Well done Charles. |
#104
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Gun Bow was a run off who could sprint 10 furlongs -- and when the track was kind to his style and he got the loose lead -- he was literally the single fastest horse in thoroughbred history that I know of. He would obliterate great fields of champion horses. True legends like Kelso and Native Diver would be completely blown off of the track and other excellent horses would be buried. Chinook Pass an all-time great sprinter even though he got beat at Los Al, got drubbed 3 times at Long Acres, and got wasted at Turf Paradise? Ok, by that logic, Gun Bow is the best race horse to ever live. |
#105
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Not claiming that he was a "all-time great," but Kelly Kip was a very cool horse and very fast on his best day. I believe that he set either five or six track records in NY during his career; he still holds the following track records: 5F at Belmont Park (55.3 while debuting for maiden $35,000); 6F at Aqueduct (1:07.2, breaking his prior mark of 1:07.3); and 6F at Finger Lakes (1:08.1).
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#106
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not the best ever.. but some of those races Artax ran were wicked fast.
unbridled's song won the 7 furlong Olympic handicap at age 4 - 1:21 and change... his only stakes race for trainer Nick Zito. That one race put him to the top of the list of the best horses Zito has trained.
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#107
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I'll throw an old-timer out there who was pretty quick in his day.......Bold Ego. I believe he and Top Avenger still hold the record for the fastest Derby quarter and half mile splits. Would have been interesting to see if he had just been kept sprinting how good he could have been.
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A racehorse is an animal that can take several thousand people for a ride at the same time. ~Author Unknown |
#108
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Gulch was a monster sprinter, just didn't do it very often.
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#109
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Revidere |
#110
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Did you mean Very Subtle?
I don't remember PTL ever facing Groovy and beating him. |
#111
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She finished ahead of him, I think, in the 1986 BC at SA.
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Just more nebulous nonsense from BBB |
#112
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#113
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Another "not the best" sprinter but one whose name deserves mention is Precisionist, the fifth - and last I believe - horse to sweep the Strub Series at Santa Anita. And he wasn't limited to sprinting, either. Six furlongs in 1:08 2/5. A mile in 1:32 4/5. Ten furlongs in 2:00 1/5. Turf, dirt, slop, he ran in them all.
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#114
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Groovy was a great New York based sprinter. I believe his forte back then was his second quarter. Thats where he would win his races. The way to beat Groovy was to get in front of him early, which never happened in NY. But when he came west for the 86-87 Breeders Cup races he ran into two extremely fast fillies who ran him off his feet in the first 1/4 of the race. I do realize he won the Ancient Title in his prep for the 86 BC, so he did show he can win on the west coast.
Chinook Pass was a favorite of mine. But like the mighty Lord pointed out, he was far from consistent. His best race by far was the 83 Bing Crosby at Del Mar. A friend of mine who did beyer numbers before they were published has that race as his highest rating of any sprint back in the day. I believe he gave him a 128 that day. Phone Trick was a beast. Unfortunately he injured himself in the Groovy race and was retired. |
#115
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Everyone knew Groovy was a sprinter. Maybe you meant dedicated sprinter. He beat Phone Trick because Mandella thought it best to concede the lead to Groovy. Groovy didn't fare well when hooked by a quality speed horse, or worse, if he was forced to chase a quality speed horse. On the Line was a sprinter by the end of his career. There is no doubt about that. And yeah, Lit de Justice was a freaking nut case. When he fired, he was just about unbeatable (provided Nak didn't give him too awful a ride/trip). I'm not saying Groovy wasn't a great sprinter. I just feel that there are a number of sprinters, that if all were on their best that day, would beat him. |
#116
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On The Line's last 3 starts before his ill-fated BC Sprint were at a mile or more.
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#117
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If you like, I'll post On The Line's lifetime PPs. |
#118
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And in 1987 she outsprinted Groovy from the gate. In fairness, Groovy broke from the rail and Very Subtle had a nice clear run from post 9. I think if you look at Pine Tree Lane's Bold Ruler and Carter, they were pretty fast races. Unfortunately she ran down badly in the Genuine Risk and really was never the same again.
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Revidere |
#119
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King Glorious was pretty damn fast too. Set a track record in his debut. Set a stakes record in his second start. Ran a 1:08 4/5 at Hollywood in his third. Ran 1:21 1/5 at Hollywood to just miss a track record in his fourth. The DRF reported at the time that it equaled the second fastest time ever for a 2yo.
Lost in the Fog is forgotten but he ran some really fast races. He may have been sub-1:07 twice. Olympic Prospect was another pretty fast one. At his best, Artax deserves a mention. He should have been horse of the year in 1999.
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The real horses of the year (1986-2020) Manila, Java Gold, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Go for Wand, In Excess, Paseana, Kotashaan, Holy Bull, Cigar, Alphabet Soup, Formal Gold, Skip Away, Artax, Tiznow, Point Given, Azeri, Candy Ride, Smarty Jones, Ghostzapper, Invasor, Curlin, Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Goldikova, Havre de Grace, Wise Dan, Wise Dan, California Chrome, American Pharoah, Arrogate, Gun Runner, Accelerate, Maximum Security, Gamine |
#120
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I know he beat crap, but still. That was awesome. |