R2R...not yet.

But her dam, Better Than Honor, deserves a top spot. Producing back-to-back Belmont winners is a milestone.

As a die-hard Xtra Heat fan, I'd like to at least give a shout out for her accomplishments. She deserves a mention for durability....26 wins in 35 starts. Sure, some of her competition was suspect, but she ran with as much as 127 pounds without missing any time off for injuries.

While I'm not sure how times from last Saturday (it seemed like the track was reasonably glib) would compare to the corresponding race dates, it is interesting to note that the CCA Oaks was contested at a mile and a half twenty five times. RTR's winning time on Saturday was eclipsed by the following six fillies (in reverse chronological order): Valley Victory, Wayward Lass, Revidere, Ruffian (2:27), Chris Evert, and Magazine (also 2:27). There are some real powerhouse names there; I agree with those that say it is premature to judge RTR's place in history.

The track was quite fast....and the final time for the Belmont Stakes would have been much faster had it not been such an incredibly slow paced race.

Cotton Blossom ran over 54 seconds faster, winning the Acorn, which is a half mile shorter, earlier in the card. She'd have needed to pair together a couple of 27 flat quarters to slightly better the Belmont's final time.

That really underlines how the comically slow pace effected the final time...and made the final time slower than it would have been had the race been a turely run race.

It was reminscent of this years Blue Grass.

If it was a truely run race (6F in 1:12 or so), I doubt Rags to Riches would have won. The fact that the pace was slow gave JR a chance to allow her to settle after her stumble at the break. I suspect that if the pace had been faster, she'd have been playing catch-up from the beginning and likely would have tired from those efforts.

well after jolypha retired, frankel said she was one of the three best fillies/mares he ever had in his barn.

She wasn't even the best mare in Europe/GB last year; that was Pride, who beat up on boys instead of retreating to the f/m competition. Ouija Board was best of her generation at 3 in Britain, and lots better than anything we had in the US to put up against her. But one of the greats? I beg to differ.

I think Spain is another Filly we tend to forget. Wasn't she like the all time money winner when she retired?

She ran against the girls twice last year! One of those times was against a damn good Alexander Goldrun. I'd hardly say she was "retreating" considering her competition. Ouija Board was remarkable in what she did her entire career. She ran against the best males and females all over the damn planet and always made her presence felt (save for Dubai). In my opinion, she lost three races last year due to poor rides either waiting too long or moving way too early. Taking nothing away from Pride, but Ouija Board had the better CAREER in my opinion. She is and should be considered an all-timer because of what she did in her entire career and how she bucked the current pathetic trend in horse racing. She was loved by everyone for her incredible ability and her globe trotting durability. Thanks to her connections' willingness to race her whenever and wherever, her legend will live on for ages. Sadly, Pride will be forgotten in five years.

I thought Flute was a spectacular filly. I think there was a lot more potential there.

Spectacular?

She was definitely in the top 500 fillies of the last 25 years.

She just was not that good.

She won the KY Oaks and Alabama but she was never that fast and was a no show at the end of the season. Exogenous, who was second to her in the Alabama, had passed her within a month. She was simply a better horse at the time of her unfortunate demise.

Honest Lady was pretty darn good and fast.

Not even a mention of Heavenly Prize...

Heck even Educated Risk would have dusted Flute, Spain, Exogenous etc....

your capacity for exaggeration is legend.

some 3yos not being mentioned would also include lakeway and sardula, and up to a mile, definitely melair.

hollywood wildcat and dance smartly could both run too.

I disagree. The pace factor on the final time is pretty much irrelevant when running that far if the pace makers stop, which they did. Only if CP West had held on to win by setting those slow fractions would that angle stand up.

Tough to compare these two... A 1 mile 1 turn race vs a 1.5 mile 2 turn race that is ran over a part of the Belmont surface that is used once a year...

It was truly ran, CP West was getting away with a pedestrian pace and he caved in, so did Hard Spun. Obviously they would have stopped even worse if they were running faster on the front end, but this still doesn't change the fact that Curlin and Rags ran a slow race themselves, until the final quarter. Let me put it to you this way, if the front end speed was 1:12 and the mile was 1:37, Rags to Riches and Curlin would have been 15 lengths back early and then would have appeared to close like freight trains running their final quarters below 24.