I do think the competion or lack there of (so far) is an issue. Right now, he looks much the best of a shallow 3 year old pool.
I'm old enough to remember Seattle Slew quite well, and in fact walked in Belmont at about 6AM or so on the morning of his Triple Crown win and ended up with primo seats at the finish line. I'll never forget it, and still have at least one uncashed $2 dollar ticket.
Point is, that Seattle Slew had all kinds of naysayers during his unbeaten run up to and through the Triple Crown. Lots of 'em.
At Belmont, not only was he "no Secretariat" to fans in the stands before the race that day, he was also "no Forego."
"He's just run well enough to win against mediocre horses" was the near universal mindset of racing fans and writers in 1977, with visions of Secretariat fresh in the mind.
I heard it so much at the time, I sort of believed it myself.
That's why I was especially happy in the years after his Triple Crown that he so excelled as a stallion.
Even more proof for eternity Seattle Slew was the real deal.
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