Mineshaft - am I losing my mind?

[bogeydaman]

Here are the last 9 horse of the years since Cigar (Saint Liam, Ghostzapper, Mineshaft, Left Bank, Tiznow, Lemon Drop Kid, Victory Gallop, Skip Away (2X)). You can take shots at Mineshaft losing to PD (by a neck with a horrible ride), but GZ lost to Valid Video, Tiznow lost to most G1 horses on the West Coast for 2 years, etc, etc.

IMO Mineshaft 2003 (6 grades stakes wins, 4 grade ones) is favorable to the years that each of these horses HOY records.

IMO opinion he is one of the top 2 horses of the last 10 years (1A and 1B with Ghostzapper) regardless of whether either of these horses beat "anything".

It's a shame he did not get a chance to prove his brilliance in the BC, but then again he woud have been knocked for not running against anything since nothing of "consequence" ran in that race.

[Thunder Gulch]

Mineshaft had some great days, but prevailing opinion these days is so heavily influenced by the biggest of stages in the Breeders Cup where we never had the opportunity to see Mineshaft. Look at the case of Ghostzapper: His figures were amazing, but there were many questions surrounding him as he went into the BC Classic. Off that single outstanding performance, he went from a sheet freak to a horse considered by novices to be the best since Cigar.