Top 25 3yo's 1987-2007

[The Bid]

Why, because he lost once as a 3yo Jim

King, Smokey Stover cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Lost In The Fog, or any top sprinter running right now. The jury may still be out, but its not out on him being great its out on him being competitive with his peers

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by The Bid

Why, because he lost once as a 3yo Jim

King, Smokey Stover cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Lost In The Fog, or any top sprinter running right now. The jury may still be out, but its not out on him being great its out on him being competitive with his peers

I loved Fog. But to be honest with you, I think Smokey Stover has a better style for top level sprinting than Fog did. I think SS is definitely in the conversation with Fabulous Strike, Midnight Lute, and Benny the Bull.

[The Bid]

King...Here is a Top Sprinter pole taken long ago. You have always had a West Coast Bias. I do not fault you for this, as I think you are from California, however it goes without saying those horses arent top shelf sprinters less MNL

You
Surf Cat
Smokey Stover
Midnight Lute
Black Seventeen

Sleepers
Bilo
Bro Lo

LITF didnt need any running style, he was simply faster than everything he ran with. He ran them into the ground while dictating the pace. Im a big believer that if a horse can ever be in front, they need to be there dictating a race

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by The Bid

King...Here is a Top Sprinter pole taken long ago. You have always had a West Coast Bias. I do not fault you for this, as I think you are from California, however it goes without saying those horses arent top shelf sprinters less MNL

You
Surf Cat
Smokey Stover
Midnight Lute
Black Seventeen

Sleepers
Bilo
Bro Lo

LITF didnt need any running style, he was simply faster than everything he ran with. He ran them into the ground while dictating the pace. Im a big believer that if a horse can ever be in front, they need to be there dictating a race

I do not deny that I think that, in general, when it comes to sprinters, California horses are a tougher and deeper group than their eastern counterparts. If you were to look at the list of horses that I like or think are the best, you would find there is no bias towards or against horses from any part of the country.

[somerfrost]

I'll give my list...I include all horses that were three as of 1987 (so all foaled in or after 1984), I can't really separate one season from careers so my list takes into account all lifetime races:
1) Cigar (obviously not based on 3yo season)
2) Personal Ensign
3) Risen Star
4) Tiznow
5) Dubai Millenium
6) Point Given
7) Skip Away
8) Alysheba
9) Miesque
10) Smarty Jones
11) Lammtarra
12) Holy Bull
13) Elusive Pimpernel
14) Sinndar
15) Giant's Causeway
16) Sunday Silence
17) Silver Charm
18) Barbaro
19) Thunder Gulch
20) Silver Charm
21) Easy Goer
22) Ghostzapper
22) Go for Wand
23) Winning Colors
24) AP Indy
25) Charismatic

[ArlJim78]

Originally Posted by The Bid

Why, because he lost once as a 3yo Jim

King, Smokey Stover cannot be mentioned in the same breath as Lost In The Fog, or any top sprinter running right now. The jury may still be out, but its not out on him being great its out on him being competitive with his peers

yes, because he was drilled in the BC and in my mind there are questions as to how good a sprinter he actually was. the record looks great, one loss as a three year old, but the only reason he had that record is because he had distance limitations so couldn't stretch out, and for the most part he did not beat anybody. nice horse, but top 25 in last 20 years? not in my book.
he hit a streak of races where he was the controlling speed, thats about it.
what was his big race where he really stamped his quality as a 3yo? remind me who he defeated again.

[The Bid]

He was controlling speed in every race he ran because he was an incredible talent.

Kelly's Landing (1.5 million)was a nice horse, Egg Head was going to be a very nice horse, Santana Strings (550k) was a nice horse. He ran against and drilled some very good horses. When he won he didnt outbob horses, he ran them into the ground. He danced every dance as a 3yo, the only race he didnt make was the Malibu because he had cancer. His 2yo season was also incredible, never running a sub 102 figure.

It is impossible to say how good he was, but its safe to say he was a monster and certainly deserves to be on a list of top 3yo.

[smuthg]

Originally Posted by The Bid

He was controlling speed in every race he ran because he was an incredible talent.

Kelly's Landing (1.5 million)was a nice horse, Egg Head was going to be a very nice horse, Santana Strings (550k) was a nice horse. He ran against and drilled some very good horses. When he won he didnt outbob horses, he ran them into the ground. He danced every dance as a 3yo, the only race he didnt make was the Malibu because he had cancer. His 2yo season was also incredible, never running a sub 102 figure.

It is impossible to say how good he was, but its safe to say he was a monster and certainly deserves to be on a list of top 3yo.

I must agree. I think it was JJ Graci who said on ATRAB the day that LITF died that he had never seen any horse with Fog's ability to break from the gate and be three jumps in front of good horses before they realized what happened. Now, does that make him an all time great? No, but I think to say that he wasn't one of the best 3YO's in the last 25 years is a stretch...

[freddymo]

Originally Posted by smuthg

I must agree. I think it was JJ Graci who said on ATRAB the day that LITF died that he had never seen any horse with Fog's ability to break from the gate and be three jumps in front of good horses before they realized what happened. Now, does that make him an all time great? No, but I think to say that he wasn't one of the best 3YO's in the last 25 years is a stretch...

I guess JJ never saw Groovy

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by freddymo

I guess JJ never saw Groovy

It's always amazing to me that pass that Groovy and Housebuster get for being brilliant in every other race and then coming up with a loss in the BC while Fog is not given the same pass. Especially since he was dead half a year later. Hell, Groovy flopped not once but TWICE, both times at odds-on.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by King Glorious

It's always amazing to me that pass that Groovy and Housebuster get for being brilliant in every other race and then coming up with a loss in the BC while Fog is not given the same pass. Especially since he was dead half a year later. Hell, Groovy flopped not once but TWICE, both times at odds-on.

Housebuster was injured in the BC and Groovy didn't " flop " in the manner that Lost in the Fog did. Also, in a mild defense of Groovy, he had the unfortunate " luck " of having the BC run in California in successive years.

How familiar are you with Groovy's entire resume? How about Housebuster's before it was laid out in this thread?