Curlin's Legacy

[pdrift1]

[quote=hrfan]I have a hard time putting him as one of the best all time, first off because i dont go that far back, and second off i dont think he was even 1-2 in his crop. Retirements kill this sport, Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags to Riches were all monsters, none of them returned to the track this year. Of the recent horses that i can compare him to, i dont think he was any better then Street Cry,Point Given, Bernardini even Invasor seemed to do it more powerfully then Curlin, Ghostzapper, Roses in May, i dont know, maybe im wrong, but i cant see how Curlin can be a All Time great when one could argue that he's not even top 10 in the last 10 years.[/QUOTE

one of the best of all time-no

1-2 in his crop-yes

top ten in THIS decade-yes you could make that argument

so he is def. better then Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags To Riches ? Or is it the fact that they retired and he continues to beat up on weak competition like many ppl on this site have said. I will stick to the best horse he has beat this year is Well Armed. What is that really saying ?

[pdrift1]

Originally Posted by hrfan

so he is def. better then Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags To Riches ? Or is it the fact that they retired and he continues to beat up on weak competition like many ppl on this site have said. I will stick to the best horse he has beat this year is Well Armed. What is that really saying ?

i think they were all nice horses in there own right that 3 year old year from the list you mention.

i would only put rags above him maybe not just because of the belmont win but her other impressive wins and thats a maybe.

i have to think that hard spun and street sense if given the chance to go into thier 4 year old year, they might have declined also as curlin might be right now also. could they have survived the trip to dubai and come back as well as curlin has .to continue to win-maybe but not against curlin i don't think.
i do believe this bunch in the classic is at its all time low for quality in competition for him to race against-big advantage

i believe he can only race with whats out there and he would fit in fine with some of the other horses thru the years.

sometimes horses step up to thier competition and curlin if he had to could have picked it up against some of the others.

mind you i still think ghostzapper was the best of this decade.

and if commentator could have stayed healthy could have had a more stellar record then he has, and i think he has been very impressive thruout his career.
these 2 where very versatile

but i thinking is he is a very good horse as i said could have stepped up if need be but thats just my opinion

[pdrift1]

Originally Posted by hrfan

so he is def. better then Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags To Riches ? Or is it the fact that they retired and he continues to beat up on weak competition like many ppl on this site have said. I will stick to the best horse he has beat this year is Well Armed. What is that really saying ?

i think everyone including myself gets critical of a top horse when they are running and starts to compare back . the freahest races in your mind are the ones you just seen run, and if they don't look stellar you start to question. but if we could go back some of the others had less then desirable races also.

when all is said and done and we look back at him in 4 or 5 years we will appreciate him along with some of the other top horses of this decade.

i think he deserves his props

[Thunder Gulch]

Originally Posted by hrfan

so he is def. better then Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags To Riches ? Or is it the fact that they retired and he continues to beat up on weak competition like many ppl on this site have said. I will stick to the best horse he has beat this year is Well Armed. What is that really saying ?

I think he was better than those. Remember he didn't start at 2 and only had 3 starts when the triple crown rolled around. Considering that, his performance through those three races was outstanding. By the end of the year, yes, he was a notch above those others. RTR was a phenomenal filly, while Hard Spun and Street Sense were very good 3yo colts that had their moments, but not great ones.

[hoovesupsideyourhead]

hes ok..look at the attrition rate..if most of the crop had stayed healthy and didnt go off to breeding would curlin be that great..i say no..

[Linny]

Originally Posted by hrfan

so he is def. better then Hard Spun, Street Sense and Rags To Riches ? Or is it the fact that they retired and he continues to beat up on weak competition like many ppl on this site have said. I will stick to the best horse he has beat this year is Well Armed. What is that really saying ?

Curlin was named HOY over the other three. I think that SS had peaked by the time he ran the Travers and that Rags, post injury was not likley to come back as well, and that HS, as game as he was was better suited to 8 and 9f and that had he run this year Jones was hoping to try him as a grass miler. Based on how they finished the year last year, I couldn't see any of that trio threatening Curlin this season, though it would have been nice of them to try.