Top 25 3yo's 1987-2007

miraja2 · #1 02-26-2008, 09:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

i'm surprised nobody mentioned awesome again. i know he might not have accomplished as much as a 3yo as touch gold, but c'mon.
did anyone list tiznow? not many horses debut as a 3yo and win HOY that same year.
unbridled on his day was pretty damn nice.

Awesome Again didn't win a single G1 as a 3yo, and won only one graded stakes race (the Jim Dandy). He was much better at 4.
I agree on Tiznow and Unbridled. They were both on my list.

SniperSB23 · #2 02-26-2008, 09:57 AM

Smarty Jones first 10 furlongs in the Belmont were fantastic. His last two furlongs have to be the most overrated in the history of the sport. The only reason he "showed so much heart" was cause Birdstone was running so damn slow. Imagine if you had a horse coming at the end just with solid closing fractions of 25.00 instead of 26.42. You then would have had that horse making up an extra ten lengths on Smarty in the stretch and it would have looked like they ran by him while he was standing still. Would anyone be talking about his heart then? I don't want to take anything away from the first 10 furlongs he ran in that race but this idea that he showed so much heart in the final two furlongs is nothing more than an optical illusion created by how slow Birdstone was also going.

Travis Stone · #3 02-26-2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SniperSB23

I don't want to take anything away from the first 10 furlongs he ran in that race but this idea that he showed so much heart in the final two furlongs is nothing more than an optical illusion created by how slow Birdstone was also going.

You're absolutely right, good post. I would also add though that Smarty Jones' last two furlongs would have been stronger had he not had so much early pressure.

SniperSB23 · #4 02-26-2008, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis Stone

You're absolutely right, good post. I would also add though that Smarty Jones' last two furlongs would have been stronger had he not had so much early pressure.

That I don't doubt.

horseofcourse · #5 02-26-2008, 11:31 AM

Curlin
Street Sense
Barbaro
Barnardini
Afleet Alex
Lost in the Fog
Smarty Jones
Point Given
Tiznow
Xtra Heat
Silver Charm
Skip Away
Thunder Gulch
Holy Bull
AP Indy
Hansel
Go For Wand
Unbridled
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Forty Niner
Risen Star
Bet Twice
Alysheba
Java Gold

Reverse chronological. didn't look at rest of thread so probably forgot about some. remembered these.

SundayStar · #6 02-26-2008, 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Curlin
Street Sense
Barbaro
Barnardini
Afleet Alex
Lost in the Fog
Smarty Jones
Point Given
Tiznow
Xtra Heat
Silver Charm
Skip Away
Thunder Gulch
Holy Bull
AP Indy
Hansel
Go For Wand
Unbridled
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Forty Niner
Risen Star
Bet Twice
Alysheba
Java Gold

Reverse chronological. didn't look at rest of thread so probably forgot about some. remembered these.

good list

philcski · #7 02-26-2008, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Curlin
Street Sense
Barbaro
Barnardini
Afleet Alex
Lost in the Fog
Smarty Jones
Point Given
Tiznow
Xtra Heat
Silver Charm
Skip Away
Thunder Gulch
Holy Bull
AP Indy
Hansel
Go For Wand
Unbridled
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Forty Niner
Risen Star
Bet Twice
Alysheba
Java Gold

Reverse chronological. didn't look at rest of thread so probably forgot about some. remembered these.

Agree, that is probably my list as well give or take one or two. Nice job.

King Glorious · #8 02-26-2008, 01:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by horseofcourse

Curlin
Street Sense
Barbaro
Barnardini
Afleet Alex
Lost in the Fog
Smarty Jones
Point Given
Tiznow
Xtra Heat
Silver Charm
Skip Away
Thunder Gulch
Holy Bull
AP Indy
Hansel
Go For Wand
Unbridled
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Forty Niner
Risen Star
Bet Twice
Alysheba
Java Gold

Reverse chronological. didn't look at rest of thread so probably forgot about some. remembered these.

I must say that I'm very surprised to see Xtra Heat make any list. Personally, I don't even know if I'd rank her as one of the top three 3yo filly sprinters of the period. If you like Xtra Heat, what did you think about Very Subtle or Safely Kept? Very Subtle is one underrated filly. She won the BC (beating Groovy) and also went back east and won the Test and won the Fantasy Stakes (via DQ) in Arkansas. Both of those fillies won the premiere 3yo filly sprint race.

#9 02-26-2008, 01:27 PM

I could be mistaken but didn't Don Brumfield ride Housebuster in his earlier races?

horseofcourse · #10 02-26-2008, 03:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by King Glorious

I must say that I'm very surprised to see Xtra Heat make any list. Personally, I don't even know if I'd rank her as one of the top three 3yo filly sprinters of the period. If you like Xtra Heat, what did you think about Very Subtle or Safely Kept? Very Subtle is one underrated filly. She won the BC (beating Groovy) and also went back east and won the Test and won the Fantasy Stakes (via DQ) in Arkansas. Both of those fillies won the premiere 3yo filly sprint race.

Probably right...I was going off the top of my head and I remember Xtra Heat and her great 3 yr old year nearly winning the BC. I didn't follow racing too closely in the late 80s other than the big dirt route races when I was in college so those two you mentioned I completely forgot about...especially SAfely Kept who I agree was better most likely. Simply a case of Xtra Heat being more fresh in my mind as doing something pretty special as a 3 yr old sprint filly. Same with Housebuster...simply forgot about him when making the list. (Harder for me to remember sprinters for whatever reason!!) Out of fariness I thought I should put a sprinter or two in and LITF and Xtra Heat were who came to mind (probably should have put a turf horse or two in as well or a foreign horse.) Just didn't occur to me.

Indian Charlie · #11 02-26-2008, 12:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miraja2

Awesome Again didn't win a single G1 as a 3yo, and won only one graded stakes race (the Jim Dandy). He was much better at 4.
I agree on Tiznow and Unbridled. They were both on my list.

they dont run grade 1's in canada?

philcski · #12 02-26-2008, 12:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

they dont run grade 1's in canada?

The Queens Plate is a CDN bred restricted race, ungraded.

Trust me, I'd include Awesome Again if I could- but his career was at 4.

Indian Charlie · #13 02-26-2008, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by philcski

The Queens Plate is a CDN bred restricted race, ungraded.

Trust me, I'd include Awesome Again if I could- but his career was at 4.

holy cow, i never realized that!

still, he was better as a 3yo than a whole lot of the ones named in this thread. didnt he win the queen's plate in his 2nd or 3rd start?

blackthroatedwind · #14 02-26-2008, 01:11 PM

If nothing else, anyone that includes Lost in the Fog and NOT Housebuster, needs, at the very least, a course in recent racing history. Housebuster ran numberous races, as a 3YO, that dwarfed anything Lost in the Fog ever did.

miraja2 · #15 02-26-2008, 01:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

If nothing else, anyone that includes Lost in the Fog and NOT Housebuster, needs, at the very least, a course in recent racing history. Housebuster ran numberous races, as a 3YO, that dwarfed anything Lost in the Fog ever did.

I was a little shocked to see that I was the only one to include Housebuster in the top 25.

blackthroatedwind · #16 02-26-2008, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by miraja2

I was a little shocked to see that I was the only one to include Housebuster in the top 25.

I would say many of these people know nothing about him. I just looked a couple of his races up.....he got a 113 Beyer fig when he won the King's Bishop ( Lost in the Fog.....105 ) and lost a photo to Criminal Type in the Met Mile, beating Easy Goer, and got a 117 Beyer.

#17 02-26-2008, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by blackthroatedwind

If nothing else, anyone that includes Lost in the Fog and NOT Housebuster, needs, at the very least, a course in recent racing history. Housebuster ran numberous races, as a 3YO, that dwarfed anything Lost in the Fog ever did.

They should watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzeEFPRR2E

blackthroatedwind · #18 02-26-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

They should watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzeEFPRR2E

He only got a 118 Beyer fig that day. Citidancer was undefeated going into the Jerome I believe.

But, Lost in the Fog was a better horse. Give me a break.

NoLuvForPletch · #19 02-26-2008, 01:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coach Pants

They should watch this...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQzeEFPRR2E

Unforunately, he's most widely known for this.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qp6M8ijJgCI

I myself was just out of college and the prior 4 years are/were/and forever will be blurred at best. I don't remember much at all about the horses from '87-'91, but unfortunately, I, like most people, do remember this vividly.

philcski · #20 02-26-2008, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Indian Charlie

holy cow, i never realized that!

still, he was better as a 3yo than a whole lot of the ones named in this thread. didnt he win the queen's plate in his 2nd or 3rd start?

Yes... 3rd start. Which, to be honest, isn't THAT great of an achievement, in fact this year I believe the winner did the same thing (and he isn't much).

I respectfully disagree he was better as a 3YO than a lot of the ones listed here- he was a pedestrian 6-3-0-2 with a maiden win, the Queens Plate, and the Jim Dandy- potential notwithstanding. However, his 4YO campaign was about as good as it gets. Trust me, he's one of my personal favorites and I'm thrilled he's doing so well at stud...