I hate to say it, but I can't recall a truly great American turf horse. Has there been one recently that would truly be called great?
Do we really have to go all the way back to John Henry?
I hate to say it, but I can't recall a truly great American turf horse. Has there been one recently that would truly be called great?
Do we really have to go all the way back to John Henry?
Last edited by Skywalker; 02-29-2012 at 04:31 PM.
Lure?
"That's all the world is after all, an endless battle of contrasting memories."
I am always very partial to Manila: 18-12-5-0, $2,692,799. Ran from late summer 1985 through late summer 1987.
Won 8 GS.
First rule: Try always to do what's right for the horse. The people part will work out. -- Josh Pons, Merryland, 2007
Would we call Gio Ponti great, or near great?
First rule: Try always to do what's right for the horse. The people part will work out. -- Josh Pons, Merryland, 2007
I sure as heck wouldn't. But I did like him. His record is just not on part with say a Lure.Originally Posted by second_glance
John Henry
The Obama admin mantra -
The 1st 4 years - "It's Bush's fault."
The next 4 years - "I don't know nuthin'."
Life is what happens to you when you're making other plans - Betty Talmadge
Great is obviously subjective, but I am partial to English Channel.
Six G1 wins, lost 3 others by a less than a length and finished his career with a record 7 length BC Turf win over "superhorse" Dylan Thomas on a boggy surface that favored the Euros. Fits my defintion of great, although I understand that others may have a different definition.
I'm very willing to vote for English Channel here as well.
I simply don't think you could ask for more from an American-based turf horse.
Well there's lots of smart ideas in books I've never read, when the girls come talk to me I wish to hell I had
I really liked Kittens Joy but only two Grade I wins. Gio Ponti had one year where he was dominant.
Kotoshaan.
He wasn't American
I'll vote for English Channel as well. He sure was hard to handle in his races but he was great.
He raced here in 1993, that is how I defined it.
Well, then, obviously it's Goldikova.
First rule: Try always to do what's right for the horse. The people part will work out. -- Josh Pons, Merryland, 2007
If she had been left here to race an entire season, I've no doubt that would be the case.Well, then, obviously it's Goldikova.
True dat. :-) Oh my, if she only had . . . . sigh.
First rule: Try always to do what's right for the horse. The people part will work out. -- Josh Pons, Merryland, 2007
Gotta agree with everyone else and go with this guy. Love how enraged he looks at having nowhere to go when he knows it's time to haul. Only a horse who loves his job would've gone through that hole on the rail, which was virtually nonexistent.
And listening to some big out a' town jasper, hearing him tell about horse-race gamblin'.
Not a wholesome trottin' race, no, but a race where they sit down right on a horse!
Like to see some stuck-up jockey boy sittin' on Dan Patch?
Make your blood boil? Well, I should say!
That race from English Channel is one of my favorite races of all time. The little PITA was ALL RACE HORSE.
I thought during his day (and now too, except perhaps for us) English Channel was not given enough credit as a truly top-notch turf horse. His beating the Euros, as MG said, on a course that favored them made him IMO at the very least the best USA turfer in the last 20+ years.
Prior to him, Manila and John Henry.
Last edited by Curlin; 02-29-2012 at 10:12 PM.
Women are like tea bags, you never know how strong they'll be until they're in hot water. -- Eleanor Roosevelt
Because of his abbreviated career he may not tick all the boxes for everyone, but I think Shakespeare was as dominant and great a turf horse as we've had recently.
8 starts, 7 wins including a G1 win over the aforementioned English Channel. The horse was an amazing talent. Too bad he got injured in the BC turf.
Nobody said giving Kirstie Alley a colonic would be easy.
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