Sham did have the misfortune of being born in a crop with a freak of a horse in Big Red.
Without Big Red in the mix Sham could have done great things but there is a reason why people talk about racing luck and you either have it or you don't. Sham didn't.
In many ways Zenyatta had a lot of racing luck. In finding patient owners and a trainer who could speak her language.
maybe Sham didnt but in my opinion i rank him differently than everyone else does its my opinion on what i think about him he was probably one of the fastest horses in the 20th century at the moment of his career besides Big Red i love him and Big Red i think they are both amazing
Angle Light won the wood.....stablemate of Sec.....Sham was second ....Sec third
Sham probably could have taken it....IMO....he was waiting for Sec and by the time that Sham's jockey realized Sec was not going to fire.....AL was gone
As you like to handicap, The 1972 Wood: setting aside Secretariat and just looking at the way the race ran do you think there was a track bias towards speed that day?
Or were Sham and Secretariat still recovering from the Belmont?
Anyway, just to answer the other questions, I think Easy Goer was better than Sunday Silence. I tend to have some unpopular opinions (Bernardini would have beaten Barbaro, I completely disagree with the Zenyatta vs the Best video on YouTube)
- Easy Goer ran 8 winning Triple Digit Beyers in 1 year, 5 of them consecutively (110, 118, 119, 110, 122, 121, 115, 120) - Absolutely SHATTERED Secretariat's track and stakes record in the Gotham Stakes (by a full second if memory serves me correctly, and if Secretariat isn't a yardstick for greatness, then I don't know what is) - Easy Goer ran all of these historic races(most of them with well over 100 runnings) in the Top 1 to Top 5 all time fastest runnings: Belmont Stakes, Gotham, Travers, Whitney, Suburban, Champagne, including this fastest mile of all time by any 3 yr old in 1:32:2, second fastest Belmont of all time behind Secretariat, and in addition to running the fastest 7f of the year in Florida & right on the track record at 6.5f as a 2 yr old.
Not to mention, Easy Goer had a hatred for the sloppy track at Churchill that day.
I take nothing away from Sunday Silence. He was amazing, he was FANTASTIC, and he was one of the greatest we'll ever see.
Remember that this is just my opinion, and we all have our own. I'm only about to turn 16, so forgive me if some of my opinions seem a bit invalid. I still have much to learn.
As you like to handicap, The 1972 Wood: setting aside Secretariat and just looking at the way the race ran do you think there was a track bias towards speed that day?
Or were Sham and Secretariat still recovering from the Belmont?
Zenyen, I don't understand the question because the Wood was three races before the Belmont.
Anyway, just to answer the other questions, I think Easy Goer was better than Sunday Silence. I tend to have some unpopular opinions (Bernardini would have beaten Barbaro, I completely disagree with the Zenyatta vs the Best video on YouTube)
- Easy Goer ran 8 winning Triple Digit Beyers in 1 year, 5 of them consecutively (110, 118, 119, 110, 122, 121, 115, 120) - Absolutely SHATTERED Secretariat's track and stakes record in the Gotham Stakes (by a full second if memory serves me correctly, and if Secretariat isn't a yardstick for greatness, then I don't know what is) - Easy Goer ran all of these historic races(most of them with well over 100 runnings) in the Top 1 to Top 5 all time fastest runnings: Belmont Stakes, Gotham, Travers, Whitney, Suburban, Champagne, including this fastest mile of all time by any 3 yr old in 1:32:2, second fastest Belmont of all time behind Secretariat, and in addition to running the fastest 7f of the year in Florida & right on the track record at 6.5f as a 2 yr old.
Not to mention, Easy Goer had a hatred for the sloppy track at Churchill that day.
I take nothing away from Sunday Silence. He was amazing, he was FANTASTIC, and he was one of the greatest we'll ever see.
Remember that this is just my opinion, and we all have our own. I'm only about to turn 16, so forgive me if some of my opinions seem a bit invalid. I still have much to learn.
All good points!
I can't agree with you [except on the Zenyatta vs the Best video] but I won't try to argue you off your point of view on this.
As you like to handicap, The 1972 Wood: setting aside Secretariat and just looking at the way the race ran do you think there was a track bias towards speed that day?
Or were Sham and Secretariat still recovering from the Belmont?
Zenyen, I don't understand the question because the Wood was three races before the Belmont.
And it was 1973,
Bah, I'm sorry Mark, I'm half asleep at this point.
Let's just go with the original question. Do you think there was a speed bias on the track that day? I noticed Angle Light went straight to the front and held, then in the stretch the rest of the field seemed to be running in quicksand, which is why I asked.
Shadow, you backed up your opinion with some relevant info. I like that and I don't fault your opinion, just disagree with it. But you did state your case nicely.
Comments
Interesting factoid, Angle Light was ridden by Ruffian's jockey and trained by Lucian Laurin.
Neither Sham or Secretariat were being ridden all that hard down the stretch. Both were being pointed to the Derby which was in two weeks.
Without Big Red in the mix Sham could have done great things but there is a reason why people talk about racing luck and you either have it or you don't. Sham didn't.
In many ways Zenyatta had a lot of racing luck. In finding patient owners and a trainer who could speak her language.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sham_(horse)
http://cs.bloodhorse.com/blogs/horse-racing-steve-haskin/archive/2009/07/09/sham-rocks.aspx
This race was two races after the Belmont Stakes. Too bad Secretariat didn't save one of those 34 lengths for this one.
As you like to handicap, The 1972 Wood: setting aside Secretariat and just looking at the way the race ran do you think there was a track bias towards speed that day?
Or were Sham and Secretariat still recovering from the Belmont?
- Easy Goer ran 8 winning Triple Digit Beyers in 1 year, 5 of them consecutively (110, 118, 119, 110, 122, 121, 115, 120)
- Absolutely SHATTERED Secretariat's track and stakes record in the Gotham Stakes (by a full second if memory serves me correctly, and if Secretariat isn't a yardstick for greatness, then I don't know what is)
- Easy Goer ran all of these historic races(most of them with well over 100 runnings) in the Top 1 to Top 5 all time fastest runnings: Belmont Stakes, Gotham, Travers, Whitney, Suburban, Champagne, including this fastest mile of all time by any 3 yr old in 1:32:2, second fastest Belmont of all time behind Secretariat, and in addition to running the fastest 7f of the year in Florida & right on the track record at 6.5f as a 2 yr old.
Not to mention, Easy Goer had a hatred for the sloppy track at Churchill that day.
I take nothing away from Sunday Silence. He was amazing, he was FANTASTIC, and he was one of the greatest we'll ever see.
Remember that this is just my opinion, and we all have our own. I'm only about to turn 16, so forgive me if some of my opinions seem a bit invalid.
And it was 1973,
I can't agree with you [except on the Zenyatta vs the Best video] but I won't try to argue you off your point of view on this.
Let's just go with the original question. Do you think there was a speed bias on the track that day? I noticed Angle Light went straight to the front and held, then in the stretch the rest of the field seemed to be running in quicksand, which is why I asked.