Big hat tip to Ron Correll over at tracksideview.com for cluing me into a little poll being conducted by the Breeder’s Cup to determine the greatest moments in Breeder’s Cup history.
We’ve had many deep discussions here about who some of the greatest horses of all time are. If you recall, I was able to interview Ron and get his take on his favorite thoroughbreds several weeks ago. Now’s your chance to sound off on what Breeder’s Cup moments you think should be known as the greatest.
Take the poll from the Breeder’s Cup here:
http://www.breederscup.com/poll_top25.aspx
The idea is that out of a list of historic moments, you rank your top 5. When all the votes are compiled the top 25 moments will be available on a DVD going on sale in October, just in time for the 2008 edition of the Breeder’s Cup Classic.
I realize we get a few folks form time to time who may not be familiar with some of these races, so I’ve included the youtube replay for some of the more famous moments. For those of you who are already familiar, consider this a walk down memory lane. No doubt some of you have stories to tell about these races, and god knows I’d like to hear them.
-1984: Wild Again wins the first ever Breeder’s Cup Classic
-1988: Personal Ensign defeats Winning Colors (the last filly to win the Kentucky Derby) to become the first “major horse” in 80 years to retire undefeated.
-1995: Cigar (current U.S. all-time earnings leader) wins the BC Classic.
- 1996: Cigar is all-out in his bid for back-to-back Classics, but is hung 5 wide and upset by Alphabet Soup in his final race
-2001: Tiznow caps off back-to-back wins in the Classic. You know how I always say the Tiznow colts are “fighters”- well here’s who they get that fight from.
-2007: Curlin takes on Street Sense, Hard Spun, Lawyer Ron, and Any Given Saturday and mows ‘em down in the slop at Monmouth
Just thought I’d share with you all since if there is one thing horseplayers are adamant about, it’s our opinions when words like “greatest” and “all-time”start getting tossed around. So head over, vote, and drop a comment letting us know what your top 5 moments were.
For what it’s worth, I went:
- Personal Ensign over Winning Colors
- Curlin’s 2007 victory
- Tiznow’s back-to-back wins
- Cigar’s Classic victory
- Alphabet Soup’s upset of Cigar
I know, I’m a Curlin guy through and through - but I thought enough of Personal Ensign’s performance to vote it #1 overall.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pqvn82J2WN0
Very Subtle:
BCS a brilliant filly over males.
Miesque:
Won BCM twice over males.
Arcangues:
Prix Ispahan (Gr-1 9F) winner runs huge first time on dirt.
Great Communicator:
Wired the field in the BCT
Street Sense:
fastest BCJ ever
I also had Personal Ensign’s victory over Winning Colors as number 1, but number 2 for me was Arazi running away with the Juvenile in 1991—he was bigger than Big Brown in that race, and crashed just as hard in the ’92 Kentucky Derby. But that Juvenile race was a beauty to behold! My number 3 is Ouija Board’s second F&M Turf victory in 2006; that field she beat is surely one of the finest collections of female turfsters in BC history—Film Maker, Honey Ryder, Wait a While, My Typhoon, Mauralakana, Satwa Queen, and Dancing Edie. In fourth place, for me, is Cigar’s ’95 Classic win, completing his undefeated season, and in fifth place is Lady’s Secret winning the 1986 Distaff, and Horse of the Year. She was amazing, with 8 grade 1 victories that year, plus this daughter of Secretariat won the G1 Whitney vs boys, finished second in the G1 Woodward to Hall of Famer Precisionist (another filly Personal Flag came in third), and third in the G1 Metropolitan and G1 Philip Iselin.
Oops, Personal Flag was a “he”…I had Personal Ensign on the brain
Alysheba’s win in the dark was pretty cool.
valarie fantastic choices you know your racing. i remember watching personels race and wondering where she was and then she was suddnlly there it was really the best bc race ever. winning colors was at the top of her game and was beat.
Man I wish I had been into horse racing as a kid and watched Personal Ensign vs. Winning Colors live. What a race!
Don’t worry Val, I had to edit the post after noticing I originally called Personal Ensign “Personal Emblem.”
Alysheba, Miesque, and Arcangues are solid choices as well. I wonder if you can vote twice?
Did anyone else notice that Curlin/Big Brown video posted by anonymous? Made me chuckle a bit. Curlin to Big Brown: “Tom Durkin just called and said you finally crossed the finish line in the Belmont.’
Classic!