Top 10 BC perfomances (last 10 years)

[miraja2]

Because I am obsessed with lists and rankings, here is my list (in order):

1)Inside Information - '95 Distaff
2)Tiznow - '01 Classic
3)Pleasant Home - '05 Distaff
4)Ghostzapper - '04 Classic
5)Skip Away - '97 Classic
6)Banks Hill - '01 Filly & Mare Turf
7)Favorite Trick - '97 Juvenile
8)Da Hoss - '98 Mile
9)Cigar - '95 Classic
10)Countess Diana - '97 Juvenile Fillies

Most of these horses won by such huge distances that their inclusion on this list is self-evident. The ones that didn't (Tiznow and Da Hoss) I included because of what they accomplished with their victories - back to back classics for Tiznow, and "the best comeback since Lazarus" for Da Hoss.

What do you guys think? Did I forget someone or screw up the order, in your opinion?

The Zapper was crazy good.

[zippyneedsawin]

Good list.
I was thinking about Rock of Gibralter's performance, he came up short, but it was still pretty impressive.

[1st_Saturday_in_May]

Zapper's #1 in my book. 1:59.02, and he'd have gone much quicker had anyone challenged. Beat Roses in May, Pleastanly Perfect, Birdstone, Perfect Drift, etc. sooooo easily

Well I would include Azeri on that list. Personal Ensign would be on that list. The amount of ground she closed was absurd. I would also put Skip Away in there. His win at Hollywood Park in 97 was beautiful.

Originally Posted by miraja2

Here is my list (in order):

1)Inside Information - '95 Distaff
2)Tiznow - '01 Classic
3)Pleasant Home - '05 Distaff
4)Ghostzapper - '04 Classic
5)Skip Away - '97 Classic
6)Banks Hill - '01 Filly & Mare Turf
7)Favorite Trick - '97 Juvenile
8)Da Hoss - '98 Mile
9)Cigar - '95 Classic
10)Countess Diana - '97 Juvenile Fillies

Most of these horses won by such huge distances that their inclusion on this list is self-evident. The ones that didn't (Tiznow and Da Hoss) I included because of what they accomplished with their victories - back to back classics for Tiznow, and "the best comeback since Lazarus" for Da Hoss.

What do you guys think? Did I forget someone or screw up the order, in your opinion?

No the "zapper" was not all that and a bag of chips.
he was a good horse that raced what, maybe 7 times.
hardly a career i would call outstanding, and his time in the BCC 2005 was no different than Pleasantly Perfects a year earlier, but for some reason, because it was mandella's horse or because it was a west coast horse winning the Bcc in Ca he gets overlokked.
PP's effort in the world cup, imo, is more impressive than a cranked up GZ's who ran once after that, and only once.

also missing from the list is the win by 31 lenghts,
nuff said about that one , i would think.

also how can you exclude Mineshaft and Perfect drift trading jumps in the eye to eye dual in the S foster 2003.
a remarkable effort from the current leader in lifetime earnings, in handing the horse of the year, minseshaft a defeat in his championship year !

[zippyneedsawin]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

No the "zapper" was not all that and a bag of chips.
he was a good horse that raced what, maybe 7 times.
hardly a career i would call outstanding, and his time in the BCC 2005 was no different than Pleasantly Perfects a year earlier, but for some reason, because it was mandella's horse or because it was a west coast horse winning the Bcc in Ca he gets overlokked.
PP's effort in the world cup, imo, is more impressive than a cranked up GZ's who ran once after that, and only once.

also missing from the list is the win by 31 lenghts,
nuff said about that one , i would think.

also how can you exclude Mineshaft and Perfect drift trading jumps in the eye to eye dual in the S foster 2003.
a remarkable effort from the current leader in lifetime earnings, in handing the horse of the year, minseshaft a defeat in his championship year !

ummm... read the thread title.

A fine list.

But if we dont have Azeri at Arlington. The list is amiss.

opps, i thought it was top 10 performances,

maybe he should change the thread title.

but my PP bit is still valid.

Ghostzapper, please.....

[Gauchos0522]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

No the "zapper" was not all that and a bag of chips.
he was a good horse that raced what, maybe 7 times.
hardly a career i would call outstanding, and his time in the BCC 2005 was no different than Pleasantly Perfects a year earlier, but for some reason, because it was mandella's horse or because it was a west coast horse winning the Bcc in Ca he gets overlokked.
PP's effort in the world cup, imo, is more impressive than a cranked up GZ's who ran once after that, and only once.

also missing from the list is the win by 31 lenghts,
nuff said about that one , i would think.

also how can you exclude Mineshaft and Perfect drift trading jumps in the eye to eye dual in the S foster 2003.
a remarkable effort from the current leader in lifetime earnings, in handing the horse of the year, minseshaft a defeat in his championship year !

It's top 10 Breeders' Cup preformances so mineshaft & PD Stephen Foster is not a breeders' cup race. And Ghostzapper was unbelievable and that 1 race after the classic was a 6 length win in the Met Mile in 1:33 off a 5 and a half month layoff. And he had an outstanding carrer from 6 1/2f to 10f he was so dominant it was almost unfair. His classic he just laughed at Roses In May when he moved close to him and destroyed that field.

[zippyneedsawin]

Ghostzapper's performance was great. Period.

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

Ghostzapper's performance was great. Period.

Ooppsss--it is also in the past 10 years. Sorry about that.

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

Ghostzapper's performance was great. Period.

well if defeating the world champion; who struck the gate at the start, and who retired post race because of that; and was strung 10 wide in the final turn, is indicative of a great winning performance then i agree.

but if given the above and winning by a few lenghts is an indication of just an average grade 1 win, i would agree with that too..

i still think everyone is just infatuated with his cool blinker set !

I think Ghostzapper is the most overrated horse in the past to years. Granted he was a great horse, but he really didnt do anything spectacular to warrant such high accolades.

[zippyneedsawin]

Originally Posted by Secretariat

well if defeating the world champion; who struck the gate at the start, and who retired post race because of that; and was strung 10 wide in the final turn, is indicative of a great winning performance then i agree.

but if given the above and winning by a few lenghts is an indication of just an average grade 1 win, i would agree with that too..

i still think everyone is just infatuated with his cool blinker set !

OK, now the BREEDER'S CUP CLASSIC is an AVERAGE grade 1.... stop now.. you're embarassing yourself.

[JJP]

I agree Rock of Gibraltar was probably the best losing performance.

Best ones ever?
Classic- Sunday Silence beating Easy Goer in 89 and Skip Away beating a tremendous field in 1997.

Turf- Manila. Hands down the deepest group of turfers I've ever seen in the BC. Theatrical, the turf champion the following year was in there, as was Dancing Brave, who was supposed to be the best British horse in 25 years. And filly champ/Arlington Million winner Estrapade was in there also.

Mile- Lure and Miesque. Lure had to overcome the 14 hole to win his second and Miesque showed her versatility, winning her first Mile on rock hard ground then taking her second over a bog like surface.

Juvenile- Even though he was a bust as a 3YO, the move Arazi put on in the 1991 Juvenile was monsterous.

Juvenile Fillies- I'll take the recently deceased Countess Diana

Sprint- Going to go with Safely Kept- Dayjur was supposed to be the best sprinter in Europe in years, and he probably would've won the Sprint had he not jumped a shadow. 3rd in the race? None other than Black Tie Affair, who would go on to be Horse of the Year the following year.

F/M Turf- Ouija Board- was dominant in 2004 and while not as sharp in 2005 came fairly close to repeating as Intercontinental was allowed to lope along on an easy uncontested lead.

[miraja2]

Originally Posted by eurobounce

Well I would include Azeri on that list. Personal Ensign would be on that list. The amount of ground she closed was absurd. I would also put Skip Away in there. His win at Hollywood Park in 97 was beautiful.

If it was ALL TIME BC performances I might put Personal Ensign on the list but I limited my list to the last 10 years. As for Skip Away.....his '97 Classic IS on the list.

Originally Posted by miraja2

If it was ALL TIME BC performances I might put Personal Ensign on the list but I limited my list to the last 10 years. As for Skip Away.....his '97 Classic IS on the list.

Yeah I missed the 10 year thing and Skip Away. Sorry about that.

[blackthroatedwind]

Originally Posted by JJP

I agree Rock of Gibraltar was probably the best losing performance.

Best ones ever?
Classic- Sunday Silence beating Easy Goer in 89 and Skip Away beating a tremendous field in 1997.

Turf- Manila. Hands down the deepest group of turfers I've ever seen in the BC. Theatrical, the turf champion the following year was in there, as was Dancing Brave, who was supposed to be the best British horse in 25 years. And filly champ/Arlington Million winner Estrapade was in there also.

Mile- Lure and Miesque. Lure had to overcome the 14 hole to win his second and Miesque showed her versatility, winning her first Mile on rock hard ground then taking her second over a bog like surface.

Juvenile- Even though he was a bust as a 3YO, the move Arazi put on in the 1991 Juvenile was monsterous.

Juvenile Fillies- I'll take the recently deceased Countess Diana

Sprint- Going to go with Safely Kept- Dayjur was supposed to be the best sprinter in Europe in years, and he probably would've won the Sprint had he not jumped a shadow. 3rd in the race? None other than Black Tie Affair, who would go on to be Horse of the Year the following year.

F/M Turf- Ouija Board- was dominant in 2004 and while not as sharp in 2005 came fairly close to repeating as Intercontinental was allowed to lope along on an easy uncontested lead.

A couple of things. Dayjur wouldn't " probably " have won, he WOULD have won, as the race was OVER.

Can't name them offhand, though for some reason I think the field was so bad that Deputy Commander took a reasonable amount of money, but the field Skip Away beat in 1997 was not " tremendous ", and may have been much closer to the worst Classic field ever. Perhaps you are thinking of the 1998 field, which was excellent, and Skip Away ran well, but lost.

As for Dancing Brave, and this is no slight to the winner, and others you mentioned, as they were VERY good, but he shipped extemely poorly and looked very bad that day. He simply did not run anything close to his race.

Originally Posted by zippyneedsawin

OK, now the BREEDER'S CUP CLASSIC is an AVERAGE grade 1.... stop now.. you're embarassing yourself.

funny, i don't feel embarassed...

and thats not what i typed,
i said his performance was an average grade 1 WIN,
not that the BCc is an average grade 1 RACE,

we need to see past his cool blinker set and put his averageness into perspective.

he was not on the triple crown trail,
he was a sprinter that ran 3 or 4 routes in his entire life, and who took off months between these starts. this was before the detention tent too, i might add.

surely you cannot put this tiny career in comparison to the great horses such as secretariat, affimred, and seattle slew.
and to throw such accolades at an underserving horse such as this is a clear insult to those i afore mentioned.