Dubai Cup
As a horseplayer who started following racing in the late 70s, I got used to seeing great horses on a regular basis. I thought that Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Alydar, and Spectacular Bid were the norm. In the 20 years that followed, I've seen a number of terrific thoroughbreds. Easy Goer, Cigar, and Sunday Silence come to mind. But IMO none of them matched up with the great ones of the late 70s and early 80s. I even got teased by great 2 years olds like Devil's Bag and Arazi, but they never developed.
Unfortunately, true greatness has eluded us. That is, until perhaps yesterday.
Dubai Millenium delivered the single most impressive performance I've seen in a long long time. He totally crushed a fine field of US and European based Grade 1 horses while being eased in the late going of the Dubai Cup. The official margin over Beherens was 6 lengths, but it looked more like 8-10 to me. This is his second straight track record performance (besting his own record of a few weeks ago). Almost all his wins are by daylight and with a lot left in reserve. Critics might say that he was loose on the lead, but it appeared to me that he earned that lead while racing well within himself and left the others straining to keep up.
Let's hope he stays sound because he's scheduled to come to the US later this year. WOW! Awesome.
Wayne |
