2012 Breeders' Cup Classic: Respect the Greek
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Photo:
Eclipse Sportswire
He's never been
worse than second, has won two grade ones, one in the Midwest and one in the West, while running second twice in the East. Sounds like a
darn good horse doesn’t it? Sounds like a horse that should be at the top of
his division….So tell me, why doesn’t Ron the Greek
get any respect?
He wins the
Santa Anita Handicap and the Stephen Foster, two of the biggest grade ones races for older males. He then places second in the grade one Whitney
after a horrible trip an after making up a ton of ground. He has one of the best records in 2012 and he still gets
passed over like he’s yesterday’s news. Who is his competition for the top spot? Fort
Larned, Mucho Macho Man, and Game on Dude are the main challengers.
Fort Larned
does have quite the speed record. In four of his last five starts the strapping
stallion has run a 108 Beyer Speed Figure or better. The only blip on the radar
was the Stephen Foster, where he was beaten by Ron the Greek, himself. After
that he returned to romp in the Cornhusker Handicap. He then won the Whitney convincingly, though, Ron the Greek was cutting into his lead rapidly. As it stands He has one grade one win and two other graded stakes
wins.
Mucho Macho Man, is a tremendous horse with a stride the size of Montana. Being a May foal,
he is just now hitting his stride. So far this year he has impressed in the
Sunshine Millions, the Gulfstream Park Cap., and the Suburban Handicap. His
only “bad” run was in the Alysheba and he ran third. In all his wins
he has recorded fast times and has visually wowed spectators. His largest flaw
is that he has yet to win a grade one. He did run second in the grade one Woodward, but second is not a win. He does have one head to head win over Ron
the Greek, however, he still has no grade one wins to his credit.
Game on Dude
has the best case of any older male when comparing records to Ron the Greek. He
has a grade one win in the Hollywood Gold Cup, but that is his only grade one
win. He also has two grade two races. All total, he has three graded stakes wins to
Ron’s two, however; again, Ron has two grade one wins while second in the
Oaklawn Handicap, Whitney, and the Sunshine Millions. Game On Dude has been off
the board this year, and was beaten in his most recent grade one try, the
Pacific Classic.
I understand
that fans have their favorites, but one cannot let personal favoritism blind
them to facts when looking at overall rankings. You have to push feelings aside and look at who has done the most, who has faced the best, and who has come out with the best record. When it comes down to that Ron the Greek takes the cake. He is the leader of the division and it's high time people started to recognize that.
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