Best racehorses you have seen with your two eyes

[kingoftherapids]

im 28. i feel like i have seen about 7 studs in my lifetime.  who are yours? interested to hear who everyone has seen in real life
1) cigar
2) American Pharoah
3) curlin
4) smarty (more sentimental than anything)
5) zenyatta
6) rachel alexandra
7) wise dan



off the top of my head on an international level, goldikova. Almost went to australia to see black caviar and regret that decision not to.

[HawgWild]

Affirmed/Alydar (1978 KD and Alydar again in the 1979 Oaklawn Handicap)
Cigar (1995 Oaklawn Handicap cold exacta with Silver Goblin. One of my most confident bets ever)
Skip Away (6 length 1997 BC Classic @ Hollywood)
Alysheba (1988 BC Classic win made him the biggest $ earner at that time)
Personal Ensign (1988 BC retired undefeated 13-0 and beat that year's KD winner, Winning Colors twice)
Bayakoa (1989 Apple Blossom)
Arazi (1991 BC Juvenile.You'd had to been there)
Bold n Determined (Loved Oaklawn and beat Genuine Risk)

[cbhawg03]

Cigar
Ghostzapper
Curlin
Smarty
Zenyatta
Rachel
Azeri
Ouija Board

Perhaps one day I will add AP to the list

[jdelo77]

Zenyatta
AP
Smarty
Rachel

[hoglady]

Bold Forbes ('76 KD)
Elocutionist
Alysheba
Sunny's Halo
Cigar
Smarty
Rachel
Zenyatta
Curlin
Caveat (loved that horse)
Alydar
Temperance Hill
Gate Dancer

[ghostzapper]

On American dirt:

Secretariat
Ghostzapper
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Cigar
Spectacular Bid
Holy Bull
Alysheba
Groovy
Formal Gold

[hogoffate]

In person, I've seen:

AP
Alysheba
Ghostzapper

[HogFanInBryant]

I've seen Cigar, AP, Ghostzapper, Smarty, Zenyatta...that is a pretty salty five-some lol.

[HawgWild]

Caveat is a favorite of mine to hoglady. He ran 2nd to Sunny's Halo in the Arkansas Derby, 3rd to SH in the KD after winning the Derby Trial the week before, and won that year's Belmont in one of the grittiest performances I've seen by a horse. I'm sure you remember him getting bounced a couple of times off the rail on the turn for home by Slew O Gold ridden by Angel Corderro. Woody Stephens said after that race that maybe they'd have Angel on the rail in some future race. Classic!

[Torqued pork]

My best = Cigar
My favorite = Afleet Alex

[hoglady]

Caveat is a favorite of mine to hoglady. He ran 2nd to Sunny's Halo in the Arkansas Derby, 3rd to SH in the KD after winning the Derby Trial the week before, and won that year's Belmont in one of the grittiest performances I've seen by a horse. I'm sure you remember him getting bounced a couple of times off the rail on the turn for home by Slew O Gold ridden by Angel Corderro. Woody Stephens said after that race that maybe they'd have Angel on the rail in some future race. Classic!

I remember - Caveat had a lot of heart- he actually pulled something at the top of the stretch in the Belmont but still brought the race home. Retired a later due to problems associated with the Belmont injury. I just took a special liking to that horse at Oaklawn and he's still one of my all time favorites. Woody Stephens owned the Belmont for a while during that period, didn't he?

[HawgWild]

Woody Stephens owned the Belmont for a while during that period, didn't he?

Five Belmonts in a row. Might not see that again in my lifetime. Interesting read on this streak, the trainer and the horses:
http://www.belmontstakes.com/history/woodystephensstreak.aspx

[husker71]

I will tell you a story now.  The day after Swale died suddenly I was working as front desk manager of the Arlington and about 900 pm I got a call to expect a guest  and to just take him up to a suite and don't worry about checking him in that night officially.  It was of course Woody Stevens  I remember he showed up on a Sunday night because there was no liquor or beer available and after I checked him in I took him up in the back elevator and asked him if I could get him anything    He asked for a sandwich of any kind and a beer   The sandwich was no problem but the beer was all locked up   I called the bar manager who lived close and he came in and  took up a bucket of beers on ice.  The next day the media starting floating around and waiting to interview him and that afternoon the word was out.  He was a hell of a nice man to talk to considering what he had gone through.   

[hoglady]

I will tell you a story now.  The day after Swale died suddenly I was working as front desk manager of the Arlington and about 900 pm I got a call to expect a guest  and to just take him up to a suite and don't worry about checking him in that night officially.  It was of course Woody Stevens  I remember he showed up on a Sunday night because there was no liquor or beer available and after I checked him in I took him up in the back elevator and asked him if I could get him anything    He asked for a sandwich of any kind and a beer   The sandwich was no problem but the beer was all locked up   I called the bar manager who lived close and he came in and  took up a bucket of beers on ice.  The next day the media starting floating around and waiting to interview him and that afternoon the word was out.  He was a hell of a nice man to talk to considering what he had gone through.   

Thanks for sharing that.

[Vito Porkleone]

I have been to several BC's in person, and have seen some pretty impressive horses.  However the most impressive horse I ever saw was one not many have ever heard of.

In '90, I went to the Oaklawn Hcp to bet Opening Verse, an Allen Paulson horse who was doing pretty well, and we made a good bit on him when he went off slightly more than a 2-1 favorite.  But during the post parade, I almost changed my bets after I saw a Calumet horse by Alydar named Criminal Type.  To this day, I have never seen a horse like that - an unbelievable physical specimen in the utmost physical shape.  He was black, and shinier than a newly waxed Lamborghini.  Scariest looking horse I ever saw.  He finished a close 2nd that day, but after that reeled off 4 straight (Pimlico Sp, Met Mile, Hollywood GC, and the Whitney - he beat champion sprinter Housebuster in the Met Mile, who was the favorite in the BC Sprint the next year and broke down at the Cup; and beat a 4YO Sunday Silence in the Hollywood GC). 

Of course, Lukas ruined him, and he was never heard from again.  His Beyers during those four were in the mid 120's, and he was a freak.

Edit - He was HOY in '90, so some may have heard of him after all.  I did not know.  Google is your friend kids...

[heavylifting]

Since I attended just about every Breeders' Cup from 1988 to 2008, I saw everything that ran during that time period, which have already been mentioned here.

Two days in pre-Breeders' Cup days stand out, nowever.

As a stablehand at Belmont Park during the summer of 1979, I whiled away the hours by losing my meager salary at the races during the afternoon. It wasn't unusual to see groups of well-bred 2-year-olds go to the post, with the notion that any one (or more) of them could turn out to be something special. At the time, Woody Stephens used the Maple brothers, Eddie and Sam, as his number 1 and 2 riders, largely because Woody was tight with John Dale, who was Eddie's agent. The third-string rider was Joe Brocklebank, who was to the New York riding colony at that time what Ruben Silvera is now -- one or two wins a meet and a lot of off-the-board finishes on deep longshots.

So, on this one day, Woody puts Brocklebank up on this well-bred son of Northern Dancer that Henryk de Kwiatkowski paid something like $300,000 for, which at the time was still a considerable sum at the yearling sales. Anyhow, this first-time starter won by about 8 or 9 lengths, if I remember correctly and beat what turned out to be a pretty decent field that (again, memory don't fail me now) included I Speedup, which became a multiple stakes winner for E.I. Kelly.

But Woody's horse had knee problems and ran just twice more, winning both -- once an allowance race at Belmont Park and (I think) a statebred stakes race at Keystone (now Parx). He was then retired to stud and became one of the world's most sought-after sires.

I'm talking about Danzig and that maiden race on an ordinary weekday at Belmont Park stands out.

Also, while I didn't see him race, I did see Kelso at Belmont Park. It was in 1983 and NYRA managed to get Kelso (then well into his 20s) and Forego to lead the post parade for that year's Jockey Club Gold Cup, which included John Henry.

Incredibly, NYRA has footage of Kelso and Forego on that day and posted it here --

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jJZA19ZFqCQ. This also includes the voice of Fred Caposella, who many of a certain (graying) age consider the gold standard of race callers (sorry Tom Durkin). Cappy's, "As the fans move closer to the rail, that means one thing. It is now post time" was a signature line of his. Sadly, Kelso died of a heart attack upon returning to Mrs. DuPont's farm in Maryland. Seems the trip was too much for him.

Also, here's footage from the CBS feed of that JCGC. The voices are Frank Wright, Jimmy "the Greek" Snyder and a third person who sounds like Brent Musberger, but I'm not sure.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QSNfXN1RpZI

Earlier on that same day, Devil's Bag won the Champagne for Woody and was considered to be a near certainty to win the next year's Triple Crown. That didn't happen and his less-fancied stablemate (Swale, mentioned in an earlier post) won the Derby and Belmont.

Final note -- the assistant starter (blond guy, could pass for Bill Mott's brother) in the stall with # 6 in the JCGC is Bob Duncan, who later became the starter at the NYRA tracks.

[HawgWild]

Enjoyed the read. Thanks.

[1highhog]

I've had the pleasure of seeing in my lifetime up to this point,

American Pharoah
Curlin
Secretariat
Alysheba
Easy Goer
Sunday Silence
Cigar
Spectacular Bid

I have the pleasure now of owning one of the Granddaughters of Secretariat, Home of the Free, nickname, (Freedom).  Double bred Secretariat.

[ghostzapper]

Cool.  How old is she?

[ghostzapper]

One Horse I think gets overlooked more than virtually all of them is Spectacular Bid.  If you want to see an awesome race horse, go look up his pps.  Check out the weights he routinely carried.

[FATHAWG08]

Secretariat
AP
Curlin
Zennyatta
Gate Dancer
Alysheba
Lawyer Ron
Rachel Alexander
Easy Goer
Alyadar
Cigar
Smarty Jones
Afleet Alex
Eight Belles