Best flat horse ever seen. Period.
This is just such a ridiculously pretentious thing to say apart from being groundless and inaccurate.
Sigh, yes it is indeed pretentious to call a horse that has won everything in one season the greatest ever. He has achieved more than any 3YO has ever done. 1 Group one a month, and not against mugs but against seriously good horses. The Guinneas, the derby and The Eclipse (First since Nashwan) He hacked up in the Arc and the Irish Champion and took the International for good measure.
The handicapper is the only one that has him behind Dancing Brave (6 lbs) and that is widely considered to be ridiculous (He is equal on Racing Post ratings even though Dancing Brave never won the Derby). It is only because Youmzain finished second behind him that they don't rate him higher..it's baffling and makes a mockery of the ratings. (not that anyone actually takes these ratings seriously..it's like the FIFA world rankings FFS)
Really how anyone can even claim that Sea The Stars is not the greatest is completely beyond me. How anyone can claim that anyone who says that is pretentious is "pretentious"...well..that's more something you say because you seem to have a personal problem with me rather than anything else
But I guess the below guys are pretentious as well.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/racing/article6860943.ece?openComment=true http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/oct/05/sea-the-stars-arc-greatestWell the guy from The Times says that Sea The Stars is the greatest "in his estimation" which excludes him from being pretentious as he is expanding on his opinion.
And the guy from The Guardian says that Sea The Stars "could be the greatest ever" which also excludes him from making a pretentious statement as he too is merely stating his opinion rather than passing judgment.
Whereas boldielocks simply says "Best flat horse ever seen. Period" which is monumentally pretentious and judgmental in the extreme.
I would also say that this is a thoroughly inaccurate conclusion based on all known form and ratings imo although I do agree that the bare winning distances do not do the horse justice.
I would put him in the best two or three that i have seen in the last forty years but, and this is a big but, if his progeny were to go on to be champions and he is a big success in the paddocks he could then and only then be considered to be an all-time great.
And let me just point out boldielocks' propensity for making wildly inaccurate and pretentious statements by reminding everyone of the comment that he made about Venetia Williams last winter during the jumps season, which he claims to be his favourite form, so fair to assume his most researched form of racing.
He said that he thought that Venetia Williams was a rubbish trainer more suited to pulling up vegetables in a field than training horses and that the only reason she was still in business was because she had "got lucky" by having Best Mate in her yard.
Just to point out for those people who do not follow jump-racing that closely, Venetia Williams had her best-ever season in 2008/9 culminating in two winners at The Cheltenham Fesival and then training the winner of The Grand National. She also had absolutely nothing to do with Best Mate who was trained throughout his career by Henrietta Knight.
I rest my case.
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