In your opinion, was Monarchos' Kentucky Derby run the best since Secretariat?

Question

Monarchos was not that great a horse, but boy did he show up at churchill downs that saturday. Anybody who can match Big Red's track record while thrashing the far superior favorite has to get a little love, doesnt he?

Answer 1

On a track souped-up for speed - and if that's the focus - yes it was.....but speed alone does not make a compelling storyline, especially when the surface that day made the old dirt track at Sanita Anita seem deep.

Give me Shoemaker's remarkable ride on Ferdinand as the next in line to Big Red.

Answer 2

Monarchos was the only other horse to win the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes, he did not accomplish much after that.

Answer 3

what did he do after the derby......lol.....he was a joke...

i like when they come back as 4 year olds.....race out-side

their age group.

Answer 4

nope...it was a fluke  and the track was groomed for fast times

Answer 5

A little bit of love...OK but just a little!  

Nobody denies that the track at Churchill was running fast that day...but what is often forgotten is the speed dual that devoloped between Songandaprayer and Balto Star.  They pushed record fractions of :22 and change, :45 and change and 1:09!  Add to that the train wreck of a start (Favorite Point Given and several others bumping hardly) and you have the Perfect Storm that set the race up for a big closer like Monarchos!

His breeding, out of Regal Band, the unraced daughter of Dixieland Band, by the unheralded Sire Maria's Mon is a great story.  Bred by the former Editor of the Chicago Tribune, it is highlighted in the book "A Horse of a Different Color".

Monarchos won only 4 of 10 starts, but did finish in the money on 8 of 10, winning $1.7 million, so he was not a slouch by any means.....but he won only one race after the Derby...so I cannot call him a great horse.  Very good, yes.  Great, no!

He peaked at the right time and I believe that his time was greatly aided by being pulled around by the rabbits, Songandaprayer and Balto Star.  Add to that the fast track......well, very good, but not great!

Answer 6

They souped up the track because the 3-year olds that year were so bad.  If I remember correctly they running sprints that day with quarter splits of 20 and change and 41 and change.

Answer 7

It was the second fastest winning time - so yes.