Who was the greatest racehorse?

Question

Ounce for ounce, I believe Kelso was the greatest racer in terms of stamina and win percentage. He wasn't in the "big, big" leagues but captured several titles. However, Secretariat was amazing for his sheer running style and can't quit attitude.

Answer 1

Arkle, he won races givin stones of weight to other horses.

Answer 2

KMN'S ANSWER WAS PERFECT. YOU SHOULD LOOK INTO THE BOOKS ON THESE HORSES, IT'S UNBELIEVABLE THE TYPE OF STUFF YOU LEARN ABOUT THESE AMAZING ATHLETES.

Answer 3

Ctation.  Check his record.  Secretariat was second.

Answer 4

phar lap or makybe diva they were sooooo good

Answer 5

Secretariat....once you see his videos on you tube...

you will see why he was the greatest.

Answer 6

Too many horses are given all time great status based on 1 year of racing.  Sure Secretariat and Man O War were great, and even legendary, but neither raced beyond age 3.

I'd say Makybe Diva was/is the greatest.

You think Rags to Riches is something...  Imagine her winning the Big Cap or the Woodward vs. colts and horses at age 5, 6, and 7!

Cause that's what Makybe Diva did in winning her 3 Melbourne Cups (my comparison to the Big Cap or Woodward doesn't even do it justice, since this is one of the biggest races in the world, but they fit better than either the KY Derby or the BC Classic).

She's also the 2nd highest earning racehorse ever (more than Cigar) and 2nd to a Japanese horse I never remember.

John Henry was just as good.  He won 6 stakes races when he was 9!  It's absurd that he was ranked 23rd in the BloodHorse top 100 of the 20th century.

Answer 7

Look for El Moro De Cumpas! Hes from mexico and was amazing. There is even a statue of him in his honor!

Answer 8

Firstly, I'm not being disrespectful, but you guys really need to learn about the racing world outside your own country!  If your question was who was the greatest AMERICAN racehorse, then I agree with all your answers so far.

Secondly, this question is actually very vague.  You should have specified, best modern day racechorse, best turf horse, best dirt horse, best sprinter, best miler, best National Hunt horse, etc, etc.

I could name hundreds of racehorses that could each deserve the title of greatest racehorse for one reason or another.  

I own a book called Century of Champions, which has given every horse to race during the 20th Century a handicap rating according to the Timeform standard.  This is their top 10:

1. Sea Bird (Rated 145)

2. Secretariat (Rated 144)

3. Ribot (Rated 143)

4. Brigadier Gerard (Rated 143)

5. Citation (Rated 142)

6. Hyperion (Rated 142)

7. Tudor Minstrel (Rated 142)

8. Mill Reef (Rated 141)

9. Spectacular Bid (Rated 141)

10. Bayardo (Rated 141)

Out of interest they rated Kelso at 44. with a rating of 137.

Answer 9

To match Kelso in stamina/win percentage I'm going to have to name Man O' War as a possible contender.  I realize that Kelso won horse of the year for like 5 years...  that is quite impressive.  But Man O' War lost only 1 race which has many stories including that the colt was facing the wrong way when the race began, but nevertheless finished second.  (Upset's jockey tells the story that he kept MoW boxed in, refusing to give him running room and ultimately Upset won the race...  he said he knew MoW was the better horse and had he moved over at all, MoW would have easily won.)  Whatever the story, MoW beat Upset about 8 other times (I'm guessing at the number, but i think it's about right).  MoW was forced to carry more weight than any other horse...  as a 2 year old he was already carrying 125 or so... and before his retirement he carried 138.  But nothing they could do slowed him down...  he ran through it.  Had they given him the opportunity to run later into his life (had the rising weight requirements not made it impracticable to race him), I'm sure he would have continued his winning ways.

Also to rival Kelso, Cigar had quite a racing career...  while he didn't win Horse of the Year quite as much as Kelso, Cigar won quite a lot of champion titles and did race in the big big leagues.  And how about John Henry for length of career and champion titles?

As for matching Secretariat, what he did in the Belmont was quite impressive...  Unfortunately we'll never have the pleasure of seeing that again...  it's too dangerous to send your horse out onto that big of a lead in a race that long...  no one would try it for fear of running out of energy and getting caught in the stretch...  trainers, jockeys, owners will be afraid that their horse will end up more like Sham than like Secretariat.  People didn't think Secretariat could do it...  as he rounded the turn, everyone was sure he was going too fast... how could he possibly keep that up for another 6 furlongs?  But he did.

To rival Secretariat in sheer running style and can't quit attitude, Ruffian was quite a horse...  She was always in the lead, never headed.  and they never asked her to go faster...  they held her back in every race she ever ran and they let her go in the stretch, but still didn't have to force her.  as they entered the stretch, Jacinto would let her go and in 4 strides she was suddenly 12 lengths in front.  As a 2 year old, she raced once with a splint...  a painful leg problem...  she went to the lead and another filly came up beside her...  despite the pain, Ruffian surged forward and reached a record time for the race.  In the Great Match, she broke down and her hoof was dangling by a bit of skin, yet she ran on, refusing to allow Foolish Pleasure to win.  

I admire Secretariat, but I have to rank Ruffian at #1 for a can't quit attitude.  Or how about Go For Wand, who broke down a few strides before the finish line, stood back up, crossed the line, and ran to the winners circle before being put down...  She breaks my heart, but that's quite an attitude as well.

Answer 10

secratariat was the best ever period