In the spirit of March Madness, we are conducting a little experiment to determine how racing fans would evaluate the “best”, “greatest” or “most popular” (or any other criteria you think is applicable) horse of the last 5 or so years. Think of this as the “People’s Choice Awards” for racing. Use whatever criteria you think best determines which horses advance from round to round. Let us know how you arrived at your conclusions. How it works: Each day from March 16 through the end of the month, we will feature one matchup. We will post career specifics and some highlight races on our site to help you in your handicapping. Then you the fans will vote– favorite the tweet if choosing horse A, retweet if selecting horse B. Voting windows will close by 10:00 p.m. each night. The horse with the most votes will advance to the next round.
Here is the Bracket.
We are getting down to the end of Horse Madness — and every matchup from here on out is a must-see. Today we have two geldings going head-to-head to see who advances to the Final Four. Wise Dan, a fan favorite and one of the most fun horses of all time, is the first entrant in this matchup. He is the favorite for sure — but the knock against him has always been the same. Can a horse that is a turf mile specialist really win horse madness? We shall see. In opposition we have Game On Dude, a remarkable horse that really dominated the pre-Breeders’ Cup handicap division for two straight years. He ran at different tracks and was the star of the older male dirt division in his prime. Is that enough to overcome the dominance of Dan. We give the facts — you decide….
Wise Dan
Six Eclipse Awards, two horse of the year honors, two Breeders Cup victories. He’s won on multiple surfaces at varying distances. Wise Dan’s credentials can fill an entire Daily Racing Form. And at his game, a mile on the turf, he has proven nearly unbeatable.
The eight year old gelding has captured 11 Grade 1′s and numerous other graded stakes. He’s also done so in impressive fashion. While his 5 and 6 year old campaigns were marked by dominant wins, his injury riddled 7 year old campaign was impressive for the gutsy and determined victories he earned. Less than two weeks after a heart stopping stretch drive in the Woodford Reserve, where he fended off Seek Again, Wise Dan underwent emergency Colic surgery. He emerged over three months later to capture the Grade 2 Bernard Baruch followed by the Grade 1 Shadwell Turf Mile. He’s back on the track and pointing towards a 2015 campaign. Could a date with today’s rival be in the plans?
Here is Dan’s 2015 Bernard Baruch win — one of my favorite Wise Dan races.
Game On Dude
Game On Dude won 16 of 34 starts over the course of his five year career. He captured eight grade 1′s and every prestigious race in California, including becoming the only horse to ever win three Santa Anita Handicaps.
However, Game On Dude is remembered by many for his disappointing losses–including three defeats in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Although a game second in the race in 2011, Game On Dude was soundly defeated in 2012 and 2013 as the favorite running at his home track of Santa Anita.
As Steve Haskins remarked, however, these losses should not define the Dude:
“When ranking Game On Dude among the greatest geldings, it is his accomplishments that must be considered more than his defeats. Kelso, Forego, and John Henry—arguably the three greatest geldings of our time, or perhaps of all time—lost 91 races among them….If one wanted to describe Game On Dude in a short sentence, it would be, ‘He knew only one way to run—fast!”‘
Here is Game On Dude’s professional win in the 2013 Charles Town Classic
Let’s see who advances to the inaugural Horse Madness Final Four!
