Newsflash: Curlin is a monster. His Stephen Foster romp while carrying a small anchor on his back confirmed as much. As far as most are concerned, he is the best horse in the world - hands down. This much is undisputed.

But here are a few questions that I pose to you: Where does he rank on the list of best horses since 1979? And if he is not yet among your top horses now, what does he have to do the rest of his career to crack your list?

If Curlin's career ended today he would have posted a 9-1-2 record from 12 starts, with earnings of $9.3 million. He has five grade or group I victories, including the Preakness, Breeders' Cup Classic and Dubai World Cup. He has a Horse of the Year title and is well on his way to a second.

From what Steve Asmussen has been saying the last few days, it seems as though Curlin could be pointed to France's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe in October. A victory there would give him a group I on turf, which would build his impressive résumé even more. If he does indeed go that route, it seems Curlin would have a turf prep race in July over here before heading to France, have one race in France prior to the Arc, and then likely close out his career on Oct. 5. Obviously, this would mean skipping the BC Classic at Santa Anita and the highly-anticipated match-up with Big Brown.

Should he win the Arc Curlin will have, in my mind, done enough to be considered the best horse since Cigar - who he would also pass in earnings to become the world's all-time money earner.

Better than Cigar? No way. Curlin will likely end his career with only 15 starts - one fewer than the 16 consecutive wins that Cigar posted. In all, Cigar was 19-4-5 from 33 starts with two Horse of the Year titles. His body of work is just too vast for Curlin to top him.

But what about other great North American horses in the last 30 years? Obviously he is not in Spectacular Bid's class, but what about Skip Away, Sunday Silence, Easy Goer, Alysheba, Slew o' Gold or even Personal Ensign? More recently, how does he compare to Silver Charm, Holy Bull, Point Given, Smarty Jones, Afleet Alex and Barbaro?

I'm curious to see where people stand on this. Assuming Curlin wins his last three, including the Arc, here is how I would rank the top 10 over the last 30 years:

1. Spectacular Bid
2. Cigar
3. John Henry
4. Skip Away
5. Sunday Silence
6. Easy Goer
7. Curlin
8. Alysheba
9. Silver Charm
10. Point Given

Your thoughts?

The final results of the poll are in!

Surprisingly, Point Given won by a large margin, garnering more than 30% of the votes. I was a bit surprised, not that you guys voted him the winner, but that he won by so much. I bet that if we took this poll again in six months, Curlin's votes would go way up!

Thanks to everyone who voted.

Since we had a good response to that poll, here's another one that we can have some fun with:

Who was the best horse since 1979 to fall one leg short of the Triple Crown?

It has happened 10 times in the last 30 years, most recently with Smarty Jones in 2004. I'll give you my top three and you guys can cast your vote below.

3. Smarty Jones: He was a length short of going undefeated for his career and may have been the best horse since Cigar (although I would argue Point Given). I'm still not convinced that he couldn't have run as a 4-year-old, but he is a true champion nonetheless.

2. Sunday Silence: Although he could not get the elusive Belmont against the great Easy Goer, he beat him three other times as a 3-year-old, including the BC Classic. Was 9-5-0 from 14 starts and had a victory as a 4-year-old, which gives him the nod over Smarty.

1. Spectacular Bid: Take a look at the PPs. He was a man amongst boys. Was 26-2-1 from 30 starts and won 10 stakes in a row before the Derby, most by a large margin. I don't think there is anyone who would argue that ‘Bid should have been a Triple Crown winner. Proves how hard it is (and how much luck you need). His 4-year-old year (Nine consecutive graded stakes wins) might never be duplicated.