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Best Stephen Foster Winner


Is Curlin the best horse to win the Stephen Foster?

Rank these winners of this historic race:

To participate, use your cursor to drag the selections on the left (currently arranged in chronological order) to the blank placeholders on the right. Once you have completed ranking all of the horses, submit your entries and compare your results to the rest of the community. A first place ranking will earn 8 points, second place receives 7 points, and so on.

The Stephen Foster is featured on this week's That Handicapping Show.
37 Comments:

Saint Liam...yes,yes,yes....

Kelsey 10 Jun 2009 5:47 PM

Totally Curlin all the way!!  I went to see him race in person five times, what an incredible horse, took my breath away everytime.

Brian A. 10 Jun 2009 6:34 PM

Curlin!

Liv 10 Jun 2009 7:21 PM

For the first time I put the EXACT same thing as the actual rankings!

SmartyJonesRocks 10 Jun 2009 7:54 PM

I havent seen most of the others, only a couple, but of the ones i saw Curlin has it hands down. Had he been given a rest and returned this year i believe he would'v returned as a force to be reckoned with. He was a great horse.

LDP 10 Jun 2009 8:01 PM

I actually matched with everyone else, that has never happened!  Curlin was definitely the best, followed closely by Street Cry & Perfect Drift.  

Rechelle 10 Jun 2009 8:30 PM

I actually ranked them the same for once! Go Curlin!

PeppysPudden 10 Jun 2009 8:47 PM

Saint Liam of course!

JKM 10 Jun 2009 9:29 PM

Hey, I actually got the EXACT rankings of everyone else, heh heh. While the crops of '00 may have been faltering, Curlin was STILL a very classy and "stamina-wired" colt who colt stand up with a comparatively good class of colts. Just an amazing ride. Curlin forever, and always great to see him run as a 4 y/o.

MtBFan (STILL) 10 Jun 2009 9:52 PM

Victory Gallop was the greatest Stephen R Foster by far The move he made was breathtaking

peter s 10 Jun 2009 9:52 PM

I wonder if it is working properly. I ranked them Saint Liam, Black Tie Affair, and Perfect Drift in 1, 2, and 3.

Curlin I ranked 7th.

It says my rankings matched the community's horse for horse.

newsline2 10 Jun 2009 9:52 PM

newsline2 - something might be amiss. I'll look into it.

Blood-Horse Staff 10 Jun 2009 10:11 PM

My top 3 are -

Curlin - #1

Black Tie Affair - #2

Saint Liam - #3

Black Tie Affair does not get enough credit as a great racehorse. I ranked him above Saint Liam as I very well remember his racing days. I watched last year's Stephen Foster and what more can be said about Curlin. In my eyes he is the greatest.

Julie L. 10 Jun 2009 10:12 PM

It should be working properly now.

You may need to clear your cache and vote again:

In Firefox, go to Tools/Clear Private Data/select "Cache" (you may want to deselect anything else, if you don't want to lose saved passwords, etc), then "Clear Private Data Now."

In IE, go to Tools/Internet Options. From the General tab, chose "Delete" under Browsing history, then select the "Delete files" button next to "Temporary Internet files."

Blood-Horse Staff 10 Jun 2009 10:25 PM

Victory G. set the record I think it still stands, could be wrong. I had Street Cry in the Dubai race "the other Goldphin there" and he confirmed his greatness in the Foster. And third, St. Liam's Foster very very good. Curlin 4th.

cat thief 10 Jun 2009 11:21 PM

Guided Tour's Foster upset victory over Captain Steve was as exciting a stretch drive as you could hope for.  And defeating an odds-on favorite coming off a Dubai World Cup victory was no small accomplishment for the great gelding Guided Tour.

Churchill Charlie 10 Jun 2009 11:36 PM

CURLIN!  The Mighty CURLIN!  Number 1!!!!!!!!  They had him boxed in on the rail for the majority of the race and Robby rode him ever so patiently until Curlin could finally slip between horses and make his signature run from the inside rather than the outside.  Awesome, durable, flexible, gorgeous horse!!!  Worth noting is Einstein came in second, and he is gaining a lot of respect this year.  Hope he takes this Stephen Foster.

WWSTP 11 Jun 2009 12:50 AM

SEEK GOLD...ALL HEART...BRED MORE GELDINGS!!!...

Bellwether 11 Jun 2009 1:14 AM

I think Curlin was the best overall horse  to win the Stephen Foster. However, I place the actual Foster performances of Street Cry, Victory Gallop, Awesome Again, and Perfect Drift above Curlin's performance last year.

The Beyer speed figures for past Stephen Fosters:

2002 Street Cry- 118

1999 Victory Gallop- 118

1998 Awesome Again- 118

2003 Perfect Drift- 117

2001 Guided Tour- 117

I think Golden Missile either ran a 115 or 117. Saint Liam and Curlin earned 110 figs for their comfortable wins.

As good as Black Tie Affair was, the Stephen Foster was only a grade 3 then, and carried a much smaller purse. I think it was in 1998, when Churchill basically doubled or tripled the purse, that the Foster became a truly national race.

GunBow 11 Jun 2009 2:05 AM

#1: 91-1 Seek Gold beating Perfect Drift by a nose,(Calvin B riding)

Hey, where's 2x winner Recoup the Cash?

Happy Ticket, we remember you, "foaling complications".

da3hoss 11 Jun 2009 5:43 AM

Thsi was a no-brainer! CURLIN!!!

Goober 11 Jun 2009 10:08 AM

It always amazes me how it's conveniently forgotten that great form has a tendency to not hold up to time, which would explain why so many "great" horses get retired before they show the chinks in their armor...to Curlin's credit, they ran him just long enough to "tail off" at the very end, and get beat on a track that was really not to his liking.  In recent memory, the Paulsons were also very sporting of running Cigar long enough where time finally ran the mickey out of him, and he was not entirely the same horse at the end that he was in the middle...but as a racing fan, thats how it should be, we should see how long horses can maintain excellence...heck...Kelso started getting beat, Forego started getting beat, and just at about the point that they did, their owners wisely said, enough is enough...I prefer that to a horse being put on the shelf prematurely....so what about PERFECT DRIFT....when he won the Stephen Foster, he was as good as any horse in the United States...this was a fabulous horse, and he ran forever.  He's my number 1, if only for that reason.  Long-term quality.  No other horse in that race, with exception of Curlin (who ran TWO YEARS...(hurray!)....at a high level--maybe Saint Liam too)...thats it.

Phil 11 Jun 2009 10:59 AM

I love Curlin!!!  He's the greatest.  I went to see him at the farm--just an amazing horse.

Rita 11 Jun 2009 11:20 AM

I think Southern Image is the best horse to not win the S.F.H based on track conditions.  He gets beat by a 60-1 shot in the slop.  This extremely irks me since I own the saddle cloth from Southern Image in that race!  

loplop 11 Jun 2009 10:39 PM

After this Saturday - Einstein.....

Bob D. 12 Jun 2009 10:33 AM

VICTORY GALLOP,  nuff said.

last race today at belly,  bet the 4 hoss all u want on turf.  all u want.

BULLSBAY is my pick in SF CAP.

rolo from ky 13 Jun 2009 10:15 AM

Hands down , no matter what anyone says ..... My buddy PERFECT DRIFT  with a handride over Horse of The Year Mineshaft in 2003 .. .  Mineshaft had been carrying even more weight when he ran in Europe and his owner , Mr. Farish of Lanes End Farm even said BEFORE the race that weight would NOT be an issue in the outcome.  Some cry that it was .  Perfect is currently at The KY Derby Museum in their paddock area behind the building  during Churchill meets.  He gets daily walks to the paddock along with visits to the track to be ponyed which he still enjoys .He is there so all of his fans can see him.  

To Bob D.- I wish Einstein would have won today ,,  great horse ...saw him in person win Woodford last two years.  

Bad Brad 13 Jun 2009 10:08 PM

Bad Brad , one thing for sure...PD is a great horse simply because he ran at the top levels for so long...

da3hoss 14 Jun 2009 7:57 AM

PERFECT DRIFT,  COMES FROM A SMALL BUT BEAUTIFUL HORSE FARM IN MISSOURI, AND BEATS HOY MINESHAFT IN THE STEPHEN FOSTER....RAN 3RD IN 2002 KY.DERBY....LIVING WELL AT THE KY. DERBY MUSEUM PADDOCK...GO VISIT HIM .

TWIN SPIRIES DERBY HAT MAN 14 Jun 2009 11:09 AM

To da3hoss :  Thanks for acknowledging that about Perfect Drift .   He didn't win a lot of stakes races but he was competitive in most and raced all over the country , a record 5 time BC Classic runner. winner of $4.7 mil.  He gained respect and appreciation from fans for this.  

Bad Brad 14 Jun 2009 12:04 PM

Awesome Again:

I truly think this was a very underrated horse.  He went six for six and ended his year bey beating one of the strongest Classics ever and yet he doesn't get a lot of respect.

If Curlin would have done what he did you wouldn't hear the end of it.  In saying this, I am not knocking Curlin.  I was with this horse from his first race on and he will always be one of my favorites.

I wonder how much the fact that A.A. was owned by Frank Stronach had to do with it.

LAZMANNICK 15 Jun 2009 10:22 AM

Go Phil! I agree it was Perfect Drift # 1. The old boy kept showing us his tenacity for years and in this world of retiring every good horse after 3, it's nice when a great gelding comes along and we can enjoy their exploits for longer than one or two years. He gets my vote.

Second is Black Tie Affair. I do not recall if he won the Foster the same year he was Horse of the Year, however he ran everywhere from New York to Nebraska and again entertained the masses. Plus he won at sprints as well as the classic distances.

OLD TIMER 16 Jun 2009 12:48 PM

Ummm CURLIN. totally

AudraMarie 16 Jun 2009 9:48 PM

I am partial to Perfect Drift due to his longevity.  He retired at age 9 with 50 Starts which consisted of: 11 Wins, 14 Places, 7 Shows; He Won 7 Graded Stakes and Placed in 14 Graded Stakes with earnings of $4.7M.   What a truly GREAT race horse.  We need more horses like him, The Tin Man and Evening Attire that we can follow for several years.  Maybe Mine that Bird will stay healthy and we can watch him for several years.  

Michelle 17 Jun 2009 10:46 PM

Victory Gallop, Street Cry, and Awesome Again are top 3 for me.

SV 19 Jun 2009 4:45 PM

Victory Gallop by far. Jerry Baily even said that that was the greatest move by a horse he had ever been on, including Cigar!

jed_dog 22 Jun 2009 2:31 PM

You have to be kidding me with Saint Liam over Awesome Again and Street Cry he ran about 3 good races in his entire career the only thing that made him was how he passed R.I.P, thats the only reason because ppl show pity for him

KRG 22 Jun 2009 5:01 PM

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