The announcement earlier this week that Curlin would not race in 2009 was not a surprise, but the reality of it made me come to one disappointing realization: Other than Zenyatta, there really aren't many top-tier older horses I am looking forward to watching next year. With Big Brown and Curlin now...

With less than two weeks to go until the World Championships, now is a good time to look at some of the top contenders in each division. Obviously, there will be plenty of surprises when the pre-entries come out Thursday, so this is just a rough draft, if you will. Right now, the biggest question marks...