I've been watching top horses literally my entire life. I remember Secretariat and all the greats of what, in my humble opinion, was the greatest decade in American racing history. I'm not ready to hold Arrogate with the same esteem in which I have a place for horses like Secretariat, Forego, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, and Spectacular Bid just yet, but I am warming to the fact that he may be one of the greatest horses I have ever seen.
"Blasphemy!" That is what I would have said not too many years ago, in calling a horse with only eight lifetime races, as perhaps the finest American racehorse of the past 3 1/2-plus decades. This is, after all, a horse who did not break his maiden until June of last year, and did not attempt his first stakes race until the end of August -- but oh what a stakes debut it was ...
In the massacre that was the 2016 Travers, it's easy to forget all the good horses that were left in his massive wake that afternoon in Upstate New York. The deepest three-year-old race of the year, was not a race at all, it was a one-horse show. If, god forbid, Arrogate had never raced again after that Mid-Summer Derby, it would have been interesting to see how he would have been remembered years from now. I don't know if a horse will ever run a better Travers. But, of course, we did not have to worry about Arrogate becoming a one-hit wonder.
The powerful son of the late Unbridled's Song has repeated his lightning in the bottle performance at Saratoga three more times. It's no longer unbelievable to see what Arrogate does in a race. His dominance and excellence has come to be expected.
Maybe a shorter race, like 8 1/2 furlongs, will show some shred of vulnerability, but somehow I doubt it. Forget about the seven straight wins, and the $17 million he has earned in his last four remarkable victories. More than that, what Arrogate has been able to accomplish in such a small amount of samples is to create an air of invincibility.
Spectacular Bid of 1980 had the same type of fear factor. No horse was going to touch him 37 years ago. Everyone knew it. I can honestly say that no horse since The Bid, strikes fear into any possible competition, as does Arrogate. Not Cigar, not Ghostzapper, not American Pharoah.
So when Arrogate lines up for the San Diego Handicap on Saturday, July 22nd at Del Mar, he will be giving weight, starting for the first time in four months, in his first race since the trip to Dubai and back, and running his shortest distance since before he was a stakes horse. None of it is likely to matter one bit, though, because this is Arrogate.
As exceptional as the trio of the Travers, Breeders' Cup Classic, and Pegasus World Cup were, it was in his most recent race that we learned even more about the Juddmonte Farms owned, Bob Baffert trained, and Mike Smith ridden monster.
In the Dubai World Cup, we learned that this champion could overcome serious adversity. He's a horse that generally likes to be within striking distance early, but all hope of that was lost just a few strides out of the Meydan starting gate. With Gun Runner about to run his best, there really wasn't much reason to believe that Arrogate should win this race. Not with the start he got. More than three months removed from the performance, I still find it as sensational as I did watching in the moment ...
If ever a horse had an excuse to lose, it was Arrogate in Dubai. The only reason he won, is that he is a very special horse. Perhaps one in which we have not seen the likes of since the great horses of the seventies. Trust me, I do not make that statement lightly.
Some say Man o' War, while others swear by Secretariat. There is Citation, Kelso, Dr. Fager, and Native Dancer, to name a few more. We will never know for sure who was the greatest of all-time, and in the grand scheme of things, it does not matter. Still, it is fun to imagine. Does Arrogate even belong in such a discussion? Time and races both run, and still to come, will be the ultimate judge of the greatness of Arrogate.
Where does he go from here? The San Diego Handicap, the Pacific Classic, and the Breeders' Cup Classic -- maybe another race or two, or if we are really lucky, another season. The racing career of Arrogate will be over soon enough. Can he get even better before it is all said and done?
All I know, is that to this point, no horse has been such a dominant figure in my mind, against any horse that may challenge him, since the great Spectacular Bid, and that was 37 years ago. I cannot wait to see what Arrogate does next, but I am expecting something special.
