Greatest ever? Who can say for sure?

It’s fascinating to read the comments on the poll about the greatest trotter ever. Because we could discuss this question 24/7/365 and still not have an absolute answer.

There is no absolute answer. How do you compare a shooting star in colt stakes like Muscle Hill to the French monsters who race many seasons over many distances?

Who was better: Moni Maker or Continentalvictory?

Continentalvictory was certainly better as a 2- and 3-year-old. She won the Hambletonian in 1:52.1 on the same day that Moni Maker won the Oaks in 1:55.3. I recall seeing Continentalvictory coming off the final turn at the Big M that day and I think she had sparks coming out of her derriere she was trotting so fast. There’s no way that Moni Maker could have handled her that day.

Moni Maker got the same lifetime record, 1:52.1, but she earned her mark at the Big M as a 7-year-old. She was so big that she wasn’t the best NYSS filly as a 2-year-old, but blossomed as a 3-year-old and simply got better each year. For four seasons---1997-98-99-2000, Moni Maker was a true international star. She was still racing and making headlines when Continentalvictory was raising foals.

What makes a horse great? Certainly not one great race or one great season. Sustained greatness over several seasons is the hallmark of a champion. It helps if a horse wins over different size tracks and at different distances, but such challenges are often not tossed at North American stars.

That’s why you have to be impressed with champions like Varenne, Ourasi, and others who can grind it out to marathon victories in Europe, then come to America and match strides with our sprinters over one mile.

Gerard Spoor has enough experience to recognize the greatness of the French mare Roquepine and she was truly a wonder mare. And you’ll find no greater fan of Armbro Flight than yours truly. Her stats are no indication of her ability and I just wish she’d held up longer because she was pig-iron tough.

Fresh Yankee was a paragon of consistency when racing on half-mile tracks---or any tracks. She was also the second-fastest trotting mare in history after her 1:57.1 time trial in 1967.

I thought Nevele Pride was the greatest colt trotter I’d seen until Mack Lobell came along. Keep in mind that Nevele Pride set world records at ages 2, 3, and 4. He simply crushed his foes and went one tough trip after another for three seasons.

Mack Lobell had more pure speed---he accelerated like a pacer---but Mack had a mind of his own and that cost him at times.

Hey, what about Peace Corps? She was one of those rare creatures that was a superstar as a young horse and just kept on winning as an older horse. I’d certainly rank her ahead of Continentalvictory and the equal to Moni Maker.

Obviously, contemporary horses are bound to get more support than the antiquarian champs. If you knew the history of Cresceus, you’d know he was truly a great horse and far more dominating than Mr Muscleman (so was Su Mac Lad), but Cresceus has been gone from American tracks for a century and later died in obscurity in Russia. Comparisons a century apart are virtually impossible to make.

Lots of people who saw Volo Song race during the war years will say without hesitation that he was a better trotter than Greyhound, but he died as a 4-year-old while Greyhound’s speed standard for trotters lasted 31 years.

As sure as God made little green apples, Muscle Hill will be Horse of the Year for 2009 and he deserves. For the purposes of this poll, however, it’s helpful to look back to see what other trotters have been voted Horse of the Year:

Victory Song, Rodney, Proximity, Pronto Don, Stenographer, Scott Frost (twice), Emily’s Pride, Su Mac Lad, Speedy Scot, Nevele Pride (three times), Fresh Yankee, Delmonica Hanover, Savoir, Green Speed, Fancy Crown, Mack Lobell (twice), CR Kay Suzie, Continentalvictory, Malabar Man, Moni Maker (twice), Glidemaster, and Donato Hanover.