#Andy Beyer

Comparisons aren't odious - as well-respected commentator Richard Hoiles suggested as Baaeed careered away from his rivals in the Juddmonte International. They hold an important part of understanding the true and accurate representation of racehorse merit. What is the point of holding a race at all, if we aren't comparing the merits of each runner…

Never televised in prime time and hardly known outside racing circles, the 4-year-old is favored for a grand opening, and grand finale, in Saturday's Breeders' Cup. Outlined against an orange-pink October sky, the horseman rode again. Juan Leyva, the only exercise rider for perhaps the greatest American racehorse of the 21st century, spurred his…

Outlined against an orange-pink October sky, the horseman rode again. Juan Leyva, the only exercise rider for perhaps the greatest American racehorse of the 21st century, spurred his mount from a trot into a gallop at the five-eighths pole on the Keeneland Race Course backstretch and was gone. The sunrise that was painting the eastern sky had not…