"Hawk Wing or "The Rock" And Airwave!!
I have idolised Hawk Wing for many years so it was to my amusement that "The Morning Line" had a semi debate on Saturday as to whom was the best.
The debate also hit Facebook-to which I posted:-
"umm no competition at all-The form of "The Rocks" wins are pretty poor(English Guineas aside) While Hawk Wing was unlucky to lose in Guineas, Huge effort runner up in Derby-no way he stayed yet destroyed the rest of the field with Moon Ballad(Dubai World Cup winner) 12 lengths back in third and beaten just 2 lengths by dual Derby and Breeders cup ...winner High Chaparral-that performance for me emptied him that season yet still won Eclipse-second in both Irish Champion and QE2.
And dont care what anyone says about his lockinge performance the ground was still good despite the rain-and the form is immense-Domedriver-who beat the rock in America and after this race narrowly beaten a nose by mighty six perfections in Group 1 beaten 20l Where or When smart group 1 winning miler beaten 11L-Reel Buddy beaten 22L lengths won Group 1 Sussex few months later-and the old boy Tillerman who placed in 2 group 1's and won a group 3 after beaten 24L-Best miling performance of all time in my opinion."
The above is a copy and paste job from Facebook so please excuse any spelling mistake-and it was a bit of a rant for a comment on Status.
I can see why some people would think Rock Of Gibraltar was the better horse-he did beat Hawk Wing twice and achieve that brilliant record of Group 1's.
BUT plain and simply I put it to you apart from English 2000 guineas-what horse of note did he beat the rest of the season??
Hawk wings performances merit much more respect(Coral Eclipse apart) though Sholokhov was no mug and one talented pacemaker a group 1 winner in fact.
So on this one I agree with Timeform and rate Hawk Wing the superior Horse.
Saying that I do rule with my heart rather than head sometimes-I'm still under the belief Airwave was the most talented sprinter to ever grace the turf-if you don't believe me just watch her Temple stakes(2003) win and ask kyllachy-poor chap had to endure beating from a filly 2 years younger than with him at home-and this is a Nunthorpe winner were on about here.
She had an amazing cruising speed-mixed with a small burst of acceleration ive never seen in any horse, what also impressed me with her was the 2003 Golden Jubilee Stakes where she came up again that monster Choisir who must have been twice Airwaves size.
She gave this powerhouse a head start and then charged at this beast only going down 1/2L-Brilliant Filly she was and im looking forward to here offspring hitting the track soon.
WRITTEN BY DARREN HUDSON-WOOD 16/04/09