>Wind direction may also have played a role (I have no idea which way it was blowing).<

The wind was blowing with them in the backstretch.

I wouldn't put too much weight on the fractions because of the wind, but I do put a lot of weight on what I saw.

Smarty was having a little more difficult time relaxing at the slower pace of the 1 1/2M. He challenged a bit prematurely and repulsed several bids on the backstretch as he took the lead.

The horses that were up there with him all collapsed from their efforts and the distance. Visually you could see they were tired and crawling.

Smarty also tired, but to his credit he didn't collapse like the others.

Birdstone got a perfect trip even if he did run better than in the recent past.

I'm not sure what kind of numbers everyone is going to give the race, but I would not be suprised if some people interpret the speed of this race incorrectly by incorporating the fact that all the contenders were exhausted into the track variant and thus giving Birdstone and Royal Assault more credit than they deserve speed figure wise.

IMHO, what really happened was that Eddington, RHT, Purge, and Smarty all ran slower than their usual race (because of their early efforts and the distance) and Birdstone and Royal Assault picked up the pieces.