Given the fast final fig and the very hot pace that Congaree was pressing throughout the entire race, his Cigar performance was the most impressive race of the year and probably one of the best miles of all time.

Those of you who are pure sheet readers may want to skip the following and I apologize that it is way after the fact but I have to admit that I did not think of it until now.

Anyway, here it goes, Congaree may have had a much faster back fig than we gave him credit for. If you recall, his Derby was run under an incredible pace and he pressed that pace and still did not wilt until the final 1/16. That was a great performance despite his 3rd place finish and probably represented an effort much better than the final figure he earned.

That being said, I certainly did not see the big effort coming given his 4yo line and the fact that his 3yo top may have been even better than indicated makes his condition look even worse going into the race last Saturday. So you have to wonder what woke him up all of a sudden.

Chris