There has been a great deal of discussion lately regarding who would win a fantasy race, who is the greatest pacer, greatest trotter, or even the greatest horse of all-time.  It's always a fascinating topic, one that brings forth many different opinions, and is typically one of the more civil discussions seen on social media.  I am a student of both Standardbred and Thoroughbred racing.  I recognize myself as a student because I know I will always have more to learn and can learn from others that have more experience or are just more intelligent than I am. When it comes to debates regarding the caliber of certain horses, admittedly, I have an easier time when it comes to thoroughbreds than standardbreds.  That isn’t because I know more about one breed than the other. I believe I am fairly close to equally versed in the two.  But, the breeds are very different from a historical standpoint. Harness Racing is speed-crazed.  When comparing horses, referring to a single race in which they broke a world record is common.  It is also one of the first details about a horse that is referenced when comparing horses of different years or even generations.  "He trotted 1:49; he’s better!" Not too long ago, a post about being the "O.G." of social distancing appeared on Twitter pertaining to Mission Brief’s romp at The Red Mile. I posted a screenshot of Snow White winning by a pole, hoping people would keep finding older races of horses winning by many lengths and posting them.  Instead, you would have thought I walked up to Mission Brief and literally spit on her.  Immediately references made to how fast she was, albeit seven years removed from Snow White, appeared. How dare I even broach the subject of anyone being better than Mission Brief (which was not at all what I was doing)! The differences between Standardbred racing and Thoroughbred racing begins with speed. Over the last 40 years, standardbreds have gotten significantly faster for a variety of reasons. Thoroughbreds have not. Standardbreds are literally 30 to 40 lengths faster on average than they were in 1980.  Thoroughbreds are not. Take a look at the current world records for pacers and trotters. The oldest record for a pacer is from 2006, as Holborn Hanover still holds the mark for an aged gelding (a narrow parameter). Think about how long it took to lower Jenna's Beach Boy’s mark that was set in 1996 and how many sub 1:47 3/5 miles we have seen in the last 15 years. I can’t even come up with all of them. The trotting side is just as wild. There are only five world records on a mile track that exist today for trotters that are above the 1:50 mark, and three of those are 2-year-olds. There may be 100-200 trotting miles that are faster than the 1:51 4/5 "fastest ever" mark set by Beat The Wheel in 1994 at The Meadowlands. I have seen condition trotting events on a warm night faster than that.  Who would have ever thought we would have seen a 1:48 4/5 trotting mile? Does that make Homicide Hunter the greatest trotter of all time? Of course not, but this shows why it is so different to compare standardbred horses over the years. Mack Lobell’s world record was just 1:52 1/5. I believe he is, to this day, the greatest trotter of all time.  Is Mission Brief better because she trotted nearly two seconds faster as a 2-year-old some 30 years later? Thoroughbred racing is much simpler. On very few occasions are times brought into the argument when talking about who was the greatest. But when they are, it is because those records have stood the test of time. Secretariat ran the fastest Kentucky Derby, Preakness (despite the tele-timer controversy) and Belmont Stakes that we have ever seen. Nearly 50 years later, that statement still holds true.  In fact, nobody has gotten within 10 lengths of his Belmont Performance.  It stands the test of time.  Typically, modern Harness Racing records do not. Even crazier, over the last 20 years of the Belmont Stakes, 16 editions of the race have been 20-plus lengths slower than Secretariat’s Belmont.  It took 28 years for another horse to run a Kentucky Derby in under two minutes.  Before Monarchos in 2001, nobody had done it since Secretariat.  By the way, nobody has done it since. In fact, since Secretariat’s 1:59 2/5 performance in the Derby, only two horses have run a Kentucky Derby faster than 2:01 – Monarchos (1:59.97) and Spend A Buck (2:00.2). Spend A Buck won the Derby in 1985. So when I state that I believe Secretariat was the greatest thoroughbred of all time, nobody challenges me with, "Yeah, but Discreet Cat won the Cigar Mile in 1:32.46 under wraps in 2006; he was faster." Imagine a Harness Racing world where, right now, Nihilator’s 1:49 3/5 performance is still the fastest race-mile of all time and only one horse has ever paced 1:49 4/5 since Nihilator. That’s Secretariat. Nihilator would be viewed as the greatest and nobody would really argue it. Same could be said for Mack Lobell if his 1:52 1/5 mark still stood and only one other horse had gone sub-1:53. Are the pacers and trotters today really that much more talented than those of the 1970’s and 1980’s?  Are they the beneficiaries of changes that have made the breed faster? I don't know. But, I cannot say with the same confidence that I have in Secretariat, that Mack Lobell was the greatest.  But, I also don't believe that we can rely on time as the end-all be-all in an argument. Is it possible, maybe even probable, that Mission Brief is the greatest 2-year-old filly trotter we have ever seen? Sure. But, if you take Continentalvictory out of 1995 and make her a 2-year-old the year Mission Brief was 2, can Continentalvicotry beat her? Maybe. The same can be said for others.  The Standardbred breed has changed, the dynamics of Harness Racing has changed. The equipment has changed. The drivers are better athletes.  That’s just not the case in Thoroughbred Racing. (Eddie) Arcaro, (Angel) Cordero and (Laffit) Pincay were every bit as good as anyone riding today.  It makes for fascinating arguments, but taking emotion out of it and just using logic, I think it is virtually impossible to make any definitive statement when comparing a standardbred from 2020 to one from 1985.  In Thoroughbred Racing I can.