Bernardini improved his Beyers in 7 straight races during his winning streak. This is something rare as no other “top” has ever accomplished it. Cigar in his 16 straight wins did not do that and Cigar’s best Beyer was 121. Beyer figures of today are not exactly compatible with the Beyers made during the 1970s as they were in a crude evolutionary stage then. In 1986 the figures were perfected and show how fast a horse ran in the past.
Looking back one can reconstruct Secretariat’s Belmont as an estimated 139 perhaps the best race ever run. Groovy ran back to back Beyers in 134 and 131 in 1987 and no horse since Groovy has broken a 130 Beyer. I am sure the stars of the Decade of Champions – the 1970s- Affirmed, Seattle Slew, Secretariat and Spectacular Bid would run high enough Beyers to trounce the “stars’ since that era but it can not be definitively stated.
