Comparing Justify to Accelerate …

Looking back over the past 15 years or so, there have been 25 cases when a horse won 4 or more Grade 1s in a single year:
Year Horse G1 wins
2003 MINESHAFT 4
2003 SIGHTSEEK 4
2005 SAINT LIAM 4
2006 INVASOR (ARG)  4
2006 LAVA MAN  4
2007 RAGS TO RICHES  4
2008 BIG BROWN  4
2008 ZENYATTA  4
2009 GIO PONTI  4
2009 RACHEL ALEXANDRA  5
2009 ZENYATTA  4
2010 PROVISO (GB)  4
2010 ZENYATTA  5
2013 BEHOLDER 4
2013 WISE DAN 4
2014 CALIFORNIA CHROME 4
2014 MAIN SEQUENCE 4
2014 UNTAPABLE 4
2015 AMERICAN PHAROAH 6
2016 SONGBIRD 4
2017 GUN RUNNER 4
2018 ACCELERATE 5
2018 JUSTIFY 4
2018 MONOMOY GIRL 5
2018 SISTERCHARLIE 4

Note that 2018 was "a banner year", with four such runners. Also note that Zenyatta was the only one with multiple years.

Five times a runner won 5 or more, and Accelerate matched Monomoy Girl last year, but remember she was DQd from the Cotillion Grade 1 win at Parx. Just sayin'

I personally put higher stock in Justify's undefeated triple crown accomplishment, breaking 'the Apollo curse' in the process.
Your thoughts?

I actually did think Justify's feat was the more impressive. If American Pharoah hadn't won the Triple Crown before Justify, it wouldn't even have been a discussion. It's still very hard to win and Justify did it with very little experience, a compressed racing schedule, and after shipping around quite a bit. Not to mention varying weather conditions.

Both fine horses - Justify's hot streak still not as difficult...

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Run the race - the one that's really worth winning.

Too late now, but I think a 3-year-old needs to beat older, outside of their division, to be truly HOY. I’ll never understand the voters - sometimes the Breeders Cup is the deciding factor for awards, sometimes it’s not. Can’t really have it both ways...