Who will shine brighter in 2017?

Steel Halo and Elu Thingol were a couple of the best 2yo colts last season.  

Steel Halo had and eye-popping record of 7-6-1-0 and his $4.2M in earnings more than doubled his top competition.  Elu Thingol (what kind of a name is that anyway?) ranked 10th on the list of 2yo racers with a record of 5-4-1-0 and 683K in winnings.

They were both extremely successful, no doubt about that.  But which one will have the better overall career?  Perhaps a comparison of their base numbers at the end of last season may shed some light?

	Gate	Early	Top	Long
	Speed	Speed	Speed	Stamina	Kick
Steel Halo	84	91	91	70	712
Elu Thingol	74	88	88	73	724

What can we infer from these numbers?  My interpretations are below.

In the case of Steel Halo, you can see that he is a very fast starter.  If you watch one of his races, I am very sure that you will see him bolt out of the gate.  He has good early and top speeds, and stamina that is suitable, perhaps, for up to 10F.  But I believe his kick rating may limit his viability to 9F, maybe even 8F.

Elu Thingol is a mediocre starter, which is OK for a racer with stamina of 73.  I believe his average kick rating may hold him back a bit, but he should be capable of at least 12F.  His speed ratings of 88/88 are right in line with what I'd expect for a 11-12F horse.

Keep in mind that these horses may not be mature yet and there may be some change in these numbers.  I have not seen their AR's, but based on what I see here, I would say that Elu Thingol is the more unique talent, and I would expect him to outperform Steel Halo going forward.

I was curious to see how these two stack up against War Machine at the end of his 2yo season in 2005:

	Gate	Early	Top	Long
	Speed	Speed	Speed	Stamina	Kick
Steel Halo	84	91	91	70	712
Elu Thingol	74	88	88	73	724
					.
War Machine	73	89	91	71	897

Good luck to Cold Steel / Steel Halo and Laurabelle / Elu Thingol in 2017.  We'll see who shines the brightest.