Wha t are 5 best race horses of all time?

Secretariat, Man of War, Seabiscuit, Citation, Ruffian, Seattle Slew. Not necessarily in that order.

Secretariat

Ruffian

ManOWar

Seattle Slew

Dr. Fager

My favorite of these is Ruffian. Ruffian had a tragic accident that made many publications have written about. None in my opinion capture the story better than this website I found. While I chose some great ones there are still others that I feel were great, such as Citation, Cigar, AP Indy, Zenyatta, California Chrome, Rachel Alexandra and American Pharoah to name a few.

Where’s John Henry?

With these type questions, it depends on who you ask because many have their own opinions due to class, sentimental reasons, style and type of race ect.. The below race horses are some of my favorites, and not necessarily in the order of preference, as they all had/have their own unique style and personality..

~ Secretariat- Almost everyone has heard of Secretariat, Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse, that in 1973 became the first U.S. Triple Crown champion in 25 years, setting race records in all three events in the Series—the Kentucky Derby (1:59.4), the Preakness Stakes (1:53) and the Belmont Stakes (2:24) - records that still stand today. He is considered to be one of the greatest Thoroughbreds of all time, ranking second behind Man o' War of the 20th Century.

~ American Pharoah- an American Thoroughbred racehorse who won the American Triple Crown and the Breeders' Cup Classic in 2015. He was the 12th Triple Crown winner in history, and in winning all four races, became the first horse to win the Grand Slam of Thoroughbred racing. He won the 2015 Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year and 2015 Champion three-year-old. He was bred and owned throughout his racing career by Ahmed Zayat of Zayat Stables, trained by Bob Baffert, and ridden in most of his races by Victor Espinoza. He now stands at stud at Ashford Stud in Kentucky.

~ Zenyatta- won the hearts of America with her awesome personality and talent. She is the only horse to win two different Breeders' Cup races in the history of the championships. She also holds the record for consecutive Grade 1 stakes wins at 9 in a row, and is tied for most consecutive wins with 19. She was a 3-time Eclipse Champion Older Female and 2010 Horse of the Year..

~ Lady Secret- Sired by the immortal Secretariat, the grey lady was a machine in the mid-1980s, rattling off a string of victories in major stakes across the country for then-newcomer trainer D. Wayne Lukas. Lady's Secret won the BC Ladies' Classic in 1986, as well as the Whitney the same year.

~Lemon Drop Kid - He is among many stakes-winning Thoroughbreds to be descended from Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew. Lemon Drop Kid played the spoiler to Charismatic's 1999 U.S. Triple Crown run, winning the Belmont Stakes that year by catching the front running Charismatic in the homestretch. Lemon Drop Kid followed up with a win in the important Grade I Travers Stakes, I was there..lol. In 2000, he won several major Grade I races and earned U.S. Champion Older Male Horse honors.

~ Smarty Jones (February 28, 2001) is a thoroughbred race horse, and winner of the 2004 Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes. He finished second in the Belmont Stakes that took place on June 5, 2004. He finished his career with 8 wins and one place in nine starts, earning $2,613,155. He also earned a $5 million bonus from Oaklawn Park. His total earnings were $7,613,155. He now has an early Kentucky Derby prep at Oaklawn named in his honor, the Smarty Jones Stakes, as well as a Labor Day race at Parx Racing and Casino is in the final Saturday in September. In addition, a statue will stand at Parx in his honor.

~ Point Given- is an American Hall of Fame champion racehorse he won the 2001 Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes, along with the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year. He is the only horse in history to have won four $1,000,000 races in a row: the Preakness Stakes, the Belmont Stakes (in which he ran the fourth fastest Belmont ever, faster than both Seattle Slew and Affirmed, each of which achieved the Triple Crown), the Haskell Invitational Handicap, and the Travers Stakes. In 2010, Point Given was voted into the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame.

~Ruffian- She had brilliant speed with scores of track and stakes records set. Ruffian is considered by many to be the greatest female racehorse in history and was ranked among the greatest U.S. racehorses of the 20th century by Blood-Horse magazine. Her story was told in 2007 film Ruffian if you haven't seen it, it's a must see.

~ Barbaro- who decisively won the 2006 Kentucky Derby, but shattered his leg two weeks later in the 2006 Preakness Stakes, ending his racing career and eventually leading to his death

After a short career his breakdown in the Preakness, Barbaro became the object of public affection. His stall at the New Bolton Center was decorated with many thousands of Get Well cards (including a 7 ft by 72 ft card from fans at the Belmont Stakes), and flowers and presents sent in by fans. Others sent in items meant to help his recovery, such as saint medallions and holy water. Barbaro's fight was inspiring and that the hope for a near-miracle was not pointless.

~ Goldikova- Goldikova is the only horse to win three Breeders' Cup Mile races, winning it in 2008, 2009 and 2010. She is a champion Thoroughbred racemare based in France, although she has raced in North America and England. She has won fourteen group one races, with nine victories over colts and geldings. This puts her above the great Miesque as the only European-trained horse to have won more than 10 Group I races since their introduction in the 1970s

~ Frankel- is a British thoroughbred racehorse. Frankel is unbeaten in eleven races and has been the highest-rated racehorse in the world since May 2011. Frankel was given a rating of 143 by Timeform, the highest mark awarded by the organization in over forty years and their fourth highest of all time behind Sea Bird, Brigadier Gerard and Tudor Minstrel.In June 2012, following his win in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot, Timeform raised his provisional rating to 147, making him the highest-rated horse in the organization's history.

And many more...As time keeps on ticking it will keep on giving us more 'of all time' greats!

1. Secretariat

2. Man O War

3. Phar Lap

4. Seabiscuit

5. Frankel

Winx

Black Caviar

Phar Lap

don't know about the other 2.

Secretariat, Man of War, Citation, Cigar, Zenyatta

'Of all time'? Just like anything else, 'the best' has to be 'of it's era'. Currently Frankel, Winx and some other impressive, so far, horses like Too Darn Hot. Horses like See the Stars can't be forgotten (all Flat Racing). Godolphin had a string of top performers, as have Coolmore.

The others mentioned already were top racehorses, but of their time! I also have to look at which horses have the ability to produce a string of winners. Dubawi, son of Dubal Milennium for one. Similarly the great Galileo..... and so on.

David Balfour

Lily Bar

Bertram family

Molly Bloom

Cheshire Cat