In winning the 1998 Kentucky Derby- Mcgraw Hill Question

[sanjaylakhani]

In winning the 1998 Kentucky Derby,
Swiftilocks showed a burst of speed as that
of Man o’War, who won20 of 21 races in
1919 and 1920.

A. as that of Man o’War, who won
B. not unlike that of Man o’War, who won
C. not unlike Man o’War, who won
D. like that of Man o’War for winning
E. like Man o’War and his winning
C. over the next seven years the American

Can somebody explain as to why B is better then A?

[RonPurewal]

it's not proper usage. you can only use "as" to compare CLAUSES, but choice (a) tries to use "as" to compare NOUNS/PHRASES.
if you replace "as" with "like", which does precisely that (modifies nouns / phrases), then choice (a) is legitimate.

[pawan_chitturu]

I thought like is used to compare only nouns and as is used to comapre phrases and verbs. Therefore for me A is the correct option.

If like is used to compare phrases then B is the correct option

Please help me

[shatabdo.kal]

I've a problem to accept B ... if the sentence structure like speed X showed not unlike that of Y, I would accept B because that then properly points to speed. I like to know the source of the question