Secretariat was as good as a horse can get. I heard the race announcer interviewed last Saturday, he said that Secretariat was so far ahead he simply had to guess at the distance. A good guess as it turned out.
Today’s trivia question...you can NOT google it...who trained Secretariat?
I have never been enthralled with Secretariat, for some reason Man O war has always held my fancy as the GOAT,what he did in only 21 races is unbelievable.
sometimes you know you are watching something truly special.
the people who were blessed enough to watch Babe Ruth dominate baseball. Jim Brown dominate football. Michael Jordans shot over Craig Ehlo. Tiger Woods.
Secretarian is on the list. the people who were alive in 1973 really enjoyed a treat.
Saw it on TV live. Tremendous.
Perhaps the greatest ever along with Man O War. What hearts these two had.
I will never forget that race. I was sitting in the NCO club at Edwards AFB in California, pleasantly fortified with a belly full of beer, watching this most incredible race on TV. The whole bar was standing and yelling, just excited as hell at such a remarkable performance. There were guys there who thought the 1-1/2 mile distance would be too much for Big Red (Secretariat’s nickname), and had placed their money on Sham, a very good horse in his own right. Going into the final turn, when Big Red was obviously taking off like a ballistic missile, even the Sham bettors were cheering Secretariat on. It was just one of those once-in-a-lifetime events, where everyone was transported on the excitement of watching history being made.
Secretariat had “supercruise”.
The Best!
I’ve been telling everyone this for years.
I have a great story that was written in 2004 posted here:
http://stevesees.blogspot.com/2008/05/belmont-remembering-1973.html#links
universally loved......can’t say that about very many humans....
They humorously call the sport of horse racing “improving the breed”, but the breed reach it’s all-time peak in 1973. I expect to die without ever seeing a better horse than Secretariat.
And most people forget that Sham was also a very fine horse. In any other year but 1973 he would have won at least 2 legs of the triple crown, and perhaps the whole thing.
This is, in my opinion, the greatest singular sporting event in history. I watched the video and got goosebumps all over again.
Ran each quarter mile faster than the previous one, still accelerating at the finish line, one of (if not the) fastest run on such a track surface. Spectacular horse!