What was amazing in the Derby is that the jockey didn't even use the whip on Barbaro at the end!
I just learned that I can't get the race on my Direct Tv programming. Is it going to be broadcast over the internet?
Ron Turcotte never touched Secretariat with the whip in any of the three Triple Crown races. Big Red set records in all three, although he was denied the offical Preakness record due to a timer malfunction. In the Belmont, Ron never asked Red to run until about an eighth of a mile from the finish. He never even uncrossed his reins. (Jockeys usually take a cross hold on the reins in the early part of most races and uncross them when they are ready to ask a horse to run.) Ron saw the timer and realized they could get a world record, so he only moved the reins a bit. Red did it all on his own.
Don't get me wrong. Although it isn't uncommon for a jockey not to use the whip when a horse is winning by a comfortable margin, I don't mean to take anything away from Barbaro. As I said, he does have the look of a great horse about him. I'm only describing why and how the 1973 Derby -- so far anyway -- is the greatest one ever.
On the 25th anniversary of Red's Triple Crown, I organized a tribute to him at Hollywood Park. I invited Lucien Laurin, Red's trainer, and Ron. Although Ron couldn't come, we corresponded. Lucien did come and I must tell you meeting him and talking with him about Red was one of the highligts of my life.