I liked the Affirmed, Alydar duels. Nothing else separates those with talent from those with heart and talent.
Secretariat is still the only horse to win the Derby in under 2:00. Both he and Sham, the horse who finished 2nd to him that day 33 years ago, crossed the wire in under 2:00 minutes. Secretariat still holds the record for the Derby and Belmont. In fact, his time of 2:24 in the Belmont is still a world record on dirt for 1 1/2 miles. For quite a few years, he also held the world record on dirt for 1 1/8 miles, which he set in the first Marlboro Cup, a race created specifically to showcase Big Red against the best older horses in the country.
Secretariat won his Kentucky Derby in 1:59 2/5, achieving the unheard-of feat of running each quarter-mile segment fractionally faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were: 25 1/5, 24, 23 4/5, 23 2/5 and 23. The very game, superb racehorse, Sham, crossed the wire in 1:59 4/5, a time that would have won any other running of the Kentucky Derby, before or since.
THAT was the greatest Kentucky Derby ever. Barbaro has to look of greatness about him, and he might turn out to be a Triple Crown winner, but his Derby was ordinary by comparison to the 1973 Derby.
Another remarkable thing about Secretariat was that he was equally as magnificent on turf as on dirt. His last two races were on grass. He won them both, the Man o'War Stakes at Belmont, setting a new record for 1 1/2 miles on turf, and the Canadian International at Woodbine. In both his racing seasons, he won all of the year-end honors for which he was eligible. Horse of the Year twice, Champion 2-year-old, Champion 3-year-old and Champion Turf Horse.
Named by ESPN and one of the top 100 athletes of the 20th Century, he was and always will be the greatest horse I have ever seen, and I'll always love him.
Those who are interested can visit Secretariat.com