i dont know what Belmont you watched..Sham had the lead for about 10 seconds half way thru the first turn...when Anderson called the 6 furlong time, Sham was behind by a good 6-7 lengths...this is probably the greatest single performance by a horse ever run..nobody was gonna beat Secretariat that day... to say it was because of a horse named Sham is just odd.
Just noticed on Secretariat’s past performances that Sham actually beat him by 4 lengths in Aqueduct’s Wood Memorial. Sham ran 2nd, Secretariat third.
I lived about 10 blocks from Aqueduct from 1970 to 2004. Worked at Belmont as a teen from ‘74-’76. Got to meet Secretariat’s groom. My best friend at the time worked for Lucien Lauren’s son, Roger. Roger trained Great Contractor.
Although I never saw Sec when I was there from 74-76 (Sec won the ‘73 Triple Crown), I did get to see and pet horses such as the great filly Ruffian, Forego, Little Current and Cannonade. Ruffian used to pass our barn in the morning on her way to the training track.