Man O’ War Vs Secretariat Who Would Win!? 

Especially when you consider all the reasons that the Belmont is where Triple Crown dreams go to die. All the top distance horses come out of the woodwork, to take down the pretenders who aren't made from something really special.

👍 “…Secretariat is widening now. He’s moving like a tremendous machine” ~ Chick Anderson

All three races of the triple crown.......Secretariat set the record for all 3 and the times, still unbeaten

Join reality lady. Champions from different eras of ALL sports have been compared for hundreds of years.

@@rossogden9920 Lots of people say that, and she only means well. But indeed, even racing writers in 1920 were saying that (yes, I read ancient DRFs) regarding Man O'War, comparing him to Colin or (???) Luke Blackburn (not the first horse I'd think to compare him to).

Yes, handsome chestnut pillars of the sport. Completely different eras anyway.

Yes, but sports people will always do it.

When I saw American Pharaoh, I immediately thought damn he could be Secretariat reincarnated! I mean he had the same way of going, the same, arrogant attitude and he had the look of eagles! I love Man O’ War and I love Secretariat and American Pharaoh, all related by blood to Each other. In the movie National Velvet a son of Man O’ War played The Pie. I was lucky enough to have great grandson of both Secretariat and Man O’ War. His name was Flame, he went from race horse that set a track record to my trail horse and when I could no longer care for him he became the darling of the United States Park Police, I even had their Chief call me and said I really must talk to you about the horse you donated. I asked why is he ok? He laughed and said you have my cadets fighting over who gets to have him as their permanent mount. He was in Bush Senior’s Inaugural Parade. He was a one of the best horses I had the privilege to have, train, and love.

Well that's part of it. The breeding worked out brilliantly. But even with that you didn't expect a 22 pound heart. That's what did it all. He processed oxygen faster than any of them.

What you saw back in 1973 was a phenomenon that will never happen again. Appreciate what you witnessed. It will never happen again.

I think the closest we’ve seen is Flightline and I’d love to have seen him in the triple to see his times!

@@jet7111 The literal heart and the figurative one as well. :-)

​@maninacrowd2342 - Flightline's last race? He did something only attributed to Secretariat. He paused and examined his foes, like a king watching his minions. Then he showed himself to be the king. Breathtaking.

*Secretariat never experienced a whip... beautiful* Tourcotte used the whip on Secretariat in plenty of races. For example, just look at him coming down the stretch of the 1973 Woodward. Secretariat was whipped many times. One horse who they almost never used the stick on was Dr. Fager. He resented it and, in the one or two instances when they did use the stick on him, he let his jockeys know about it immediately.

Father never needed to be hit ,not because he resented it,shut your mouth doctor doolittle

Secretariat got hit when he got beat by onion ,prove out and others,you sound stupid, and by the way he was juiced

Ron Turcotte*

@@Fred-vy1hm spell check taking over.

Very nice post. Sharing a meal together makes them good buddies, as well as arguably the two finest racehorses ever seen in the U.S. Don't know if any horses in other countries had any two as outstanding as those two were!

And don't forget the peeled oranges!😊❤

And mares

@@OldDawg-mc3dy yeah 🤣

You sound just like what a soft ass pansy liberal would say

I cried with you. The horse that God built.

@@RoadDawgs996 I don’t know if you’ve ever read the book William Knack wrote about Secretariat but it reads like a fairy tale. Well worth reading if you’re a Secretariat fan or even just a fan of horses.

@@deborahjeanne2141 Yes I have and thank you for the reminder I have this book and it is well deserved of another read

@@RoadDawgs996 LOL! I have it too, and you’re right- it’s time to read it again! 🐎

I cried both when he won the Triple Crown, and when he died, but also when I saw the movie and read the book. I fell in love with horses when I was a young girl and read Man O’War. I still at 70 tear up when I watch videos about either horse. ❤

Both were champions, but SECRETARIAT was the greatest horse ever. MAN O'WAR never won a race with the width between horses.

All great racehorses trace back to Eclipse, whose dam Spiletta was homozygous for the large heart gene. So since 97% of all horses trace back to Eclipse (whose heart was 17lbs) there are a lot of horses with a large heart. Also the heart is a muscle and therefore trainable...

His competitor sham had an enlarged heart too its more common than you think

I often compare Secretariat to Muhammad Ali. You can't teach Greatness. They both had it.

An enlarged heart is not as uncommon as you think Sham had a 14 lb heart and no one knows what Man O War's heart weighed because Riddle buried the horse whole. Most of them have their legs taken before burial. Secretariat deserved that honor in my humble opinion...

That would be easy if team Secretariat and insecure nasty fans would stop trying to dethrone the original Big Red, but they just keep shoving this horse down our throats. It's like as a diehard fan of Man O'War, I am willing to concede when Secretariat lost ,he DID have legit excuses, but what I can't stand is when they sarcastically belittle Spectacular Bid, and we all know how they reacted about his TripleCrown. A bunch of shi*as* hypocrites.

@@challloyd215 Stop being so negative, especially calling fans negative regardless of horse...

@@mariabykofsky4502 "Negative" lol. I've had 50 years of nasty, sarcastic, and "negative" experience with fans of THIS horse. If you aren't, then don't worry about it.

@@challloyd215 100%. The Cult Of Secretariat are the "horse racing fans" who show up in early May with their "They'll never be another..." comments and disappear when the Derby winner doesn't win the Preakness or Belmont. Repeat year after year. 95% of them couldn't name ten horses if their lives depended on it and don't know what Handicapping is. They cling to the mythos because for a lot of them it happened in their lifetime, and that's it. They're dying off though. Another 15-20 years and the sane conversations can come back. They're the Michael Jordan fanboys of Horse Racing.....

@@mariabykofsky4502 l fully appreciate both horses,without doubt Secretariat was a great horse,I remember watching that Belmont Stakes,think I was 10 years old and had newspaper articles of him plastered all over my bedroom wall,he has a definitive spot in horse racing history.

If Sec's stride was so great, how come it was measured at 24 feet, 11 in., while Man o' War was measured at an incredible, much larger 28 feet?

@@freeguy77 I can only compare him to the ones hes racing in the video.

​@@freeguy77r.c

Yeah Man o War had the longer stride.

No it’s not it’s Secretariat and it’s not even close!

@Mike Warren No, it's Man O' War and it's not even close!!!

@@challloyd215 well you can think that but times don’t lie! MOW holds no records anymore while Secretsriat records are still standing after 50 years!

@Mike Warren Man O' War raced over 100 years ago. Records aren't everything. And Secretariat only holds the KD record not the distance record. The Belmont and 1 1/2 time on dirt, not turf. So, big whoop. So, that means every horse who has run the distances faster is better?? Don't sound stupid.

@@challloyd215 times are everything! MOW mile and a half time us 2:28. Secretsriat broke more records then any other horse. After each loss he came back and broke that track record. He still owns the world dirt record for mile and a half! It will never be broken and he did it hand ridden . MOW was slow! He owns no records

Penny said it best, secretariat ran his own races. I can’t imagine that horse slacking off just because of how another horse ‘looked’

Maybe we should look at their records as sire, that would be their true legacy

@@jeansmith-wl7xt I think Storm Cat wins there

Only one race where he did that! June 9, 1973. Maybe on another day, NOT so fast!

I know nothing about horse racing... But I think it would be fun if someone took a sample of race horses and recreated the conditions that Secretariat faced and the conditions Man O' War faced and raced them. Then take the average delta of all the horses between each set of conditions. Then you could project how much faster Man O' War would have been with lighter weight and better track/gate conditions. Though there would be no way to project his full potential if there is an argument that Man O' War wasn't really trying due to weak competition.

What?

Ya right dummy man o war would school him imagine of he was 50 years later he would have been even better probably good one dude

@@christianmonturanoii6539 maybe, but i still wish i could have ridden him. Both were fast but i loved that in the belmont he ran each quarter faster and smoked the field. What a heart he had without being whipped.. i saw him on tv that day live. Thanks for your opinion it is respected. But dummy was not called for.

@@christianmonturanoii6539no horse ever would have beaten secretariat that day at the belmont.

I don't think so sorry and he was 5 years before that and he was still the best. Man o war would woop secriariet. Maybe he's 2nd best

Well said

Not even in the same universe Do you realize Secr is 4 seconds faster on a mile and a half track THE TIMES DONT LIE NOTHING IS MAKING THAT UP

@@joecolabelli4339 You keep on mentioning 4 seconds? Do you know that for every extra 1 pound that a horse carries on the track it sets him back by 3 lengths? Man O War carried more than 136 pounds which is unheard of ? Grow up. Please get a cross word puzzle. MOW is a greatest horse. According to The Associated Press, The Blood Line Horse, and other sources MOW is the greatest horse of the 20th century.

@@simranjitsingh4804 HELLO my buddy had a horse in the DERBY (I GREW UP IN COLTS NECK NJ 0I forgot more about racing than you know ANDREW BEYER assigned the highest speed rating in history to SECR (140 ) Accordingly you want to wager 1 lb is not equal to 3 furlongs MOW RECORDS WERE BROKEN WITH 10 YEARS OF HIM SETTING THEM EDUCATE BEFORE YOU POST

@@joecolabelli4339 Times DO "lie" - across tracks and regions and time. This is why Andrew Beyer developed his Speed Figures. BTW, despite his biggest computed BSF ever being Sec's Belmont Stk, it's interesting to note, as he usually would, that almost every track record at Belmont was FROM 1973 THAT YEAR. IOW, possibly a bit "greased" (as was Aqueduct, as well). Otherwise, I respect Sec's Belmont because he DID win by at least 25 lengths (the original call), although the field was somewhat small. Margin combined with "fast" time tends to mean Big Speed Figure.

*That's precisely how would have gone down* No one knows how it would have gone down. Both Secretariat and MOW lost races. That's why they determine the outcome of races on a racetrack rather than on arguments and rationalizations claiming that one horse or another would win.

Yes should not forget that beautiful girl "Ruffian" !

There was never any question. This majestic animal was touched by God...go big red.

Sham also had an enlarged heart. It's a byproduct of steroid abuse. So were his infertility issues when he first went to stud and Sports Illustrated wrote that it was most likely because of his steroid use.

@@jasonwiggins What is the source for your comment on enlarged hearts being the byproduct of steroid abuse?

@@suzanneterrey4499 Countless PEER review papers and studies. It has been written about in numerous Scientific Journals. Bodybuilder deaths are extremely high. Scientific Daily. Men's Health. Government studies and the corresponding PEER review literature. Literally too many to count. It's an established fact. Also, Secretariat fans will tell you that it's genetic. It's not. There have been studies searching for "gene x", which could account for a hereditary anomaly that would explain it, but those studies cannot find a link. Numerous Thoroughbreds have been documented as having enlarged hearts and internal organs. The rise of cases coincides with the introduction of steroids into Thoroughbred racing in the 60's.

@@jasonwiggins It could never be by a natural genetic growth? They used illegal steroids on horses by the early-'70s? How come there was no DQ on horses who had those drugs in them? Wasn't there tests for drugs then? No? What year did drug tests that could find steroid use start?

@@freeguy77 I'll start with this from last year. "New York’s Equine Drug Testing and Research Laboratory is considered one of the most preeminent in the country, but its director, George Maylin, and his team acknowledge their lab can test for and identify only a portion of the substances found in the thousands of samples taken from New York racehorses every year. "Here’s the problem: The so-called performance-enhancing drugs, no one - nobody - knows what they are,” Maylin said. “Nobody has a test for them.” Hall of Fame trainer Elliott Birch stated that steroids were introduced to Thoroughbred racing in the 60's, it was rampant by the 70's. The science behind performance enhancing drugs ALWAYS is ahead of testing. Remember the 2008 winner of the Derby and Preakness Big Brown? This was his trainers response for losing the Belmont. "Trainer Rick Dutrow told reporters that he had not given Big Brown a shot of the anabolic steroid Winstrol since before the Kentucky Derby and would not use it Saturday at the Belmont. Earlier, Dutrow admitted that he gave Big Brown and all his other horses shots of Winstrol on the 15th of each month." Read carefully. "Big Brown did not receive his monthly dosage of legal steroids in mid-May. Even the most peripheral horse player knows not to alter a horse's regimen during the racing season, unless it is endangering the horse's health." Testing was changed again after this admission, but as stated earlier, it's not enough. It never is. Steroids are allowed to this day, but in smaller doses citing the health benefits of the horse. Again, illegal steroids are given and testing can't find it. It's not a secret. EVERY Thoroughbred Racing Horse is on steroids. Some more than others, but EVERY one of them are on steroids. Fact. BTW: There have been COUNTLESS Thoroughbreds with enlarged hearts, lungs, and other internal organs. It's quite humorous that Secretariat's fans brag about his enlarged heart knowing what caused it.

You can't get a good racehorse without a good brood mare. It was from Something Royal that Secretariat got his staying power.

*he actually broke the all time 1 5/8 mile in this race as well even though the race was a mile and a half. Turcotte couldn't slow him down he was still accelerating* Actually, Secretariat was _decelerating._ He ran the second half of the Belmont Stakes _much slower_ than the first half. The final quarter mile of the race was his slowest by far. This is clearly recorded in the official fractional times at different stages of the race. Also, Secretariat did not break the 1 5/8 mile record because the official clock did not even record his time for 1 5/8 miles.

At all times all but one horse in the 2023 Derby were single to triple descendants of Secretariat. Derma Sotogate being the only exception. Inbreeding to Secretariat is an actual thing. My double Secretariat mare is being bred to single Secretariat son of Tapit and Belmont winner Tonalist. Secretariat is probably the best broodmare sire the US has seen.

@@shopahauliquewithjacquelin7025 Interesting....I did not know Secretariat's genes were that highly sought after. I guess I should have noted that my research was done roughly 40 years ago....long before the internet and long before all those generations of horses even existed. As the sister of a veterinarian and as a former breeder of show quality Indian Runner Ducks and former member of The American Livestock Breeds Conservancy, hearing that there is THAT much inbreeding going on in Thoroughbreds is frightening. Narrowing the gene pool never bodes well for the resulting creatures as a whole. Oh yes....I will admit that you can achieve some truly stunning results! BUT the other side of that coin is often tragically deformed and crippled. Whenever man tries to remaster God's creations, things go awry. I put my share of malformed ducks on the dinner table so I do speak from firsthand knowledge. I hope the trend to focus on Secretariat bloodlines proves more fruitful than detrimental to the resulting innocent creatures. May God bless your mare with healthy babies!

@@sidney5383 thank you. The beauty of Secretariat is he had no conformational flaw to worry about multiplying by inbreeding. It’s those Native and Northern Dancer flaws that will get you. My mare was an A+++ match with Mineshaft, but since he’s a son of A.P. Indy and my mare is a granddaughter, it was too close for me. With Tonalist I get Tapit on the same cross as Country Grammer.

@@sidney5383 Flightline, the best horse in the world, is a double Secretariat. Monomoy Girl is also a double Secretariat and a double Seatle Slew. She just had an Into Mischief foal. So, the foal is a triple Secretariat.

Only short-sighted people called Secretariat a dud, those who were looking for his first crop sons to copy him. He did not sire great sons, but great daughters. And his daughters produced great sons. So Secretariat was incredibly valued as a broodmare sire, and as others said he appears again and again in the pedigrees of the top racehorses today--many of them via A.P. Indy, a son of Seattle Slew and maternal grandson of Secretariat, who was so prolific and produced so many winners that he has essentially remade the entire breed in his image.

*Something you need to factor in is that Secretariat ran each quarter mile faster throughout his triple crown pursuit* Actually this statement is incorrect. For example, Secretariat ran the last quarter of the Belmont Stakes in 25 seconds. That was his slowest quarter in the race.

He lost five races

@@MosheGoldbergTheKing All 3 Triple Crown track times still stand 50 years later.

@@robertdoble7665 Yes but Citation won 19 races as 3-year old versus 9 for Secretariat. Winning 19 races in a single season is incredible. There isn't a snowball's chance in hell that Secretariat could have won 19 races in a single season under any circumstances. It's questionable whether he could have won 19 races in two seasons. In that season where he won 9, Secretariat also lost 3 times. That said, I would never claim that Citation was better than Secretariat or vice versa. The most reasonable thing I can say about these two is that they were different.

@@sl-rt5kv Would have liked to see them race though. You have valid points.

yep, lol. Making excuses. I was undefeated in my high school and college sports season, when you let me throw in excuses. Quit being so foolish. He's an animal. Things don't always go as planned. Losing happens. Secretariat lost almost 25% of his races. He never won 6 races in a row. He had many many chances to win 6 in a row and he could never do it. His 3 race triple crown series was the best ever. His other races...outside of those, show him as just "better than average" -- losing 28% of the time outside of the TC series. Facts.

Sorry, but the abscess is likely bogus. There was zero mention of such a thing in the DRF all the way through August of that year (unfortunately, UKY took down DRFs after 1959 so I'm going by memory as a friend had done research at the TIME saying no magazines or anything back then mentioned this for a full year). Racing writers were still "mystified" why Secretariat lost the Wood long into the summer. There was a RU-vid of a track vet who was called on TUESDAY after the Wood about an abscess. Additionally, the other book that had been considered a "bible" of Sec was by Raymond Woolfe (highly recommend, as it is beautiful, shows all his racing charts and all his works) and he did not mention this at all; only that Turcotte was not pleased with his work or race. So once again, it seems the source of these curious stories is Bill Nack, considered the "bible" writer of the other story (emphasis on that word). But I consider Nack a lackey and a schoolgirl for Sec, especially after other curious stories he's put by (such as about Ruffian, and about Sec being downvoted to 14 by someone - why is it ALWAYS Nack who is behind these stories?). I think he's a liar. Why would this abscess story not appear even a little later? Was someone trying to get better odds? That's the only reason I can understand for not defending your horse with an excuse, especially a concrete one.

Thank you. Finally someone said it.

@@theOlLineRebel If you listen to the Secretariat lovers, he was well in Jan, Feb, and March; when he won; sick in April; when he lost; well in May and June; when he won the TC; sick in August when Onion beat him; well 3 weeks later when he beat Onion; well in September when he beat Riva Ridge and Cougar; sick when Prove Out whupped him. Of course, they ignore the fact that he beat Riva Ridge and Cougar by greater margins when he lost to Prove Out. Secretariat is the most overrated horse in history and every great frontrunner would have handled him easily just as Angle Light, Onion, and Prove Out did.

@@JoeKoOhNo Well, Sec was a great horse, no doubt; we're splitting hairs here when we argue "who is #1"! There are so many great horses, but we fight over 2. Secretariat indeed proved himself greatly. I do think he's overrated, but not too much. For me, Ruffian is THE most overrated racehorse of all time - although, perhaps Kincsem could be called so as well. When you have people seriously thinking Ruffian's the greatest horse to ever run - really - never mind universally hailed as the best female - that is overrated.

@@theOlLineRebel I agree that Ruffian is vastly overrated. No filly or mare ranks as the "greatest" racehorse. But I also only consider speed horses as possible candidates and Red was a closer so he's out, imo.

If I recall correctly, Sam Riddle was also becoming overwhelmed with the responsibility of owning Man O War.

We'll never know for sure, but readiing that MoW was a front-runner, exactly the opp strategy of Sec, it would have been interesting to see if Sec could have truly made up such a large (or maybe only a medium 5-7 lengths?) lead by MoW going into the turn at the start of the stretch, or not! I think MoW was such a superb race horse, he would have been pushed, more than other opponents in his 21 races almost all for sure, making him better in the stretch run with his huge 28-foot stride a decided advantage, 3 feet more than Sec.'s reported 24-feet 11-in., giving him the edge to hold on for the win. A champion responds to stiffer competition, and I think MoW was not pushed as hard as he could have, and still would have won by at least a half-length, if Sec was his opponent in 1919-1920. My opinion that no horse would have beaten Sec on June 9, 1973 at the Belmont, including MoW, with his magnificent 2:24 (beating the old record by 2.6 seconds), unless MoW could have stayed with him after that half-way point where Sec kept accelerating each 1/4-mile from the previous 1/4-mile. Would MoW been able to do that also, or not? That is the question!

It's hard because MOW was never truly pushed and different conditions then today. 😕

When Secretariat retired, never racing at Four, he hid from history.

Compare their times when BOTH WERE 3 YEAR OLDS Hello horses get faster at 4

@@joecolabelli4339 *Compare their times when BOTH WERE 3 YEAR OLDS Hello horses get faster at 4* In fact, many horses look better if you compare their 3-year old times with the 4-year old times of other horses. Buckpasser set a world record for the mile at age 3 and covered the distance 2 seconds slower at age 4. Affirmed's best time for 1 1/2 miles at age 3 was faster at age 4 than it was at age 3. Damascus ran the 2-mile JCGC substantially slower at age 4 than he did at age 3. Seattle Slew ran 7f faster at 3 than he did at 4. The list goes on.

Not all horses get faster with age. It depends on soundness. Great 3 year olds are retired after a successful year. Insurance is to high to race them plus they will make a thousand times the money in the breeding shed. Which horse still holds all of the records in all triple crown races. And by a good margin. The Belmont time off 2.24 flat will never be equaled!

@@jerryraper9386 The only thing that _counts_ in horse racing is winning. If you set a record, it still only counts as one win. That is why jockeys focus on winning while minimizing wear and tear on horses, as opposed to running the fastest times possible. Secretariat's 1 1/2 mile record may be unbroken, but the world records for 2 miles, 1 5/8, miles, and 1 mile have lasted even longer. Why does this matter?

BS Hello theres 5 plus seconds differ between the 2 over the same distance Get in your car and drive 5 seconds at 37 MPH

Secretariat set course records for all 3 triple crown races, all 3 records still stand

Man ‘O War’s stride angle was 88°…Secretariat’s was 110°. Secretariat 💯

Secretariat wasn’t all out in any three of his triple crown races. Especially in the Preakness. He toyed with Sham. How many times do think Sham was hit with the whip starting at the head of the stretch? Secretariat was hand ridden never even shown the whip. Could have won by more. To prove the point in his Belmont victory he ran each furlong faster than the previous . Freakish athletes come once in a lifetime. Super freaky comes once in the history of there entire sport from the beginning to the present. We were very fortunate to witness perfection . The closest to his Belmont performance 2 seconds and that was the second best at 2.26 was Easy Goer who was a superior race horse in his own right. When Pat Day claimed he was the best horse he had ever ridden that’s enough for me . All stats and studies prove that Secretariat was really in a class of his own. Don’t forget his final race on turf at Woodbine with a substitute jockey just had to hold on

Secretariat actually ran in 1.52 and change but that was not the eye catching part, it was how easy he did it if you want to talk about chock holds . He was eased and settled when he blew to the led coming out of the first turn and wasn’t asked for anything the remainder of the trip. He toyed with his competition

Well then I’m glad I mentioned in advance in the video I likely was missing something because of how much their is to find about these horses lol. What are some of these cool nuggets you found during your research that I missed?

@@SketchyTheHorseGuy Still waiting on WickedFelina 2 weeks later! Maybe he is stuck in "El Paso" (1960 #1 hit song by Marty Robbins)?

@@SketchyTheHorseGuyyou left out that Man O War won the Lawrence Realization by 100 lengths, and the only race he lost he was facing backwards at the start.

@@StayingFast I didn’t leave either of those things out in the video. The win in the Lawrence Realization is really not that impressive as he ran against one horse who was entered last minute by a relative of Sam Riddle. So not really worth anything his other races hold more merit

His records are still available, plus still photos and even old b/w film.

Secretariat IS 2nd!

@@challloyd215 Your DREAMING Put the times side by side SEC IS over 4 seconds faster DID YOU KNOW THAT YES 4 SECONDS

@@joecolabelli4339 Is every Joe a fool???

@@challloyd215 ONLY an IDIOT would compare racehorses that are 4 seconds apart ACCORDINGLY WHY ARE TRACK RECORDS EVEN KEPT

@@challloyd215 ONLY a complete and total IDIOT would begin to compare 2 racehorses that are over 4 seconds apart (SAME DISTANCE ) Accordingly why even keep track records BA HA HA EDUCATE BEFORE YOU POST

Given the modern training and lighter horseshoes AND faster racetracks, Secretariat probably was faster. But he never went up against a determined horse like Man O War or a Citation. Imagine having a Jerry Bailey or Pincay on Man O War. The government probably would have stepped in and said is wasn't fair to allow betting against a lock like that

21~16~3~1---4th in his debut

@@noelharris1177 Right thanks!

Secretariat did get a rest after the TC races. It was 3 weeks after the Belmont before he ran his next race and more than a month after that before he ran his second race after the TC. He finished his racing career with 4 races between Sept. 15 and Oct. 28. On the flip side, Man-O-War ran a race on the weekend between the Preakness and Belmont which would be unheard of today.

@@rickbateman2401 Native Dancer ran ten times between April 24th and August 22, losing only the Derby by a nose. If greatness were determined by the number of races a horse ran and the percentage of victories he would beat both MOW and Secretariat. However, it was the record speed of Secretariat's wins in the Triple Crown and the Marlboro Cup that distinguish him above MOW and ND, IMO. We'll never know, but many think Secretariat would have run even faster as a four year old. MOW did not even show up for the Derby because his owner thought that distance too far for a three year old early in the season. Many of his races had very few rivals. He also had to run in heavy iron shoes. So, we'll never know how they would have stacked up against each other. "They were both wonderful champions. "I don't think there is any need to compare them, just appreciate them." Carol Kelly But it's still fun to compare them and no one can prove anyone else is wrong.

@@vernonfrance2974 I agree that it would have been special to watch both of them run as 4 year olds but claiming records over a horse that ran in completely different conditions isn’t even close to a valid way to compare. All the advantages are Secretariat’s, especially the track surfaces. My point to the number of races is the fact that Secretariat wasn’t raced as hard as MOW or Native Dancer. Admittedly I don’t know much about Native Dancer but there is one thing I do know about Secretariat and MOW - neither horse was actually pushed hard in any of their victories and the races they lost were either human error, accidents or illness.

Secretariat,a "nice" horse? What's that suppose ta mean? Still holds the TC records.Thats like sayin The Beatles we're a"nice"band. . .

@@noelharris1177 I dunno, been watching racing for 60 years, and found his performances. . . somewhat hard to believe. Factor in his breeding problems right after he retired, his death from chronic laminitis, and the enlarged heart, well, you do the math.

@@djkent9747 He test bred appaloosas and had no problem. Many horses get laminitis. The heart was totally normal except for size according to the vet who did the autopsy. "Dr. Swerczek took a moment, and replied, “It isn’t awfully large, it is the largest heart I have ever seen.” “I was amazed. There were no pathological abnormalities of the heart, typically found in an animal with an enlarged heart. All of the chambers were normal. There were no lesions. It was a perfect heart, everything was just bigger,” he explained, “the average Thoroughbred’s heart is about 8-9 lbs. After doing necropsies on thousands of horses, I was very accurate at knowing how much a horse’s heart would weigh just by looking at it. I estimated his heart to be 21-22 lbs., nearly 2.5 times larger than the average heart issuu.com/equestriandirectory.ensomedia/docs/ked-2020/s/10168613." He has a daughter, Lady's Secret which was Horse of the Year. His son Risen Star won two thirds of the Triple Crown and another son, General Assembly, held the Travers record for many years. A son in Australia won the prestigious Melbourne Cup in 1990 with the fastest time for the two miles of the race ever and still holds that stakes record.

@@vernonfrance2974 I was around back then, and I remember the controversy over his breeding problems, given that he had just been syndicated for 6 million. You could google it, the info is out therr.

there. The heart thing is still being argued about. Supposedly Sham also had a larger heart.

Man of War was over 4 seconds slower on a mile and a half track Get a stopwatch drive 4 seconds at 32 mph NOT EVEN IN THE SAME UNIVERSE

I think starting gates slow a horse but if you backed Secretariat up two or three lengths give them all a head start he would have still beaten mow in every race except maybe Sham .

@@nealbennett4950 No, why do you think they introduced gates? Because the start was chaos of trying to keep horses in line, and is why many a race including MOW's Sanford AND his Potomac started poorly. In the Sanford, MOW and the other 2 outer-most horses were left at the line and probably had about a 4-length "handicap". Gates were great for making things more even.

Man O'War was born in a year where there were 1,000 foals. Secretariat there were 25,000. No competition for Man O'War. Most times he raced against 1 or 2 horses. Secretariat still has world and track records 50 yrs later. He beat 3 Hall of Fame horses in one race+ Kennedy Road.

@@rudycantarini4649 1000% the debate is idiotic

3, lol

Just like Phar Lap, yeah

Play don’t even have accurate records from when Manowar ran

@@janetgallo5720 They have plenty. Do you think 50-year-old stuff is OK? They were still timed in fifths.

But none of those records lasted longer than 10 years. Secretariat 50 years and counting.

@@nancyjanzen5676 Where are you people getting the notion "NONE LASTED MORE THAN 10 YEARS"? FALSE. Track record at Belmont still there for 1-3/8 in 1973 (yes, Secretariat's year - and almost all records there were set that same 1973 incidentally). World record for 1-5/8 not broken until 1949. Come on. What are you going by, too? There are track, American (including Canadian and Mexican and Carribean) and world records. The WR means there is also an AR and a TR, so you HAVE to consider all those layers. For Sec AT THE TIME, only 1 was a WR and another an AR. The rest were TRs. Sec at best can be seen as 2WRs (1 of them qualified by surface, which wasn't recognized in 1973). So, maybe he wasn't as consistently "fast" as made out to be. Tracks and shoes etc were VERY different, as they are today, so don't go strictly by times - that is why Beyer Speed Figures were created, because even comparing day to day cannot be reliable!

Secretariat was whipped. I can think of one instance for sure off the top of my head. In the Kentucky Derby watch him coming into the stretch coming off the turn. Ronnie whipped him. Man o War was only whipped once in his career, quickly opened up and broke a world record.

@@SSN862 1 time just to let him know it was serious. you can watch Turcotte say that in an interview.

No, only sire Fair Play.

I love both Secretariat and Man O’ War, but another great race horse is Ruffian, a filly who died after breaking her leg on the track while running, it would be her last race. She was in great pain and I cried for her. I remember this one very well. It was very sad, because she kept running even under anesthesia, they couldn’t keep her quiet. She gave her all. There was no way to save her. She should have been kept as a personal mare instead of racing her. Her legs were brittle from inbreeding and also from others in her lineage that had the same problem. Many times the horses haven’t developed enough for the rigorous of training for the life on the track, and many need more time for that to take place. But the racing season is also short lived. It’s sad, it’s more about the money than about the well being of the horse itself, but it wasn’t Ruffians fault, but the possibility of the breeders, who in trying to get that perfect racer, and In trying to get all into the lineage of previous winners, were also inbreeding certain qualities, and risk factors as well, with the inbreeding of genetic weaknesses into their horses ….weakness in the legs/bone structure. Race horses, I believe, are considered a year old around January 1st, even if their birthday falls later in the calendar year, such as the middle of June or even December months. Unfair to the horse. This is one reason why race horses have various problems later on while racing and/or with inbreeding genetics. Many years ago, I rode a race horse, named Tilly and retired from racing, she wasn’t allowed to run anymore, not only because of her age, but also because of her legs which were weakened enough to cause her to stumble and break down. I loved her dearly and she was fantastic, but still wanted to run. I had to keep her from doing that and also had to keep her calm. A lot of work, but I loved her. I still miss her…..🙏🏼❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

@@theOlLineRebel…then in actuality, MOW would be a distant relative to Secretariat anyway because of Fair Play being MOW’s sire? Or would that be another horse sired by FP? I would like to research a lot of this on the horses, but I’m unable to pursue this, due to other responsibilities I have now. I’d love to know more about both horses, I thought the same thing when I first seen Sec, he looked a lot like MOW….❤️👍

I believe that ‘Man O’ War’ had the longest stride ever recorded by any TB to date!?!!! I had the Great honor to see Secretariat in in last year. He was ABSOLUTELY AN AMAZING HORSE!⭐️ I have also had the great fortune to own a great granddaughter of Man O’War & Secretariat! The Man O’War mares were much ‘fiercely’ competitors than the Secretariat mares! But, BOTH Horses are ABSOLUTELY LEGENDARY ♥️✨

Secr is over 4 SECONDS FAST ON A 1.5 MILE TRACK DO YOU HAVE A CLUE HOW FAR THAT IS ??

All you can compare is times. Secretariat has records that have stood for over 50 years. Both healthy and running their fastest times Secretariat would have blown Man O’ War away.

@@harveyhorwitz1346 Great post (100% correct )In exactly 150 years of racing COMBINED no horse has beat any of his 3 records (Think about that )

Finally someone with firsthand knowledge. Her opinion is duly noted.

@jamessills5802 Was he faster?