And here we are now, 50yrs later and all Secretariat's records are still standing pretty! Will there ever be one that's greater? If so, none of us may be around to see it happen! Long live that big red horse! ❤ 💕
How amazing that must have been.. this beautiful horse perfect the United to this Nation during corruption and War.. not only did he save Penny's farm.. Secretariat about innocent and happiness to us all I remember asking my stepmother what just happened and she said what the blank look on her face I don't know I've never seen this before and she loved horse racing big red was everything to me
@@barbarapope349 Coincidentally, I just watched the movie Secretariat last night. I still cry when I watch that unbelievable race. What a horse. I feel blessed that I was actually there.
If you compare the strides of Secretariat and Sham when Secretariat starts to pull away, you can actually see that Sham's legs are taking shorter and shorter strides, while Secretariat on the other hand is taking longer and longer strides. The most amazing race in horse racing history! Secretariat is THE legend!!! 💖💖💖
You can definitely tell they’re related in their strides. Sham had tremendous hind quarter power plus an 18 lb heart to boot. Pincay pulled Sham up once he cracked a quarter and stopped pulling on the reins. Nearly killed a legendary horse but I’m thankful for him saving Sham.
@@Psyfi85..I still feel so badly for Sham. His owner should have put aside his ego, and realize his horse was up against a super horse. The jockey said he was instructed to keep up with Secretariat all the way. He should have just made sure Sham got second place, which he would have easily done. No shame in 2nd place finish in all three Triple Crown races against a once in a lifetime phenomenon.
@@nrw7798I feel so badly for Sham too. I wish he’d had better humans on his team. Certainly no shame in coming in second to Secretariat. I’m glad he survived and was able to go on to retire to stud. I hope he was treated well.
@@nrw7798likewise, he was such a warrior. The whipping throughout his career is duly noted but the fact that he ran the entire Derby bleeding from the mouth, not just a trickle, gushing. Finished Belmont on 3 legs, etc. Sham is a legend too..
My Father and I followed Secretariat from his season in Saratoga through the Triple Crown. Both of us cried as he crossed the line in the Belmont. We shall never see his like again. I have been taken to the races since I was a child - I'm 68 now. I have seen Northern Dancer, and a whole lot of Kentucky Derby winners. There was magic watching Secretariat. His like will never appear again. He was like Man O'War - beyond the norm. Detractors just cannot stand that Secretariat was something special. He is free to run forever now. Run on, Big Red, run on...
***** I too was taken to the races as a little girl, by my grandfather. I have since been to many races. several Kentucky Derbies, Preakness, and last year The Belmont, where I had the privilege of meeting Ron Turcotte. I was able to visit Claiborne Farm last year to pay my respects to this amazing horse. Mary, I enjoyed your post and someone who appreciates Secretariat as much as I do.
@@allfiner Phil obviously does! I agree with him. What Big Red did at Belmont would be like Wilt Chamberlain scoring 300 points in a single game, or Bob Beamon long jumping half a football field, or Frank Shorter or Abebee Bikila running a marathon in 45 minutes...not gonna happen! Big Red's physiologically normal heart noted at autopsy was a whopping 1.25 to 1.5 times larger than what would've been expected for a thoroughbred horse his size. This type of genetic trait immense advantage will never be found in one human being because of how indiscriminately and randomly humans breed.
In 1973 I was 25. I watched the Belmont Stakes live and remember the "tremendous machine" call. Big Red showed everyone what he was made of. Watching the film, I had to estimate it, but it looked like the finish line segment was running more or less at normal speed. If so, Secretariat was fully five seconds ahead of his nearest competition. FIVE SECONDS in a long race like that was unthinkable. I remember the newspaper articles about it the next day. The writers didn't have words and fumbled all over themselves trying to describe what had happened. But I saw the sequence where Big Red made the turn and for a long time had that segment of the track for himself. Ronnie Turcotte was there for the ride, but Secretariat was the one who was driving that day.
" He's moving like a tremendous machine " . That very moment brought tears to my eyes then, and still does today 47 years later (1/21/20) ....... June 9, 1973 will always be a date I will remember ! 🏇 🇺🇸 🌹
Damn right brought tears to my eyes! My mom was part owner of ABERCROMBIE Pacer of the year 1979. Broke the worlds record at that time dead last ar the 3/4 pole.
ditto..........i was 13, and can still remember it like it was yesterday.......i remember balling when he passed and now like you , when i see him race i always tear up at the call.....i loved that horse
I'm so in love with this angel of an animal!!! I was 7 when he died, and wasn't born when he raced. Yet I talk to his spirit. He's keeping me company during a very difficult season! Funny what God can use to offer comfort
I recall a quote from Penny stating that Secretariat ran the Belmont as if saying "I already won your race for you. Now I'm going to show you what I can really do on a mile and a half track." Powerful ...
Bill Nack told a story that somebody showed him secretariat before he even ran and said one day this horse will make people forget Riva Ridge. And that turned out to be true.
And just marvel at the fact that Secretariat never truly had to be whipped by his jockey to produce world record- shattering times on ANY SURFACE and races of ANY LENGTH!!
I watched it on tv too and all of our jaws just dropped ....i still cannot believe it was 50 years ago. Recently it was discovered that Secretariat had a genetic mutation called factor x which gave him a heart that was almost 3 times the size of a normal thoroughbred horse's heart, which gave him the ability to pump blood and energy to his incredibly perfect horse's lungs, body and legs. This is something we will never see again....sort of like having Pavarotti in our lifetime.
@@elizabethavolck7784both he and Sham got the X factor passed down through their dams who were sisters by the great Princequillo. They both had tremendous hind quarter power also
@Psyfi85 yes....Secretariat's body and hind quarters are perfect. He was embalmed and buried in silk in an oak casket on the farm where he was born. I can't believe it was 50 years ago, and his records in all 3 racesxhave never been beaten. How do you know the x factor was passed down? The horse genome was sequenced in 2006, and the x factor is still just a theory....but it is a good one.
@@elizabethavolck7784 he was buried at Claiborne Farm not Meadow stable, and yes it is technically only a theory but it was proven Princequillo only passed the gene down through broodmare offspring, then they pass it along.
There are singular moments in sporting history when you witness true greatness. This race is one of those moments. If you don't believe in God, then you never watched Big Red run!
Every time I watch this race I get the chills. I recall nothing in all of sports that's ever been as wondrous as what this horse did that day. It was greatness personified.
I watched the Belmont in 1973 on tv. I was 28 years old. After watching secretariat that day, I felt I had watched something magnificent. I was wrong, he was more than magnificent. There has never been a horse ever as fast as Secretariat. All three of the triple crown records that he set in 1973 still stand. There has not been any sporting event since the 1973 triple crown that even comes close to what took place in 1973. And I seriously doubt there will ever be again any athlete who matches Secretariat.
@@elizabethavolck7784 Yes, "beyond greatness" is what took place that special afternoon at a racetrack in New York. It was less than an hour's drive from me and I so wish I was there.
One of the greatest joys of getting older is being able to remember moments like this. Never before has there been a horse like Secretariat. Not likely to be another in our lifetime. It never ceases to bring tears to my eyes when I see this great horse turn it on for Ronnie Turcotte and his many fans. Rest In Peace, Great One.
It really gets to me when I think about this horse might actually have done this for Ronnie and the fans there that day. I can’t explain it but I really think he did. Thank you Red.
_He is moving like a tremendous machine_... such a great call! The amazing thing was that *Secretariat* did this all on his own... Ronnie Turcotte never even whipped him. Not once! And he wins by 31 lengths. That is just unbelievable. Such an amazing horse and we will never see another like him. Your are the KING *Secretariat*, enjoy your time running around the fields of the heavens! You've definitely earned it!!!
I am absolutely obsessed with Secretariat! It’s been almost 50 years since his Triple Crown and he’s still considered the grand master - an amazing, beautiful and inspiring creature! He was smarter than some humans I know!!! Everything about him was just absolute pure perfection!
If a RU-vid video could win an Oscar for best short film, this would be it. It fully captures the supernatural quality of this amazing creature. Secretariat - a once in a lifetime horse.
I love how the camera man tried keeping the field in the frame by putting Secretariat all the way on the right side but finally he couldn't and Secretariat was all alone at the finish. That could be one of the greatest athletic performances of all time.
Great horse..Great jockey! Secretariat and Ron Turcotte had the perfect chemistry. Wonderful lady that owned the champion, Penny, was an amazing woman. Hats off to whoever edited this clip. The part where it says "And the poets fell silent" gives me chills every time I watch this. Incredible!
Although I did not have the luck to see Big Red race in person, I did have the utmost joy to visit with him every year after he was retired to stud. Being able to get up close to the greatest horse God ever created was a joy, no... more than that, it was a spiritual experience each time. It was like He would share some of his greatness with you, to let you know everything is going to be ok. He was always ready for the camera, no matter how dirty, the champion shown through. There will never be another like him, ever.
I was lucky enough to see this on TV all those years ago, but still get goosebumps and tears every time I see it again. There never was, nor will there ever be another Secretariat.
I am seventy two years old and I know exactly where I was when I saw this magnificent animal run all three races. I have seen many triple crown races since then and no horse even comes close to the Big Red.
Lafite Pincay was my favorite jockey in the 70s, but Big Red was my favorite of all time. Too bad Sham was a year too young or too old to avoid Big Red.
Nobody says it, but Sham would have given Man of War a really hard time. Sham would have been the Triple crown winner if not for Secretariat. He also would have set some track records if he hadn't been 2nd. He was merely the wind beneath Secretariat's wings.
That was the voice of Chick Anderson who was the Churchill Downs track announcer. He also called the Preakness and the Belmont but for TV only. The track announcer at Belmont at that time was Dave Johnson.. Chick ended up calling races at Suffolk Downs in Boston and sadly died in the booth of a heart attack while calling a race. Excellent "race caller".
just to put this into context...if 1/5 of a second equals 1 horse length then Secretariat's winning time of 2.24 in the Belmont would have beaten the following Triple Crown champions by...American Pharoah-13,Affirmed-14,Seattle Slew-28,Citation-21,Assault-34,Count Fleet-21,Whirlaway-35,War Admiral-23,Omaha-33,,Gallant Fox-38,Sir Barton,as far as I can find, has no recorded time for the mile 1/2 however Man O War's best of 2.28 4/5 puts him 24 lengths behind Big Red. Even the two second best times in the Belmont (2.26) by A.P.Indy and Easy Goer would have them 10 lengths back. So yes I believe we saw the GREATEST performance by a race horse and it will never be equaled
I rarely cry, but when I watch Big Red race, I get all choked up. Secretariat (both literally and figuratively) had more heart than any other horse or man.
Grace Crandall The unbelivable great races of Big Red are already engraved in golden words in eternity, so just close your eyes connect to your heart and Secreatriat's heart and feel him floating along the heavenly racetraks
Silverio Suárez McAuliffe As I watch old videos of Secretariat winning the Belmont, I am fortunate to have been alive, and involved in Tbred horses back then...I do agree it is a moving, and motivating moment...brings tears to my eyes as well. . Penny Chenery/Tweedy said: "Secretariat won the Derby and Preakness and (at the Belmont) he just wanted to show what he could do on a mile and a half track". It is doubtful if we will ever see a horse greater than Secretariat, yet his blood runs in the veins of current great horses, like California Chrome....go Big Red.
I was 31 and watched this on TV sobbing all the way. I must have watched it 100 times since and still get tears and goosebumps. I always felt sorry for Sham - a year earlier or later and who knows.
Everyone I know who watched it said it was mythological, unexplainable. He changed the world, forever. As for Sham, he is my black stallion. Never wavered, all heart and courage to stand alone against the best ever.
I was 5 years old when I watched this race and I still experience the exact same emotions now as I did that incredible day. I'll never forget noticing how confident and royal Secretariat looked as he took to the track. He wasn't attached to his lead pony like the others. Everyone knew he was special and magnificent, but there was no way anyone could've predicted we were seeing a once in a lifetime horse; the greatest ever! There will NEVER be another like Red!
OMG! This horse makes me just want to sing from the highest mountains! A magnificent horse, a superb horse! So thrilled I was there to see his magnificent accomplishments. Bless you Secretariat.
I remember as a young girl watching the Belmont 1973 with my family. Everyone was so enthusiastic - hoping to see a Triple Crown. The thing that stands out in my memory was all the cheering came to a stop at the point when he really started to pull away from Sham. Like we were mesmerized by what was happening in front of us. Secretariat - showed us all what perfection looked like on that day.
I really liked the way Penny described that feeling you're talking about when he pulls away. As she put it, "that's when it got to be surreal." Thanks for sharing your story - I love good stories like yours, that include how you all felt, not just what you did or said.
I remember watching this race on TV as it happened. It went from I hope he wins, to I hope he can keep the pace, to I think he has won this race, to what am I watching? I can't tell you how magical it was to see him live on TV exit the final turn and not slow down to the finish line.
Every time I watch this race, a couple hundred now! And see this performance and hear Chic Anderson speak tremendous machine! I still get a chill down my spine! The Greatest horse this century.
I've been reading the comments here. I must agree, no other triple crown winner ran a race like Secretariat. I watched on TV in 73. It really was like watching God in that horse. Even today... after I've watched this race 1000 times... my heart still skips a beat at the astounding, amazing, profound Win Secretariat had that day.... it's still like watching ... Sacred.
This was the most awesome display of absolute power from a racehorses the way he dominated the way he wanted to and the way he never let off the gas coming for home after the blistering fractions they set
I remember as a kid watching this beast. i was 13 / 14 yrs old. My first experience at seeing him was at the Kentucky derby and when i saw him break and kick it gear i knew this was an athlete. He had an aura that couldn't be denied. I missed his second race for the crown but heard he had won so i made sure i could see the Belmont. As i watched the race i saw pure transcendence. When i heard the announcer say he was running like a tremendous machine i felt like i was losing my breath at what i was seeing. When i saw the jockey near the end turn his head i fell on my hands and knees and wept. I knew at that time.... That track....that day....that tiny place in time i saw a horse that no horse past, present or future could beat. Never ever on that day that small moment in time will live forever. I heard a man say once that God leaned forward and in a calm whisper said ...............Go
So well said! I had just graduated high school that year and remember watching Secretariat in all three races. But the Belmont race stands apart in my mind and will always remember feeling in awe of this great horse! Anyone watching that day knew they had just watched something special and also knew that they would never see anything like it again! RIP Big Red!
Pat Lynch of the New York Racing Association is the source of the quote mentioned. For commentary by him, Bill Nack , Heywood Hale Broun, and others, as well as much footage including isolation of Red in the Preakness, see ESPN Sports Century - Secretariat.
American Pharoah was awesome!!!! I'm 60, and I saw Sec do his thing. AP was also a big, calm, horse. AP had the power to do all 3 races, and run them as he pleased. He knew how to sprint, and he knew how to keep his pace for the long run. The jockey is just a fly on the back when you have a horse under you who knows what the race is and how to run it. The really truly competitive horse sees everything and knows what to do. If he's caught in behind, and he knows he's got the balls to run, he'll move to the outside and pour it on! Jockey doesn't matter to a really competitive horse.
I used to train QH's, and Index horses (QH and Thoroughbred mix) for the track. Generally, it's not a good mix for the track. I ended up training a lot of beautiful gaming horses, and some some really sweet pleasure horses. I did have one really good racing mare, Go Miss Wine, daughter of Depth Charge, grand-daughter of Go Man Go. She was a huge big boned sorrel, 15.3. She was a lazy girl in training, but I could just FEEL her power as I was riding her. She didn't like training sessions, she'd always lag no matter how I pushed her. But get her against another horse, she just poured on the power! On the track, against other horses, she was a witch! One race in Ajax, we were coming up on the outside, closing in. We're pounding along, one horse in front of us. Missy (Go Miss Wine) all of a sudden did a freak out. She didn't want me on her back. She took one quick stride to the right, threw me off balance and I fell off. I hit the ground, rolled, and was back on my feet before I even knew what happened. She went on and won the race by 5 lengths! Crazy bitch! Her owner, my boss at that time, retired her to brood mare after he saw what she could run. But, she had attitude, and she was a winner! She was SOO laid back, you could drop a bomb under her belly and she'd just give you a sideways look, ears still sideways. I've trained a lot of other horses in my career, and all horses have attitudes to one degree or another, but I've never met another horse like her. She could look like she's dead on all four corners, looks like a zombie as I'm bringing her into the barn to saddle up for training. She'd hang her head as I'm tacking her up. But once you're on her back she's a MAJOR MAJOR powerhouse! I'd get her in the gates and she's just quivering. She was just waiting to EXPLODE! And she didn't mess up as she exploded, she was right straight forward. She didn't like being behind. She had her own mind. Her and I had never been behind before, and on that particular day she threw me, we were third, boxed in behind the two front horses. She wanted to go to the outside, I wanted her to come up between the front runners. She HAD to have her way! She veered quickly to right, threw me off balance and tossed me off, and went on to do exactly what she wanted to do. She didn't need me.
Wow, that's fascinating! I didn't even know they ran Index horses. The power of racehorses is simply incredible...my Paint mare wasn't a racehorse that I know of, but she has a lot of speed and acceleration that's pretty amazing to feel when you're on her back.
Any horse can turn it on, they are amazingly powerful animals. We generally don't ask for that power when we're just using them as riding horses. But when you're training race horses, bred to explode, you can't help but get all excited when you've trained that horse for months, loved that animal like your own child, and then you get to feel that animal quiver under you in the gates, and you know you're riding a bomb as soon as that gate opens!!! Hopefully your bomb goes straight forward. I trained a few horses that went sideways coming out of the gate, like a bronc coming out of the chute! No amount of training could get them to look forward, to focus coming out of the gate. Not every horse bred for racing will become a racehorse. Some of my babes became gaming horses, some became 'family pet' bomb-proof babysitters! Horses have attitudes and personalities just as diversified as our own. Don't do anything to a horse that you wouldn't do to your own children. A horse actually requires more honesty and trust than humans do. It takes a lot to earn a horse's trust, and if you break that trust, it's broken forever. A human can forgive and forget, a horse doesn't. I should probably shut up for now, and hit the hay.Thanks for listening. Cheers...Brenda
@@TheBrendadale So true about horses! I've never raced one, but when I was younger I lived for a while in an area where horses were the only reliable way to travel; and they each have such amazing and individual personalities. They know who they can trust, and who they can't, and they never forget. I wish I could still keep a horse where I live now. I never even learned to drive and I miss being able to ride. There's nothing in the world like feeling a horse running beneath you and knowing she knows the path even better than I do. It's the closest to flying I can feel without wings.
To run a mile and a half in 2:24 flat is inconceivable. 6 furlongs in 1:09 3/5 is a sprinters pace, and to keep that up for another 3/4 of a mile!?! A Tremendous MACHINE!
phillymanpete Just in case you might be interested...in the Gotham Mile, Sec slammed both sides of the starting gate with his ribs, got the 3/4 in 1:08 and 3/5th's with the mile in 1:33 and 2/5th's. Pulled up at 10 furlongs in 1:59 and 2/5th's. A newspaper article cited that he went to the winner's circle with a dry coat and with no blowing from the nostrils !!!
I just get so excited every time I see him run!!! His creator, God Almighty knew about his extraordinary heart , and I’m sure He watched with extreme pleasure in His creation, Secretaiat
Every year at Derby time I pull this up and watch it again. I never tire of it. I still get choked up when I hear Chic Anderson say 'He's moving like a tremendous machine!'. I was 22 when he did this, and it's still the greatest athletic performance I have ever seen. We'll never see this again.
I watch American Pharoah's Belmont quite often and Rachel Alexandra's Woodward as well. However, when I watch Secretariat's Belmont, my jaw drops because even today I still cannot quite believe what I am seeing. There will never be another like him.
My Dad and I watched this together. I still (61) have never seen anything like it. We both were jumping up and down in the living room, you would have thought he was ours. Hats off to the best non human athlete to world has ever seen.
It was the most amazing performance in our lifetime and possibly in history. Such a beautiful, magnificent animal. Thank-you, Secretariat--you were an absolute thrill to watch!
"That was the day he felt terrific! He just felt like running." ~ Penny Chenery - I remember reading that when Secretariat wasn't even a year old, he would break out of the paddock and run down the road. Everyone had to scramble to get him back safe.
I still cry every time I see this race you would have to have a heart made of stone not to .I was 17 years old and remember it like yesterday I guess those who know the ending maybe can't appreciate how it was to see this live we didn't know he would win but we all knew we just witnessed history .Seeing him run that fast early and then just rolling down the stretch was the most magical thing I have ever seen in horse racing .
+Roseann Cherasaro A world record that still stands and probably always will. To run with that kind of heart when not even being challenged....that's greatness.
There may be other triple crown winners in the future but I doubt whether any of them will ever set record times for all three races as Secretariat did! He was the best.
One of the great things are being as old as I am now, is that I am old enough to have seen this when it happened. Simply unbelieveble! As much as Bob Costas hates it when horses get listed on these types of lists, it could be argued that this was the greatest performance in the history of sports.
Grover Garver AND I AGREE!!!!! Such a ONE-OFF spectacular performance!!! To NEVER be matched again in any sport! I think anyone who actually saw this will never forget it! 2 3/5th seconds might not mean much to the average person, but it's an incredible lead when you think about how fast these horses are running. In most races, a quarter second is the difference between first and last! It's hard to fathom that the distance he had ahead of the other horses could be covered in the time it takes you to put your hand up and snap your fingers! They were all so wonderful. Sham, of course, was the horse I wanted to really see test Secretariat. He'd done it before. They were head and head at the first, then Sham dropped back like a lead balloon. I felt so bad that Sham was last . I sooo wanted Sham to challenge him to last furlong. But Big Red just had to do his thing that day. I think he would have just gone faster and faster if he were allowed to do it that day. Who knows what that horse could have done!
Grover Garver I am very proud of American Pharaoh. and I don't think they should change a thing in the rules of the Triple Crown, that is what makes it great. But I will be 65 the 4th of July and I grew up with sports being from Oklahoma and nothing much else to do. And I also grew up with horses, and that race at the Belmont Stakes, with that performance by Secretariat, was breath taking. To say it was the greatest achievement in all of sports is TRITE. But It was!!!
Oh....immer wieder schau ich ihn an.Was für ein tolles Pferd er doch war!!!!Ein warer Champion ,im Herzen und bei seinen Rennen.Er ist Einmalig und für mich mein Superhorse für immer.ich liebe Dich "Big Red"🙏💓💓💓
How many times can a person watch this and not get goosebumps. Like watching an old movie and being amazed at the outcome.....and I watched on tv the actual race.
I only recall one other horse that race that brought goosebumps.Forget the name of the movie based on his life, but the horse started out as a fire horse, was sold into trotting all out racing, but refused to break his trot & still won, but went blind on his final race & still won.I would say that ranks right up there with Secretariat.
I will never forget watching this race on television and being mesmerized by what I was watching! I remember breaking down in tears as he was coming down the stretch and you couldn’t even see the other horses! Every time I watch this I still get chills and very often tear up watching this magnification animal perform what can only be described as the greatest performance by any racehorse ever! I have watched sports of all kinds my entire life (I’m 74)
Make no mistake, those were the best horses of the time, Sham's times in the Kentucky derby and Preakness were among the best all time, and he was beaten soundly both times. The Belmont run was on another level, it will never be approached. There's no equal in any sport. He was only 3 years old, what if that wasn't his best performance, it boggles the mind!!
@@josephdavis9171 exactly my thought I when saw these race in '73. In all three races for the triple crown Secretariat was still in full stride at the line. In Belmont I think he could have done another full lap. In all of his finishes he was never expired. In The Derby and Preakness he barely got to his stride and speed before the finish line. I will always consider Secretariat "ready to run" by the end of Belmont. ...at the end Big Red was ready to open it up. All great horses in their era, as Sham, the one thing that Sea Biscuit, War Admiral, American Pharoah and two dozen other greats could not do was display the pure power and speed without expiration at the end in Belmont. Belmont is the longest. There is none other. Run Red Run.
I knew then it was a moment in history that would stand FOREVER! Probably the most watched Belmont states in history and still is. BIG RED IN OUR HEARTS FOREVER!
I can't begin to tell you how HUGE my goose bumps are when ever I watch Big Red run. And.......throw in this music and my tears are flowing. I watched this race back in 73. I KNEW he'd do it. AND show Sham. That race was between Secretariat and Sham all the way. Jockey's were just "aboard". What a great horse. Nothing like him since.
I am now 55, and seeing this just brought me to tears ! as I was 10 in the year of this UNREAL " CHAMPION of CHAMPION'S !! " The GREATEST of ALL TIMES !! @5:43 CLASSIC !
Why do people to this day bash this animal? You will never see another horse like Secretariat in your lifetime. I wasn't even born yet when the last Triple Crown winners won crossed the finish in The Test of the Champion so I'm still waiting for my generations super horse..
Frankly Speaking Agree with you. Good question. I like Man O'War and Citation and Pharlap - any horse that has done great things. But Secretariat has always been my favorite. Big Red is special by any standards. Still, I would not bash any of the other horses. They were great in their own way and deserve credit for their achievements. Seattle Slew beat Affirmed, both triple crown winners, and Affirmed is the last to win it. All great stories. We should just enjoy them and not get petty about it!
Ronnie Bishop Oh yeah - how can I forget Sea Biscuit and his great match race win vs. Triple Crown Winner War Admiral! And Sham, as you noted, would have won the Triple Crown in any other year.
I saw it, I loved it, I couldn't believe it! I don't very much follow the Triple Crown anymore...I saw the best and I don't believe I will ever see THAT again!
Brenda Dale The 12th Triple Crown win just happened, American Pharaoh was the first Triple Crown Winner since 1978. Quite the achievement... but nowhere close to Secretariat's win.
Kevin McD I still have to go back to Sec's win, and I still have to get all teary eyed. I know another has taken his crown (for the 3rd time) but Sec is still my super hero. I was SOOOO happy to see American Pharoah take the crown, but for as long as I live, Secretariat will always be my true crown prince.
+PepsiMama2 Not even close, maybe the greatest horse of that year but "Onion" would have something to say about that also. If you only knew more about the racing game you would be saddened beyond belief so I will just leave it there and I am glad you had an enjoyable time but don't make any bets, j
Hey J Good, you're full of it... Secretariat OWNS the track records at ALL THREE Triple Crown Races, with a World Record time of 2:24 flat of 1.5 miles on Dirt! Those races are of the Top 5 races in the world. Perhaps you can play again when you brush up on actual FACTS next time!
Ruthless Hack ty Secretariat is the fastest racehorse ever!!!!! If u don't believe me look it up no horse has ever ce close to the speed Secretariat had
God what an animal. Any time I watch this it gets me right in the heart. An amazing animal, so much heart. i don't think there will be any other to beat him for a long time.
The greatest thing I ever saw was Secretariat winning each of the TC races in stupefyingly dominant ways. The greatest athlete I ever saw, man or beast.
I lived across the street from Belmont Park and was 16, we snuck under the fence and witnessed this race, unfortunately at the time I don’t think we could appreciate what we had witnessed, but we do now! It was the greatest sporting accomplishment ever!
Another truly amazing thing is what Ron Turcotte said after Belmont. Penny and his trainer were furious that Ron had let him run so fast, fearing killing him. In a very quiet moment, Ron said, with awe, "He wasn't even tired." He said he had never told anyone that. If you watch the race you will note the Horse that God Built ran over half a lap further before slowing down.
I have watched this video easily 50 times & it still gives me chills & makes me cry. To see such an incredible horse working with an equally incredible rider to accomplish the unthinkable is always something majestic to see. I rescue horses in Texas & I have a trailer that is 16 feet long & solid red. I have BIG RED stenciled on it as a small tribute to the horse that made me love them enough to make them my life's passion.
