I cried tears of joy when I watched it live and still do to this day. As Chic Anderson said that day "an unbelievable, amazing performance one we might never see again." Man was he right!
And at the same moment as he's moving like a tremendous machine you see the horse rider and the American flag . A Great American moment for all time. .
Poor Sham. One of the best horses of all time, and never won anything because he was unlucky enough to come along at the same time as the greatest horse ever.
If Secretariat wasn't born. Sham would have been the triple crown winner..unfortunately for two things. Secretariat was born and Sham cracked a bone trying to keep up with him...Sham was a damn fast horse, but there was one faster.
You are SO right! Sham was a great horse. I think of him as a Jake LaMotta, a great fighter who went up against a guy who was just a little bit better, Sugar Ray Robinson
Yeah, I'd have a tough time arguing that point. Just an incredible moment in sports. Any horse that goes through the grueling campaign of the Triple Crown is certainly NOT easy. I think we all would agree that Sham just 'hit the wall' in the last 3/8 mile or so. And then you've got Secretariat just rolling along that's never been done before - or since. I can still remember hearing the news back in 1989 that they had to euthanize Big Red. It pretty well hit me like a tsunami. What a beautiful horse he was. It was a privilege watching him throughout his career. Thanks for the memories there Big Boy!
To think, 50 years later, that we would be talking about a horse in a race. But he was more than a horse, and it was more than a race. It was a miracle, an honest to goodness miracle, that brought people together. One of those rare times when someone or something performs to its absolute best, to show all of us how great the world is, the possibilities, the heights that we all can achieve. I cry every time I watch this race. It is a testament to greatness how much absolute will this horse has, to show the world what can be possible. I'm glad that I was alive to witness this miracle.
Absolutely. I cried through watching this. I was a miserable little girl in a horrifically abusive household, dealing on top of that with overweight, glasses and acne. Secretariat was an angel who lifted me up into another dimension. I collected all the magazines and clippings, and knew one day I could do something great. He was sent to earth by God to lift us up.
Secretariat is the greatest athlete of the 20th Century, period. Pure and honest, not corrupted by anything. Doubt that this will happen, but would love to see another one like him today. In the current political climate, the country would appreciate a hero like him I'm sure. Every time I watch him in the Triple Crown races, it brings tears to my eyes. What an icon.
50 yrs and still holds all 3 race records!! I really don' t believe there are words in the human language to truly describe this event. So many people try. ( Amazing, Unreal , Mind blowing, Supernatural ) I'm just so grateful I was alive to see it !! I get choked up everytime I watch this race. The pure majesty of this horse and this moment is just overwhelming. I must visit his grave before I leave this world!! My all-time favorite sports moment. Thank you Secretariat :)
I was 9 years old watching the Belmont on TV with my family. I can still hear my mom and dad screaming in pure ecstasy. I feel beyond fortunate to have witnessed it even on television.
I met Woody in Woodstock, NY while a salesman working in the local supermarket in 1995. Despite being nervous I introduced myself and the first thing that came to my mind was Secretariat and his marvelous performance in the Belmont. He said it was the finest moment covering sports. And yes Nack was quoting Jack Nicklaus.
Belmont wasn’t just a race and Secretariat was just a horse it was the greatest sporting performance by the greatest athlete we will ever see!!! That’s what legends are made of!!!
How can you look upon perfection and not be moved to tears? Truely one of, if not the greatest moments in the history of sports. At some point the Triple Crown will be won again, but Secretariats run to glory will never be surpassed.
I have watched this race at least 20 times. I was bound and determined to watch this race without shedding a tear but I still can not do it. There will never be a horse like Secretariat again.
I saw the 1973 Belmont Stakes live at my home. The race was and STILL IS the most remarkable sporting event that I have ever seen. Secretariat, you are the GREATEST.
I saw it live as well and have gone on record many times by saying '"this was one of the greatest performances by an athlete, yes an athlete, I have ever seen in my lifetime. Amazingly Secretariat's Triple Crown track records still stand to this day. Today we have the Breeder's Cup Classic to determine the Horse of the Year, but I feel the Belmont Stakes (a mile and a half) is still the true test when looking for a champion in thoroughbred racing.
I was eleven at the time, watched all three races and still, to this day, just marvel at Big Red’s performance. I was so psyched when the movie came out. Next summer should be really cool…50 year celebration of that magnificent horse.
Words fail to adequately describe his greatness. The importance of Secretariat in 1973 cannot be over estimated. The nation needed something special to focus on and this horse delivered, boy did he deliver.
I swear I have watched this trilogy so many times that I can repeat the commentator's comments along with them - and I do - and I cry with happiness each and every time. Thanks to the powers-to-be to grant me life while this immemorial creature of yours ran the tracks.
@@gh9111 The part about Jack Nicklaus was awesome. I really hope that was true and not just a made up story. First of all that sounds like something Jack Nicklaus might actually do and secondly, the analogy between his game and what Secretariat did at the Belmont is true. In golf every player sets out to shoot the “perfect round” which would be a 54. That would be a birdie on every hole. I mean I guess technically you could go lower if you eagled a hole, but the prototypical perfect golf round would be 18 birdies and that’s what Jack tried to do every time he teed it up. Of course, he never accomplished it, but he witnessed perfection watching Secretariat run that day.
@@Whoopdido777 it’s probably a true story about Jack Nicholas, it’s been around forever and never heard it being denied. Here’s another story you might have heard or not, Pete Roselle was the commissioner of the NFL at the time and he didn’t really follow horse racing but wanted to see the Secretariat mania so he went to Belmont to check it out and he was watching the race from one of the clubs and as the race was unfolding he suddenly felt someone pulling at his pant leg and his first thought was someone had fallen or collapsed so he looked down and discovered he was standing on a table with no idea how he got there, didn’t remember climbing up there! I believe I got this story from one of the Bill Nack videos, he wrote Secretariat’s biography. If you haven’t seen one you may want to check one out, there’s a couple really good ones on RU-vid
That photo is right along with Mays catch over the shoulder. Ali looking down at Frazier. Pele’ with the bicycle kick for a goal. Lou Gehrig’s and Babe Ruth’s retirement speeches, Jesse Owens winning the 100 yd dash and Franco’ Immaculate Reception.
@@JellyBeanInTheNight Definitely. For years I’ve been meaning to get 4-5 classic black and white sports photos and hang them up somewhere…probably in my home office right now. I’ve moved a couple times recently and at each house I had perfect walls to put the pictures up, but just never got around to doing it. I just need to do it. That one would be one of the pictures. I have a few more in mind, but that one would definitely be one of them.
Nothing is more iconic of pure athletic dominance than that shot. NOTHING. Poor Ronnie must have thought, "Oh shit did we accidentally Rosie Ruiz it and did a short cut?!"
Great comment, "plum." I get the same way -- emotional -- watching his races, especially the Belmont, of course. And regardless of whether it is an actual replay, or in the ESPN greatest athletes collection vid, or the Diane Lane movie.
I was just a kid when Secretariat won the Belmont race, and subsequently the Triple Crown. I was home watching it on the TV with my Mom. She started crying, when he blew by Sham, and started his epic turn and run down the home stretch. I knew, I was seeing something very rare and very special. Perfection.
"it was like the Lord was holding the reins, secretariat was one of his creatures and maybe whispered to him "ah go", and that horse really went"... now that's a classic line for the ages
That was NYRA's Pat Lynch. He closed by saying" It was like an almost supernatural experience." Woody Bruen's conversation with the great golfer Jack Nicklaus some time later was priceless. After telling him he saw the race. While coming down the stretch he stood up, applauded and began crying. Woody turned to Jack and said "all of your life you've been striving for perfection. At the end of the Belmont, you saw it."
The greatest sports moment ever....Secretariat had no millions in salary, no agent, no commercial endorsements, no social media.........he just ran for the pure joy of it.
I remember watching it on my little black & white TV and I still got chills - for the the first time in my life I could feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. I will never forget it, he was so magnificent.
The Jack Whitaker-Jack Nicklaus exchange really floored me. Secretariat's Belmont Takes performance was what all athletes aspire for-"perfection". This was the greatest athletic feat ever in sports history.
This has to be the greatest sports moment that I have ever seen. I was in the Army in a bar watching this in Virginia beach Virginia. I called my girlfriend after the race and asked her to marry me when I got out of the service in two weeks. She said yes, and we got married in October. I will never forget this day.
+Steve Balistreri : And may God Bless you and your loved ones for your service!! I am a Boston Celtics fan starting wayyyy back in 1950s. I used to consider Bill Russell to be the greatest athlete ever. He still is the greatest human athlete ..... but "Big Red" is the greatest imo now.
I never get tired of watching this clip. The first time I saw this, it was on the actual day of the race. I still can't believe what Secretariat accomplished that day. A friend of mine said to me on that fateful day, "He (Secretariat) would have won that race if Dick Butkus was the jockey."
Secretariat did a lot more than winning races in record time. People were looking for something so great to lift up their spirit and feel great about something so special, and god sent Secretariat.
Secretariat is the greatest athlete of all time, No human or non human can even come close to the greatness of Secretariat, PERIOD !! Truely a gift from God !! I don't think we will ever see an athlete like this ever again
Nearco, Noor, Man o' War, and about 20 horses you never heard of were just as impressive. Heck, even Landaluce before she died rivaled it. RUFFIAN definitely impressed as much as this one.
Gary have you seen Cheetahs timed in the 100m either at zoos or the wild? They can run 0-60 mph in 3 secs. If Usain Bolt had a 45m head start he would lose to a cheetah. They have been timed at 4.1 secs/100m in the wild.
It's kind or hard to compare Secretariat to Ruffian because the latter ran in mostly shorter races and had clean running room against the other elite fillies and was clearly the best of her class. That being said, Big Red routinely worked out at shorter distances with times approaching what Ruffian did on race day. Ruffian ran once at 1 1/2 miles and she ran a solid 2:26 or so which is usually winning in the Belmont and would of lost to Secretariat by "only" ten lengths or so. And a match race between the two would have been a beat down as well on a fast track. She struggled to stay even with Foolish Pleasure before the breakdown and going by their derby times Secretariat has FP by 12 lengths at least and that's with Red on the outside running a longer distance. Absolutely no chance that Ruffian could beat Secretariat head to head. No shame in that.
My parents went to the race. I stayed home and watched on TV. It is hard to think of any event that hyped, with that anticipation, since. Maybe the first step by Armstrong on the moon a few years earlier. When the horse began separating from sham, riveted you as it began. The call "tremendous machine" live, took your breath away. From that moment on I can say this honestly, it was the only thing I have seen that felt supernatural. The witnesses to people crying aren't lying. My dad came home and told me a few hours after the race. It overwhelmed you live even if you saw it on TV. It was a very special moment to just be a witness. When I watch the race today, it is the only thing I can recall from that far in the past, as if it just happened, with the same raw emotion of the moment then.
God created the Perfect Athlete / Horse in Secretariat! Secretariat's amazing performance in the 1973 Belmont Stakes is still the most dominant performance in a Championship Event in the History of Sports! To put it in perspective Secretariat (with his still World Record Time of 2:24 for the 1 1/2 Mile in the 1973 Belmont Stakes) would have beaten American Pharoah's performance yesterday by FIFTEEN (15) LENGTHS!!!! Simply INCREDIBLE!! If there was ONE Sporting Event that I could go back in time to see Live it would be Secretariat's 1973 Belmont Stakes! Every time I watch it makes me cry as it was the most breathtaking performance in the History of Sports! Secretariat was PURE PERFECTION in Motion!
VERY WELL PUT ! I was just 10 on this day and I would go see this 1st also !! Then Ali vs. Frazier 1 .....very emotional history as I see it now as a 56 year old !
He beat a weak field of four rivals. Visually impressive but not the best ever. Ghostzapper's 2004 BC Classic was almost as impressive especially since runner-up Roses in May came back to win the Dubai Cup the following spring. People who don't handicap professionally are easily taken in by performances like this. Forego, had he run, would have been at Secretariat's neck turning for home coming off that ridiculous speed duel.
The timer doesn't lie. Regardless of the strength or weakness of the rest of the field, no other horse has ever come close to running 1-1/2 miles in 2:24 flat. Remind me to not take chess lessons from you.
Since I only teach prodigies who are already elite players, you'd have nothing to turn down with that internet mouth. Oh and the timer lies quiet a bit, as every professional horseplayer knows. Please keep pumping your money into the betting pools. One reason I chose racing over hustling people is I could take their money without having to do so directly.
@@raygordonteacheschess5501 So the timer lied, Secretariat didn't really run that in 2:24? I see. Boy am I glad you cleared that up! You are amazingly brilliant, sir!
Pat Lynch comment at 7:19 is very true. This horse was God's horse which is why we all get so emotional whenever we watch that 1973 Belmont. Like Mr. Lynch stated it was a "Supernatural Experience" on that day and it still is 44 years later. I watched that race in 1973 when I was 13 and was captivated by that horse. I still am til this day. Rest in Peace Big Red! We truly Miss You!
I like how in the first two races it was like he held back and said ok im going to give you guys a headstart, and then just so much speed and power. What an amazing horse. And over 50 years later still holds the records in all 3 races and the Belmont record will never be broken. Pure perfection.
God decided to create only one perfect Horse, and that Horse was Secretariat. No Horse will ever Beat his winning time and margin of victory in the Belmont and no horse ever will. He was a true athlete and he was absolutely Beautiful. RIP BEAUTIFUL BOY YOU ARE LOVED AND MISSED. AMERICAN PHAROAH YOUR GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDSON WON THE TRIPLE CROWN. WE ARE SO EXCITED YOUR KIN WON.
I watched all three races with my father. I was 16 at the time. P-E-R-F-E-C-T-I-O-N. The greatest sporting event ever in history. There will never be another Secretariat again nor a sporting event to match that Belmont race again in history. It makes a grown man cry watching it.
I can’t stop watching even today it still makes me cry and it’s a happy wonderful cry. When I’m feeling down or having a bad day I watch the secretariat Belmont race…..and I feel great again !!!
Never before ,never since ,never again ,a horse like Secretariat!As least no one sitting at their keyboard tapping letters ,will ever seen the likes of this horse again ! He was a once in a lifetime horse for all people !
GREAT VIDEO ! I do love horse racing, we had our own triple crown winner from here in Seattle, "Seattle Slew", and as proud as we all are for that win, my heart is just stuck on Beautiful Secretariat. I LOVE THAT HORSE, & I cry everytime I watch his races. I hv wtched the movie more times then I can count, & just 4 days ago, I recorded it again. I break down everytime I see his memorial & where he is buried. Never has been or ever will be another horse like SECRETARIAT !
I watched the race as it happened in 1973 from my living room. I remember the announcer commenting "he's moving like an incredible machine!" just about same time my dad, a long time horse racing fan, grew quite in the room. They both knew what as going to happen, they both knew they were watching history. I get goose bumps now as I watch it and remember. Secretariat's name is revered, spoken with the highest respect, but I don't know if even that pays respect to the performance this horse turned in that day to any appropriate degree.
My uncle Ralph and I were the big racing fans. He would tell me over and over again about Citations TC. But I was less than a year old then. In 1973 I had never seen a winning TC horse.
This was truely one of the greatest moments in Sports History period. " Secretariat is moving like tremendous Machine".. How this great Campion won all three races in the Triple Crown will never be duplicated ...
This horse was in no joke he was God sent in they will never ever have another like Secretariat I got to go see his memorial I love him I was really young and it never got to his race. I'm back at the footage this whole list was the two he the best horse that ever lived on this planet
The greatest racehorse in history.....period. No other horse who EVER lived- including the great Man O' War- could have beaten Secretariat on that day. I was 11 years old when this race was run- it is still etched in my memory. I have never seen anything like it and this feat will never be repeated. We will never see another like him...not in any lifetime....EVER. He was one of a kind. The word SUPERHORSE applies to him and him alone.
I agree. But... I would have liked to see War Admiral, Man O War, and Seabiscuit, amongst others, trained with modern medicine, techniques, and vet care, and then see how they would have done. Big Red would likely still win, and win big, but the race for second would be fascinating!
@@theswordguy5269 You say the modern training, then, what has happened in the 45 years since? This horse was truly one of a kind. Check the times of the triple crown races.
@@Bruhop60 Modern vet science, better use of training intervals, better track grooming and maintenance, the list goes on. You have to ask if the horses were as fast back then because nothing changed, or because they simply rode them harder. Look at how Seabiscuit was manhandled and mistreated early in his career, for example. And, I did say that Secretariat would almost certainly still win, but that the race would have been fun to watch. Genetically and physically, he was - unique.
I was there and sat in the third tier grandstand by the 1/8th pole. I still have the 2$ win ticket and two programs. When the gap opened up between secretariat and sham on the backstretch, all 70,000 who where there that day erupted; knowing that he was going to win.
+Robert Manocchia I've often shown this race to my classes of college freshmen over the years. Each time I've done so, at the first wide shot at about that point, several tech-savvy kids have helpfully alerted me to the fact that "the tape skipped;" and just stared at me then quickly back at the screen when I've assured them that it hadn't.
I saw this historical race the day before my 20th birthday. Chic Anderson was marvelous and the horse was masterful. I've lost track of how many times I've watched this video. Can't ever remember not being teary-eyed. Secretariat was the "people's and made many of us feel good in a difficult period in our lives. I believe the late Bill Nack's words "we will never see this again." Kudos to ESPN for assembling some of the best journalists ever to do this Sports Century piece. I'll take on anyone who says Big Red was not an athlete. He was supernatural.
Sham and Secretariat dueling stride for stride until the backstretch.....and then its as if a switch has been flipped, and Sham has to return back to the pack with the rest of the normal horses.....while Secretariat taps into the universe, and becomes the myth.
Secretariat ran the mile-and-a-half in two minutes and twenty-four seconds. He ran one furlong every 12 seconds…an average of 37.5 mph for the whole race. Only one horse has come within two seconds of tying that record. Amazing. 🐎
No horse that ever lived would have been closer than seven lengths to Secretariat in this race. The second-fastest time for 12F on dirt ANYWHERE (not just Belmont) is 2:25 2/5.
I was a 12 year old watching on tv...cheering and I wept...I still get goosebumps just thinking about it....Justify and American Pharoah are great horses...Secretariat was the greatest racehorse who ever lived...
Notice... Not once does Ronny use his whip, not once does he try and slow him....Big Red ran his own race. Sham Challenged him, and he answered it...all by himself. The commentator said it right...on this day, in this race, there isn't a horse anywhere that could have beaten him. Every athlete has that perfect day...This was Secretariat's. People like to compare this or that, but i believe if you COULD put any horse you think is better, IN this race beside Big Red...He would have answered that challenge as well.
Just an Awesome horse!!!! What an honor it must have been to see this machine in person!! I work down the street from Meadow Farm in Doswell Va. I can almost feel his spirit in the air while watching this !!
Not to sound like a broken record but to echo most of us here, this hands down has to be the greatest athletic achievement in sports history as we know it. Comaneci's perfect 10's are up there. Beamon's long jump also. Records are there to be broken. But this was just insane.
In this case like Citation winning the triple which happened the year after I was born. We thought it would never happen again. For my whole life horses won two but not all three races until Secretariat.
+HollondonSCO : Yes, I agree, Big Red is greatest athlete of all time. Just one thing, and this is VERY minor ..... I get irritated a little anytime someone talks about something fast to a freight train. I wish they would use "express train" instead!!! But NOBODY (except me and one guy I heard years ago) says "Express train ...."
+Doug Griggs My very minor issue is with his having been likened to a machine. Oh, no; this horse was all heart, personality, and kindness - just of a supernatural variety!
It's a pure privilege to have watched this, decades after it actually happened. Phenomenal, out of this world, supernatural.... no superlative does it justice. Secretariat's performance in the Belmont has to be the most awesome spectacle ever in a sporting arena. Oh to have been there!
I've watched the video of that race probably over 100 times and I still, after several years, get choked up. The most amazing and wondrous thing, next to my sons being born, that I've ever seen...
No question about it. I watched the 1973 Belmont Stake at home. The race is still the most remarkable sporting event that I have ever seen and brings tears to my eyes every time that I watch it.
Peter Weinstein Yep--I too, watched this when it happened in 1973!! I remember my Dad was watching it with me and my brother and he was shouting "HOLY S&%T YOU CAN'T EVEN SEE THE OTHER HORSES" And it was true--the TV cameras couldn't even get the other horses in the picture frame!! I think it's the most incredible single performance in sports history!!
citizensaneusa I too saw it on TV. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Like everyone else, when he opened up that huge lead, I thought Turcotte was crazy, that the horse was just going to collapse and die. Never saw anything like it before or since.
Man I got goose bumps watching this video. Fifty years later and Secretariat remains as impressive and legendary as ever. What an incredible animal. How I wish I could have been there to see it in person!!!!!!!
JoJoGunn Presumably because it's the absolute pinnacle of athletic performance. Secretariat was so dominating and so perfect that there is hardly any reason to continue watching sports: nothing can ever top what he did.
Patrick Healy Exactly. I can't remember who it was, but a Sports Illustrated writer (and not a horse racing guy) said it was the greatest athletic performance he had ever seen.
@jesusisnotallright s Are you crazy? That horse was tested more than any athlete of any sport ever! They tested saliva, blood, piss, feces, his food, his water... hell he could hardly breathe without someone collecting a tube of air.
really rare when 40+ yrs later.. nothing in your sport or "field" even compares to your accomplishments.. simply the most perfect, sport of Kings, thoroughbred, horse, competitor EVER....
To bad for sham though. Had he been born just 1 year earlier or later, he would have been a triple crown champion himself. He gave secretariat all he could handle in the derby and preakness. In the Belmont we got to see what the immortal one could really do. I was humbled even as a child when I first saw this race on video. I wish he could have lived longer.
When horses as great as Spectacular Bid and Native Dancer have failed to Triple Crown, it is impossible to say any particular horse would have won it. Racing luck as well as talent is ALWAYS involved in winning the TC.
