SWC75
Bored Historian
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- Aug 26, 2011
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SECRETARIAT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5hAkgZqtI
Secretariat blew away the 25 years since the last Triple Crown winner, setting a record in the Kentucky Derby and possibly the Preakness, (there was a timer malfunction) and destroying the world’s record for a mile and a half, (12 furlongs) in winning the Belmont by an incredible 31 lengths. In the footage, you never see jockey Ron Turcotte using his whip. It was all he could do to hold Secretariat back so as not to exhaust him and keep him tight on the turns. At the Belmont, he didn’t hold him back. He was a passenger.
People’s reaction to his victory there was so emotional nobody had ever seen anything like it. It wasn’t enough to cheer or jump or even dance around. They we weeping. Watching from his home in Florida, Jack Nicklaus found himself doing the same. Later, he talked to Heywood Hale Broun about what it was like to be there that day and why people wept. “Because Jack, you’ve spent your life chasing perfection and on that day, you saw it.”
Secretariat stood 16.2 hands high, weighed 1175 pounds and had a 75 inch girth.(Man ‘O War was the same height, weighed 1150 pounds and had a 72 inch girth.) His heart, after his death, was found to be 2 ½ times the size of a normal thoroughbred’s heart.
He was foaled at Meadow Farm in Virginia. He was owned by Penny Chenery, trained by Lucien Laurin and ridden by Ron Turcotte. In 21 races he had a record of 16-3-1.
Here is the ESPN “Sport Century” bio of Secretariat,. I think it’s the best one they ever did on that series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtuEoiYiqZw
The live calls of his three Triple Crown races:
Kentucky Derby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyqllleV6WA
Preakness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV89InWOENc&feature=related
Belmont:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18ui3Rtjz4&feature=related
The two most famous American race horses are Man ‘O War and Secretariat, both of whom were called “Big Red” because of their Chestnut coloring. Here is a statistical comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=PZ0jnHuqsX4
Many of the U-Tube posts about Man ‘0 War and Secretariat have a comment under them from an Italian racing fan who chastises American posters for their myopia. He insists that the greatest horse of all time was the Italian horse Ribot, who was undefeated in 16 races in Europe in the mid-50’s and was named horse of the year multiple times and in multiple countries. Here is Ribot showing his stuff in England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjTbqvje26I
There’s a system for evaluating race horses in Europe considering various factors such as weight carried, distance, track conditions, surface type, etc. It’s called Timeform after the publication that created it. I don’t know how to figure it or what to make of it but Ribot got a rating of 142, which actually isn’t the highest on the list, (a French Horse named Sea Bird from the 60’s was at 145). The American equivalent of this system is called the “Beyer Speed Figure”. Wikipedia doesn’t have an all-time ranking under this system, but Secretariat at the Belmont is rated at 139. The highest rating since they began the Beyer system for any other horse is 134. But “The popular rule of thumb for a rough equivalent of the Timeform score is to deduct 12-14 points to achieve the Beyer figure.” This would put Secretariat, (at least the way he ran at the Belmont), at 151-153 under the Timeform system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeform_rating
Sea Bird:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXaWeZLmlC4
Internet listings of the greatest horses ever that include all the top international horses, not just American horses, are hard to come by but here’s one with some interesting commentary:
http://shareranks.com/1219,Best-Racehorses-of-All-Times
There’s never been a horse that would have beaten Secretariat at the Belmont.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-5hAkgZqtI
Secretariat blew away the 25 years since the last Triple Crown winner, setting a record in the Kentucky Derby and possibly the Preakness, (there was a timer malfunction) and destroying the world’s record for a mile and a half, (12 furlongs) in winning the Belmont by an incredible 31 lengths. In the footage, you never see jockey Ron Turcotte using his whip. It was all he could do to hold Secretariat back so as not to exhaust him and keep him tight on the turns. At the Belmont, he didn’t hold him back. He was a passenger.
People’s reaction to his victory there was so emotional nobody had ever seen anything like it. It wasn’t enough to cheer or jump or even dance around. They we weeping. Watching from his home in Florida, Jack Nicklaus found himself doing the same. Later, he talked to Heywood Hale Broun about what it was like to be there that day and why people wept. “Because Jack, you’ve spent your life chasing perfection and on that day, you saw it.”
Secretariat stood 16.2 hands high, weighed 1175 pounds and had a 75 inch girth.(Man ‘O War was the same height, weighed 1150 pounds and had a 72 inch girth.) His heart, after his death, was found to be 2 ½ times the size of a normal thoroughbred’s heart.
He was foaled at Meadow Farm in Virginia. He was owned by Penny Chenery, trained by Lucien Laurin and ridden by Ron Turcotte. In 21 races he had a record of 16-3-1.
Here is the ESPN “Sport Century” bio of Secretariat,. I think it’s the best one they ever did on that series:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QtuEoiYiqZw
The live calls of his three Triple Crown races:
Kentucky Derby:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyqllleV6WA
Preakness:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV89InWOENc&feature=related
Belmont:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18ui3Rtjz4&feature=related
The two most famous American race horses are Man ‘O War and Secretariat, both of whom were called “Big Red” because of their Chestnut coloring. Here is a statistical comparison:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=PZ0jnHuqsX4
Many of the U-Tube posts about Man ‘0 War and Secretariat have a comment under them from an Italian racing fan who chastises American posters for their myopia. He insists that the greatest horse of all time was the Italian horse Ribot, who was undefeated in 16 races in Europe in the mid-50’s and was named horse of the year multiple times and in multiple countries. Here is Ribot showing his stuff in England:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EjTbqvje26I
There’s a system for evaluating race horses in Europe considering various factors such as weight carried, distance, track conditions, surface type, etc. It’s called Timeform after the publication that created it. I don’t know how to figure it or what to make of it but Ribot got a rating of 142, which actually isn’t the highest on the list, (a French Horse named Sea Bird from the 60’s was at 145). The American equivalent of this system is called the “Beyer Speed Figure”. Wikipedia doesn’t have an all-time ranking under this system, but Secretariat at the Belmont is rated at 139. The highest rating since they began the Beyer system for any other horse is 134. But “The popular rule of thumb for a rough equivalent of the Timeform score is to deduct 12-14 points to achieve the Beyer figure.” This would put Secretariat, (at least the way he ran at the Belmont), at 151-153 under the Timeform system.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeform_rating
Sea Bird:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXaWeZLmlC4
Internet listings of the greatest horses ever that include all the top international horses, not just American horses, are hard to come by but here’s one with some interesting commentary:
http://shareranks.com/1219,Best-Racehorses-of-All-Times
There’s never been a horse that would have beaten Secretariat at the Belmont.
