Secretariat's Belmont Run Historic
Big Red's Victory in June 1973 cinched the Triple Crown
No other thoroughbred won the Belmont Stakes by as many lengths as did Secretariat. The hype at Churchill Downs' Kentucky Derby, and at Pimlico was not unwarranted.
Connections and Stats:1973
Awards and Stud Career: Secretariat
Announcer Chick Anderson called him a "tremendous machine" on his Belmont Stakes day in 1973. Jockey Ron Turcotte road him chilly, staying more still aboard the Big Red Machine than he ever had in previous races with him.
The thoroughbred superstar was Secretariat. That June day in 1973 was one of the most memorable in racing history.
In May, Secretariat had lived up to his hype by sweeping the field at Churchill Downs in the Kentucky Derby and in Pimlico's Preakness Stakes. He had done it in electrifying times, a record at Churchill Downs in which he ran every quarter mile faster than the one before, an unheard of feat, and another speed record at Pimlico, although that one was later reduced by a whole second because of a time clocking dispute.
But the Preakness controversy didn't prompt as much print about the big red horse as did his pursuit of the American Triple Crown championship, a prize which had laid dormant for twenty-five years. Winning the first two legs of the Triple in Kentucky and Maryland had thrust Secretariat onto the stage of stardom.
Could he go on to win the Belmont Stakes in New York to become the first thoroughbred since Citation in 1948 to win all three of these races for three-year-olds and be crowned as just the ninth horse in history to do so? The handsome chestnut colt with the three striking white-stockinged feet had become a household name. A nomination for athlete of the year was in the offing.
People can remember where they were and what they were doing in the late afternoon of June 9, 1973, before they paused to listen to what became an event suspended in time. The wonderfully descriptive call by Chick Anderson became cemented in popular memory and can be recalled by any die-hard thoroughbred fan. "...he is moving like a tremendous machine," said Anderson as Secretariat lost his competitors and glided through the furlongs, ever increasing his unstoppable pace.
The big red blur with those three flashing white feet cruised around the longest turns in thoroughbred racing, thrashed the challenge from Sham, and stretched into a stride so long and so full that he looked like a thick, elongated rubber band flowing out, regathering, stretching again. He was running so hard, long, and speedily that his coat actually changed color. It pulsated a bright chestnut to a darker and darker hue as he put an incredible thirty lengths between himself and his nearest follower.
In blazing fractions, 1:09-4/5 for the first six furlongs, or three quarters, of the first mile, Secretariat and Sham went at each other. Suddenly putting Sham away, Big Red dove ahead, still running at an unbelievable speed. He clocked the 1-1/4 mile pole at 1:59 flat, faster than his Kentucky Derby record time for that distance. In the last quarter mile of the 1-1/2 mile Belmont, the chestnut eased a tad, finishing in 2:24 flat, another track record.
The thirty length triumph also was a Belmont record. It was a huge accomplishment from a thoroughbred who owned his moment. "He did it himself," said Turcotte, who claimed to be just along for the ride.
The long backstretch of the Belmont Stakes is a champion killer, a test of a three-year-old heart, a career ender. The big red machine, mighty Secretariat, won, while Sham, his major threat to supremacy that season, never raced again.
In a smashing achievement, the twenty-five year wait for a Triple Crown champion was over. Big Red reigned in 1973. He was chosen male athlete of the year by Sports Illustrated. Nothing like him has been seen since.
