Secretariat: The greatest . . .
How Big Red became a pop culture phenomenon after blitzing field in Belmont Stakes
Ron Turcotte peeked under his arm with about a quarter-mile to go in the Belmont Stakes. The other horses were mere dots behind him and Secretariat.
With the crowd roaring, the chestnut colt nicknamed Big Red hit the wire an astounding 31 lengths in front on June 9, 1973, at Belmont Park. The racing world had never seen anything like his performance before or since.
When Justify runs in the Belmont on Sunday (NZ time), it will be 45 years to the day Secretariat ended a 25-year Triple Crown drought by sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont.
“He’ll be awfully hard to beat,” Turcotte said from his home in Canada.
“I feel he’s going to win the Triple Crown.”
Turcotte thought the same thing about Secretariat.
Sent off as the 1-10 favourite by the crowd of 69,138, Secretariat faced just four rivals in the 11⁄ 2- mile Belmont, the longest and most gruelling of the three-race series.
“I was very, very confident,” Turcotte recalled. “I didn’t think he could get beat.”
Among Secretariat’s four rivals was Sham, who had finished second in both the Derby and Preakness.
Sham’s jockey, Laffit Pincay Jr, had been instructed by trainer Frank Martin to go after Secretariat from the start.
Secretariat went to the early lead along the rail and was soon challenged by Sham. The two were even through a half-mile at a fevered pace in what became a match race with the rest of the field about 10 lengths behind.
“Even if he stayed with me, I didn’t think any way in the world he could beat me because my horse was so good,” Turcotte said.
“He had trained so hard for the race and the others hadn’t done much.”
Sham poked his head in front around the turn, but not for long.
On the back stretch, Pincay sensed something wasn’t right with his horse. Turcotte noticed, too.
“I was feeling like he was weak. I tapped him again and I had nothing,” Pincay said, initially thinking Sham was bleeding.
He checked and didn’t see any blood.
Approaching the quarter-pole, Pincay knew Sham was injured.
“He didn’t feel right to me, so that’s why I tried to save him,” Pincay said. “I stopped him before the wire.”
Secretariat began distancing himself from his closest competition as Sham started to fade.
Secretariat ran the mile in 1:341⁄ 5. He reeled off 11⁄ miles in 1:59, faster than 4 his record time in the Derby.
He had long since ceased running against the other horses; he was racing the clock and history.
Big Red completed the last quarter in a scant 25 seconds. He finished in 2:24, a record that still stands.
Sham finished last, and an angry Martin approached Pincay after the race asking why he didn’t let Sham run. Although Sham showed no outward signs of injury, Pincay told Martin the colt didn’t feel right. Martin walked away.
“I felt bad about it,” Pincay said. “I was sad the horse didn’t perform the way he had.”
The following Monday, Pincay’s phone rang in Southern California and Martin was on the line.
“He apologised and thanked me for saving his horse,” the jockey said.
Sham never raced again and died in 1993.
In addition to Secretariat, the 1970s produced two other Triple Crown winners: Seattle Slew in 1977 and Affirmed the next year.
Secretariat became a pop culture phenomenon, appearing on the cover of Time and a US stamp and was the subject of a 2010 Disney movie.
His name recognition, even among those who don’t follow sport, remains strong almost three decades after his death.