Secretariat

I didn't watch it, but I had a subscription to Sports Illustrated and there were articles on Secretariat every week. The strange part is the week Secretariat won the Triple Crown, George Foreman was on the cover.

Here are the 1973 Sports Illustrated issues that had articles about Secretariet (only on 1 cover):

3-26-73 Bill Walton cover - "Oh Lord He's Perfect" article with full page color photo of Secretariat

4-30-73 Chris Speier cover - Secretariat loses in NY's Wood Memorial to Angle Light, color pictures

5-14-73 Mark Spitz cover - Secretariat wins Kentucky Derby article with great pictures

5-28-73 Women's Track cover - Secretariat wins Preakness article with color pictures

6-11-73 Secretariat and owner Penny Tweedy on cover - with nice article and pictures

6-18-73 George Foreman cover - Secretariat wins Belmont and Triple Crown article with color pictures

7-9-73 George Allen cover - Secretariat wins at Arlington Illinois, nice article with b & w photos

7-30-73 Carlton Fisk cover - Syndication of Secretariat for $6 million article

8-13-73 Kids Motocross cover - Secretariat loses at Whitney Stakes to Onion, with color pictures

9-24-73 Danny Murtaugh cover - Secretariat beats Riva Ridge at Marlboro Cup feature

10-5-73 Notre Dame Football cover - Secretariat wins At Aqueduct (last race) article and pictures

I wish I had kept them.

 

I am PUMPED about today's race. I'll be watching along with the two of you.

 

2003 Belmont Stakes

Despite rains that have drenched thousands of faithful fans, Funny Cide will run for Visa Triple Crown immortality when he goes to post today for the 135th running of the $1 million Belmont Stakes (Gr. 1) at 6:38 p.m. EDT at Belmont Park.

Track conditions for Belmont Stakes Day have slowly deteriorated throughout the day. The main track was changed to sloppy prior to the sixth race. The turf course is soft. The 12th race is the only race that has been removed from the turf. Complete scratches and changes are available on the Belmont Park Main Page. There are no scratches or changes in the Belmont Stakes.

The Belmont Stakes will be run as the 11th of 13 races. General Admission is still available for $2. The event will also be televised on ESPN from 3 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. EDT and on NBC from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. EDT.




http://www1.nyra.com/belstakes2003/

 

i love watching stuff about secretariat, and especially that day. i'm only 21 and obviously didn't get to see the real thing, but i get goosebumps whenever they do pieces on it also. it's just amazing to watch. i mean he just chugs for the entire race. watching the camera try to fit just him and the 2nd place horse (much less the entire field) in the widest shot possible is classic. and then he just keeps pulling away as he comes down the home stretch. ridiculous and moving. people apparently crying at the track. jack nicklaus crying watching at home. rimrocker's mom crying. apparently it was an awesome experience. hell i even tear up a little listening to everyone describe it during the Sportscentury thing.

and for those who haven't heard this amazing stat. not only did Secretariat kick ass on that day, but he would've beat every winner of the Belmont since then by no less than 10 lengths. crazy.

 

I totally agree with this post. Whenever I see or read something about Secretariat's career, I'm completely transfixed. I'm not old enough to have seen it happen, but the SportsCentury episode was one I made sure not to miss. The utter dominance with which Secretariat won is simply amazing.

 

Empire Maker topples Funny Cide

 

I'm not a huge horse racing fans, but i watch all the triple crown races...even though they only last a little over a minute, they are fun to watch.

I can't wait for the seabiscuit movie to come out, it looks good.

 

I watched the Belmont today and was really disappointed that Funny Cide didn't pull off the triple crown. I've always heard Secretariat was the greatest of all time. Is that because of his times around the track (ie) does he hold records to this day? I watched a show on Seabiscut the other day what a great story, how a horse could come back from a torn ligament in his leg is just amazing. I think they usually have to put a horse down for that kind of injury especially back then. Well the bright side (if your into horse racing) on Funny Cide is he will be racing for years since he is a Gelding (snip snip)they say he will reach his peak in two years. Does anyone know why only 3 year old horses can race in triple crown races?

 

while i don't think his career record is great (i think he lost 5 times), he won the triple crown when it hadn't been done for 25 years, he broke the record in two of the events (i don't think he broke the preakness record), and his performance in the belmont was the most dominating performance ever in a triple crown race, he won it by 31 lengths. he still holds the Kentucky Derby record and i believe until just a few years ago was the only one to ever run it in under 2 minutes. and he still holds the belmont record. i think i posted this above but i'll do it again, he would have beat every winner of the belmont since his race by at least 10 lengths. i think he would've beat today's by around 20 according to the time i remember. his dominance was amazing, he dominated at the rigth times, and he dominated at the right time in horse racing history, so that's why he's considered the greatest ever.

 

Cool info, the picture of Secretariat at Belmont is just breathtaking, no other horses in sight. The Kentucky derby is a mile and a quarter (I think) so if he ran it under 2 minutes from a dead stop, he must have average around 40 mph around the track. Amazing.
Do you know why only 3 year olds can race the triple crown?
btw- I have never watched a bad horse race, they are always exciting...never fails.

 

I guess this misfire shows how hard it is to win all three. My prediction: there will be a horse called Beer Chugger that will make secretariat seem small.