Over the years I have been asked many times, who is the greatest athlete of all time? Although it is very subjective, my criteria are based on who dominated the competition like no other. There was Bob Gibson in baseball in 1968, Serena Williams in tennis for most of her career, Tiger Woods in golf during the early 2000s, and Nathan Chen in figure stating from 2017-2022. These athletes not only beat the competition, but they also dominated the competition. However, the name that goes to the top of my list has always been Secretariat, who fifty years ago in 1973, dominated horse racing by winning the triple crown and setting track records at the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont that still stand 50 years later.
The following are excerpts from The Guardian today remembering Secretariat 50 years later.
This weekend’s Kentucky Derby marks the 50th anniversary of Secretariat’s victory at Churchill Downs, which was itself the first step in the horse’s signature achievement – winning the 1973 Triple Crown. Secretariat’s greatness is occasionally reduced to mechanical terms, the implication being that his accomplishments were purely a product of his exceptional physical attributes.
It is therefore remarkable that, for the most part, jockey Ron Turcotte speaks of Secretariat’s personality when describing what made him such a great horse. “He was a very intelligent horse,” Turcotte says. “Never seemed to fight the rider – never fought me anyway – and he would relax … You could make as many [tactical] moves as you wanted to in a race.”
Indeed, one of the few times Turcotte mentions Secretariat’s physicality is in reference to the horse’s prodigious appetite. Even then, Turcotte speaks with the gently surprised fondness of a grandparent ribbing a particularly ravenous grandchild. “He was a heavy horse – by that I mean he ate a lot,” says Turcotte. “He ate 18 quarts of oats a day.” For comparison, the average racehorse eats a daily ration of 12 to 14 quarts of oats.
The Kentucky Derby is a one-and-a-quarter-mile flat race over a dirt track. An important race in its own right, the Derby simultaneously serves as the first jewel in the Triple Crown, a trio of high-prestige races that also includes the Preakness Stakes (held two weeks after the Derby) and the Belmont Stakes (run three weeks after the Preakness). The Derby, however, remains the most famous of the three, as well as the race most likely to attract a casual fan’s attention.
Twelve horses have won the Triple Crown over the last century. Nevertheless, there’s always been something different about Secretariat’s 1973 win. Among other distinctions, Secretariat was the first horse to win the Triple Crown in 25 years, at that time by far the longest gap between Triple Crown winners. Secretariat’s Triple Crown win remains unique because it is objectively better than that of any other horse in the history of the competition.
During the Triple Crown’s first leg, Secretariat set the track record at the Kentucky Derby, becoming the first horse to finish the race in under two minutes (along with Sham, who came in two and a half lengths behind in second). Previous doubts about Secretariat’s endurance were made to look silly – he ran each quarter mile of the race faster than the previous quarter-mile (he ran the final quarter over two seconds faster than the first). He then broke the track record at the Preakness before, three weeks later, delivering perhaps his most famous performance at the Belmont. Not only did Secretariat set yet another track record – he won the Belmont by a remarkable 31 lengths (roughly 75 meters). Fifty years later, Secretariat’s win at the Belmont remains the largest margin of victory in Triple Crown history. Moreover, 50 years later, all three of Secretariat’s track records remain unbeaten.
Domination like no other before or since.
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It is all over but the shouting. Leah and I closed the sale of our Ypsilanti house today. The next and final step is the move, which is scheduled to be finalized on May 17. It is a great relief to have this major step completed.
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Quote of the Day. “[Secretariat] had such a nice way with people … When there were cameras around, he would stop and look at the cameras, stuff like that. He was so generous, kind, and gentle.” Secretariat’s jockey Ron Turcotte
Orchid of the Day: The Detroit Tigers for sweeping the NY Mets and beating former Tiger pitchers and three-time Cy Young award winners, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander in the process.
Onion of the Day: The four leaders of the Proud Boys who were found guilty of sedition on Thursday for their role in the January 6 insurrection.
Question of the Day: If not Secretariat, who?
Video of the Day:
Secretariat at the Belmont
Tom, There is a wonderful historical true story about the greatest horse in the history of horse racing. Regrettably, after you read it you just might change your mind about Secretariat. The book is simply called Horse, a wonderful read! Jeff