39 years after the fact, the greatest horse that ever raced has his time changed in Leg 2 of his . .

[Stinky The Clown]

. . . Triple Crown.

There has always been a controversy about his time in Pimlico's Preakness Stakes race. It was recorded at 1:55, but two hand timers in the press box had him at 1:53.5. At the time, there was talk of an electronic timer malfunction, but it was never provable. Until now.

Today, after a great deal of frame by frame analysis of the race, his official time was changed to 1:53 flat.

I'm glad his owner, Penny Chenery, although now using a walker, was able to be there in Baltimore to see her horse's record established. He is now the record holder of each Triple Crown track's fastest Triple Crown run. (For the record, the fastest Preakness time at 1 3/16 was Farma Way at 1:52 in 1991.)

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/06/19/bloomberg_articlesM5VT7Z6TTDTE01-M5VYM.DTL

Watch this video. It has all three races. Stay with it to the end. You'll see an amazing lead and hear that famous call "He's now moving like a tremendous machine."

Indeed he was.

&feature=player_embedded

[grasswire]

1. cool story, thanks n/t

[Old and In the Way]

2. I remember how special that horse was...what a champion.

That Belmont Stakes race was unbelievable....whatta horse.

[Jack Sprat]

3. A well deserved correction

for the Champ of all Champs, Secretariat.

[Booster]

4. Yay. Absolutely my favorite racehorse of all time.

[Jack Sprat]

5. Feel among the fortunate

to have seen those Triple Crown performances in your lifetime. It had been 25 years since the previous Triple Crown winner, Citation, and I was in my mid-20s never having seen one. I knew it was a special horse and made certain I watched all 3 races in 1973. The Belmont was the startling climax that made every onlooker frozen in awe of what they were witnessing. After 2 more Triple Crown winners in the following 5 years, there hasn't been one since. It has been said that Big Red was a freak of nature. His heart was nearly twice the size of the average thoroughbred revealed in the autopsy after his death. I think maybe I saw the greatest thoroughbred racehorse in the history of the sport. The name of Secretariat will always be remembered for that spectacular summer of 73.

I mean no slight to Seattle Slew or Affirmed. They were great horses too. But there was only one Big Red.

[jaysunb]

7. +1

[TuxedoKat]

11. I remember watching it with my dad

I didn't know anything about the Triple Crown and my dad explained the importance to me. I feel pretty fortunate to have watched Secretariat live, an amazing horse.

[magical thyme]

12. there were 2 Big Reds

Man O'War was also nicknamed Big Red, and until '73 was the greatest race horse of all time.

But yes, there was only one Secretariat, and it's likely that he'll never lose the title that he took from Man O'War.

[JonLP24]

15. I don't understand how he took that title from Man o' War

War won 20 out of 21 races. Secretariat won 16 out of 21.

I don't know shit about horse racing but I'm not the only one with the opinion that War is the greatest ever.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood-Horse_magazine_List_of_the_Top_100_U.S._Racehorses_of_the_20th_Century

[magical thyme]

18. maybe because he was in the here and now

and Man O'War is long gone, so living people saw Secretariat blow away the competition with their own eyes. It's not any official title that I'm aware of, anyway. Just what some bunch of people or other claims.

But Man O'War lives on through his strong influence on the breed. It's almost hard to find a t-bred that *doesn't* trace back to Man O'War.

Note that War Admiral, Buckpasser, Affirmed, Sea Biscuit and who knows how many others on that top 100 list trace back to Man O'War.

[PufPuf23]

6. Secretariat was outstanding but was a flop as a stud and other horses also dominated as much.

Last edited Wed Jun 20, 2012, 02:13 AM - Edit history (1)

Compared to Bold Ruler or Northern Dancer as a stud??? Hyperion and Nearco have much genetic influence on the male side of thoroughbreds. The mare side is less studied but there are also broodmare records less available over generations. One could argue that strong female lines are the a strong precorsur to being mated with top studs.

Different from other commercial animals, thoroughbreds are limited to offspring by actual sexual intercourse to be registered, hence high stud fees. Secretariat was an expensive flop as a stud and the reality was evident not long after retirement from racing.

Compared to similar streaks by Man o'War, Citation, or Noor vs Citation age 5 (regards to enduring world and track records).

Secretariat was a great horse in time and place and was a media favorite too.

There were other horses that had equal victory streaks and times on both coasts or internationally that then went on to be outstanding sires too.

I would rate Secretariat in the top ten of 20th century American thoroughbreds.

Regards to time and competition, Noor at age 5 vs Citation age 5 set more classic time records in 1950, for example.

Ruffian was outstanding too; my impression is that fillies and mares would have more success vs. colts, geldings, and stallions if not segregated for most races.

[jaysunb]

8. Affirmed also failed at stud, but his rival

Alydar produced many champions. Go figure....LOL !

[Stinky The Clown]

10. I still get weepy when I think of Ruffian and her untimely end

She may well have been even greater than she had already shown herself to be.

[backwoodsbob]

9. my God that brought back memories

I'm in tears after watching that...what an amazing horse

[magical thyme]

13. horses are not machines

and I have a serious problem when sportscasters and others refer to them as machines.

They are sentient beings, with with minds, wills, spirits and opinions of their own.

Please, people, never forget that.

And now it's time for me to head out to the back yard and take care of my own little princess. Today may be a big day for her.

[Savannahmann]

14. Thanks

Great story

[a kennedy]

16. I can watch this horse forever and NEVER tire of him.....

goosebumps, just goosebumps every time I see that Belmont Stakes..... wow. Just A W E S O M E. Thanks, and so happy it's finally put to rest the real time.

[hamsterjill]

17. I consider Secretariat an American Hero!

I can remember watching the races in the family living room on a black and white television, all of us huddled around rooting for the big guy! He never disappointed!

I also remember that he seemed to enjoy the attention, posing every time he saw a camera!

There will never be another one like him! It was a small moment in American history when we were ALL on the same side!

[Cherchez la Femme]

19. Secretariat was good, but

Man O'War was the greatest.

His single loss was due to being deliberately boxed in at the rail, at least one of the jockeys regretted denying him a perfect record for a trick.

Man O'War never raced the Derby, if he did I have no doubt he'd have won the Triple Crown

[backwoodsbob]

20. without any doubt imo

the GREATEST athlete...human or animal...that ever lived.

RIP big red...you earned it.