1973 kentucky derby times

He also still holds the record for the fastest finish 1973 kentucky derby times the Preakness Stakes, with a time of Swiss Skydiver gave the record a. “As I was coming back I saw the time ( 2/5) and knew we had broken Northern Dancer's record. I used to ride him his 2-year-old year and I. Trainers—Carter Thornton, Lucien Laurin, Don Combs, Frank Martin, Jim Keefer, John Campo, Bill Resseguet Jr., Jimmy Croll, Sherill Ward, Lou. On May 5,Secretariat blazed around the track in Kentucky Derby 99 in a record 1 minute and 59 seconds. "Big Red" is one of only 13 horses.

Kentucky Derby Field

Kentucky Derby Field

I wanted to scare them a little bit. And I guess I did. Turcotte remembers them talking about the race and the horse and if he could get the distance. Just throw the Wood out. I kept my mouth shut about what Dr. Gilman told me. But I would tell them what I thought for sure after I worked him the next morning. Click image to purchase shirt. After the workout Turcotte again returned to New York, where he ran into legendary jockey Eddie Arcaro.

I wanted to go easy with him the first part; I knew he could outrun any horse going a mile. As the Derby approached, Tweedy maintained a quiet confidence. But I was pretty confident. I was realistic, and I really thought I had the best horse. Turcotte was happy enough to be away from any trouble caused by riders jockeying for position early on.

He eased back on Secretariat, asking for nothing the first quarter mile. Turcotte would now test his theory that no one could outrun his colt going a mile. I stayed on the outside and was moving good. 1973 kentucky derby times My horse ran around the turn on his left lead, so turning for home, I tapped him a couple of times to get him to switch leads. I saw Laffit Pincay on Sham had a lot of horse, but once Secretariat switched his lead, I never had to touch him.

He took off. Pincay saw me coming and set his horse Sham down. But I was leaving him fairly easy and hand-rode my horse to the wire. Once my horse switched leads the game was over. I used to ride him his 2-year-old year and I loved that little horse.

But it was kind of sweet we broke his record. Up in the stands the relief was palpable for the owner of the most valuable racehorse in the world. Tweedy, along with her brother and sister, who co-owned Secretariat with her, was swallowed up by well-wishers.

Secretariat very likely would be just as dominant in as he was in Over the next 14 years, from through , the average winning time fell to By , the record for the Derby had fallen to Every Derby since has been run in a slower time. If there is a way to produce faster species, no one has figured that out. Given the differences in racing surface and the day-to-day variables involved in track makeup namely weather , comparing times is difficult.

They will list the number of races won by a horse, total money earned and prestigious races won, but only rarely the best time at a given distance. MacLeod added that jockeys routinely ease off on a thoroughbred when a race is in hand instead of pushing the horse all the way to the finish line in pursuit of a faster time.

Some suggest that a physical limit is being reached for thoroughbred performance but that the general population may be improving. By that token, Standardbreds may have more room for improvement. Standardbreds are a younger breed. With the amount of money to be made in the breeding industry and the increased fragility of the breed, careers are shorter and trainers are more cautious.

Top horses are much more lightly raced, and thus far less seasoned, by the time the Triple Crown rolls around in the spring of their 3-year-old season. In the Derby field of 20 horses, none has raced more than eight times. Secretariat raced nine times as a 2-year-old—he lost his debut on the Fourth of July in , then came back just 11 days later and scored his first win.

In the current Derby field, Japanese import Derma Sotogake was the most experienced entering this year, with six races as a 2-year-old. Several racing insiders interviewed for this story mentioned Flightline, the shooting star of , as perhaps the only horse of the 21st century with talent comparable to Secretariat.

Injuries kept him from racing at age 2, and even as a 3-year-old he did not make his debut until late April—far too late to qualify for the Kentucky Derby or be entered in any Triple Crown races. He raced just three times at age 3 and three more at age 4, going undefeated but also largely unnoticed by the general public. Revisionist history says that Big Red was a super horse all along, but there were heavy doubts hovering over him during the lead-up to the Kentucky Derby.

For the National Horse of the Year at age 2, the Secretariat hype train slammed to a halt after his shocking third-place finish in the Wood Memorial, his final prep race before the Derby. He was upset by stablemate Angle Light, who finished first, but also by second-place Sham.

That was the more significant development, because Sham was an accomplished horse in his own right—and his trainer, Pancho Martin, had been openly feuding with Laurin. With Martin trash-talking Laurin for days leading up to the race, Sham became the hot horse in Louisville with the racing press and handicappers.

On Derby day, The Louisville Courier-Journal listed the picks of 24 national writers—and only two of them picked Secretariat. Eleven picked Sham, with the rest interspersed among other horses. But the general public remained behind Big Red, who was sent off in a betting entry with stablemate Angle Light as the 3—2 favorites.

Sham was the second choice at 5—2. After the starting gate opened at p. Starting slowly was not unusual for Secretariat, and jockey Ron Turcotte wisely did not force the issue in the early stages. On the far turn, where many winning Derby moves have been launched, Sham took the lead from Shecky Greene. But the chestnut with the blue-and-white checkerboard blinkers was making a powerful drive behind Sham.

There is no noise in horse racing like the first Saturday in May in Louisville when the Kentucky Derby leaders hit the home stretch. And this particular running was playing out according to the pre-race script: Sham and Secretariat leading the pack, heading toward what appeared to be a tense battle to the wire. Fifty years ago, Gary Yunt looked down from the Churchill press box at the developing duel.

Now 76, he has attended 57 Kentucky Derbies, working many of those as a member of the Churchill Downs notes team. Yunt is a barn-area fixture during morning training hours, bustling from one trainer to the next to jot down workout times on a yellow legal pad, a bush hat pulled down to the top of his glasses and racing coursing through his veins. Yunt also did a tour of duty in Vietnam before going back to journalism.

Yunt was a Sham man. The roars kept building as Secretariat unleashed an astonishing closing kick, turning the duel with Sham into a rout. Secretariat covered the final quarter mile in 23 seconds—the fastest Derby run ended with the fastest final quarter in the history of the race. He was accelerating.