We all know that 73 was a breakthrough year for Porsche with the introduction of the Carrera RS and the homologation of the RSR, which won the Constructor's Championship with these iconic race cars in the hands of factory supported teams. But another amazing racing story was written in 73 that lives in the record books 40 years later, the American thoroughbred race series for 3 year olds called the Triple Crown. The record times for these 3 races is still held by one horse...Secretariat, who won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness, and the Belmont in ever convincing fashion. The last race, the Belmont is 1.5 miles, and is considered a serious test for many speed horses who often do well in the shorter Kentucky Derby (1 1/4 mi) and Preakness (1 3/16 mi), and Secretariat won the Belmont by 31 lengths in a time (2 min, 24 sec) that beat the record at the time by over 2 seconds.
It is a truly American sports hero story with a woman (Penny Tweedy, a housewife and mother of 4 kids) owner who believed in Secretariat, and who struggled to get the horse ready for the Kentucky Derby, and juggled family issues while finding a contrversial jockey to ride, and a trainer who was also considered outside the mainstream. And the rest as they say is history....There are very few sports records that stand today from 40 years ago...everything is faster. While we often wax nostalgically about the 73 Carrera RS and RSRs, every winnng record they accomplished in 73 has been exceeded by higher technology cars over the years. That's the way things in life are expected to go...always getting better, faster, and more impressive. But one 3 year old horse from 1973 has topped every effort at modern breeding analysis and scientific nutrition programs to produce a faster race horse.
It is a story I never tire of thinking about (and now watching on Youtube), as I lived near Lexington, KY in 74, and went to Claiborn Farms to see Secretariat and take a few pictures of this great racing stallion. He was retired to stud after his 3 year old racing year, and was syndicated for $6 million through breeding shares. Today, anyone can watch the 3 Triple Crown races from 73, and experience the thrill of the 'greatest 2 minutes in sports' as each race plays out on the grainy screen. It is worth your time, especially if you like an American story of individuals believing in a dream and making it happen through perseverance, and ending up with an achievement that lives in record book history. For me, these are truly the greatest performances in a series of sporting events ever. They even made a movie about this great horse (titled...'Secretariat').
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Usj3K4oZ0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eV89InWOENc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V18ui3Rtjz4
edit: Links should be for each race now.
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