Fame in 1973...Carrera RS and Secretariat

[letsrollbabe]

Well, another Triple Crown season is upon us...and American Pharoah won in a close finish with Firing Line, who was behind by 2 lengths at the finish but much closer down the stretch. The winning time was 2 min., 3.02 sec which was fairly slow for a Kentucky Derby. Just to compare to Secretariat's 1973 Kentucky Derby...in 1. 59 2/5 sec (still the Derby record) this year's race really pales by comparison. Secretariat's time was 3.6 seconds faster. At the speed of approximately 2 minutes for a 1 1/4 mile race means the horses are averaging about 55 ft/sec. That means Secretariat would have beaten American Pharoah by 198 feet or almost 25 lengths. It really wouldn't have been much of a competition.

Here is the link for the 2015 Derby, and Secretariat's in 1973. THE GREATEST 2 MINUTES IN SPORTS...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vjUpxnkx8E

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74Usj3K4oZ0

American Pharoah now has a chance to win the Triple Crown...it would be great to have another one. Not since 77 has there been one.

Edit; OK, my bad...78 saw Affirmed win it.

[mvboy]

Gib,

Seattle Slew won in 1977 but Affirmed won in 1978. Slew passed away in in 2002 so currently there are no triple crown winners alive. I've given up on seeing another triple crown winner in my life time but I hope I am wrong. They just aren't bred that way anymore. Sad and a pity as short term breeding $$$'s outweigh any real concerns for the sports long term future.

Although American Pharoah was hyped yesterday as a super horse but as you noted, Secretatiat would have cleaned his clock. Actually the time was terribly slow as many other horses throughout the recent Derby years would have beaten him. Difficult to listen to the annoucers making him so big yesterday. It reminded me and to paraphrase Lloyd Bensen, "I knew Secretariat, Sir you are no Secretariat".

Still, I'll watch the Preakness and hope AP wins because I love horse racing.

[brookedale091462]

Thanks for a great tribute.
What a beautiful animal. Wins by 25 lengths and Ron Turcotte never brings the whip just hangs on for the ride. wow.

[62S-R-S]

...going from last to first in still-standing record time (almost 3 seconds faster than Seattle Slew's time) in a huge field...Secretariat's Derby leaves the Slew in Derby dust.

Well, for certain Man O' War, Count Fleet, Citation, Seattle Slew, would've run very different races - from Twice a Prince and Pvt Smiles..

Man O' War raced 2, 3, and 4 days apart...as did Citation. He carried weight unknown to Secretariat of 130 - 138 lbs - nine times, conceding weight to the field. One loss came to a horse he beat 6 times. He set track records galloping, not running.

Author Nack admitted farrowed tracks favored the time at Belmont. Vet care, air vs rail transport, aluminum vs. steel....
Ex, A saucer, one of iron, and the other of aluminum...suspended by 4 ft cloth or rope. Iron will take more calories, or energy to spin.

[mrgreenjeans]

Thoroughly love reading this post and updates each year around this time.

Thoroughbreds indeed.

Am going out to fire up the 911 to just sit in it and smile.
Head down the road apiece and put some grins on the lips .......

[letsrollbabe]

So now for the 14th time since '78, we have a horse that has won the first 2 legs of the Triple Crown. American Pharoah won in the rain and mud by a healthy margin with no horse really contesting him in the stretch. Is 'AP' the super horse that will break the spell of 36 years without a Triple Crown winner? Will thoroughbred racing have a new hero which it badly needs to bring the crowds back? Stay tuned...

The time of 1:58.46 wasn't fast, but it was a rainy, muddy race...even Secretariat would have had a hard time running a record breaking race. Secretariat's time at the '73 Preakness was originally timed at 1:55, but the timing clock malfunctioned, and 2 independent Racing Form clockers timed the race at 1:53 2/5. The official time was recorded at 1:54 2/5, which wasn't a record. Penny Chenery and the president of the Maryland Racing Commission appealed to the commission in 2012 to review video tapes and other data from the race, and the 7 member commission voted unanimously to change the time to 1:53 flat, which is now the record for the Preakness.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8S5Hh9MSlw

[mrgreenjeans]

Yes indeed, a truly beautiful thing to watch a horse run free; AP is a 'mudder' of a thoroughbred --- some are, some are not.

Just the zeal to win. Sharpened , honed to an extra fine, pointy edge when the track has become it's worst.

Enchanting stuff ~

THAT is heart

[letsrollbabe]

So while we're waiting for the Belmont in 2.5 weeks, here are some pics I showed earlier in this thread of Secretariat taken the first year of his retirement at Claiborne Farms in 74. I lived about 20 miles away at the time. He was a beautiful horse, and a real ham for the camera. Like the 73 Carrera RSR, Secretariat was a true champion and had as big an impact on his racing venues as the RSRs of 73 did on tracks around the world. But unlike those Carreras which evolved over the next 4-5 years to keep winning races, Secretariat was retired from racing. Yet he still holds the records for all three Triple Crown races after 42 years, confirming that unlike the automotive racing world which continuously produces new track records, breeding faster thoroughbred race horses isn't happening.

Even with all the computer programs to analyze breeding records using probabilities based on thousands of race results, combined with modern nutrient science of how to feed and care for young growing horses, and then with supposedly better training methods based on high tech measurements of every facet of how a horse moves when it runs...the horses are not running faster than Secretariat ran in '73. He was the definition of a SUPER HORSE, and might be called one of the first real life candidates in the use of the term SUPER HERO as his image was everywhere. If you were around in 73, you knew about this great race horse and his syndication for $6 million. When you watch his run at the Belmont in 73, if you don't get a catch in your throat because you are watching something truly special...your 'give a dam is busted' to use a title from an old country song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfCMtaNiMDM

[letsrollbabe]

He did it!!! We have a new Triple Crown winner...for the first time in 37 years. American Pharoah won the Belmont by 5 1/2 lengths, in the second fastest time ever...2:26.65. He led the field of 7 other horses the whole way, and pulled away in the stretch to a very convincing victory. He is deserving of being called a Triple Crown Champion...the 12th (I think) to accomplish 3 major victories in 5 weeks. Bob Baffert, the trainer, and the jockey Victor Espinoza deserve much credit also. There will be many headlines in the newspapers across the country tomorrow...maybe this will give the horse racing business the shot in the arm it needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyDcXtVb8_U

Edit: I thought I heard the sports caster say the time was the 2nd fastest...it apparently was the 6th fastest time for the race. No real threat to Secretariat's record time, which most agree will never be broken. American Pharoah would have been approximately 18 lengths behind Secretariat at the Belmont...based on Secretariat's time of 2:24 flat (2.65 sec. faster). Secretariat was averaging 55 ft/sec, AP averaged 54 ft/sec over the 1.5 mi race, so AP's time of 2.65 sec slower is 143.1 ft behind, and with a length being 8 ft, that is 17.9 lengths.

Edit 2: American Pharoah's time was the 2nd fastest among Triple Crown Winners to Secretariat's...but 6th fastest overall since the distance has been 1.5 mi. This is somewhat significant since some of the Belmont winners did not run in all 3 races.

[Kris Clewell]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WyDcXtVb8_U

better video.