The Triple Crown

Charlie Brown's Avatar
There's been a slew ( ) of great horses to race all 3 races of the triple crown.

There's only been one to win them all in track record time.

Did you know without searching ? ��
PussySnob's Avatar
It’s a secret
Charlie Brown's Avatar
Yes !

It is! But not a complete secret 😎

It’s a secret Originally Posted by PussySnob
TexTushHog's Avatar
Absolutely I know, though there is some (slight) controversy about the timing on the Preakness record. But the video doesn’t lie. It wasn’t officially recognized as the stakes record until fairly recently. Since then Farma Way ran 1 3/16 1/5 of a se ones faster in the Pimlico Special, so it was never an official track record.

The track record at Churchill still stands. The one at Belmont still stands, is also the dirt wired record time, and may well never be broken. But the most impressive fact if that race was that each quarter mile was run faster than the proceeding quarter of a mile — for all six quarters. Absolutely unheard of.
blackmaleindallas's Avatar
It's kind of a loaded question though because it implies that setting a track record is a function of the ability of a horse not the condition of the track. There are a lot of unknown, unheralded horses that hold the track record many places but the record was set in random races because the track maintenance allowed the track to be extremely fast that day. Tracks like Tampa and Sunland set track records almost every year and many of those horses never become great..
Charlie Brown's Avatar
A little known fact is when Secretariat passed away, there was an autopsy done. It was noted the horse had one of the largest hearts ever seen in a horse.

There was a big reason for that.

I was at Churchhill Downs on May 5th, 1973. Secretariat looked like an 18 wheeler running against pickup trucks. The horse was huge and extremely muscular. The horse literally dwarfed the field. You would have thought he was too big to run that fast. It was impressive to say the least

It was a fun day. Celebrities were sprinkled about like popcorn in a movie theater.
PussySnob's Avatar
I bet $200 to win on secret paid me $1000 !!!
TheWanderer's Avatar
A little known fact is when Secretariat passed away, there was an autopsy done. It was noted the horse had one of the largest hearts ever seen in a horse.

There was a big reason for that.

I was at Churchhill Downs on May 5th, 1973. Secretariat looked like an 18 wheeler running against pickup trucks. The horse was huge and extremely muscular. The horse literally dwarfed the field. You would have thought he was too big to run that fast. It was impressive to say the least

It was a fun day. Celebrities were sprinkled about like popcorn in a movie theater. Originally Posted by Charlie Brown
I have seen that in a documentary. I think they said his heart weighed 14 pounds. In the last race, the Belmont Stakes, they had trouble filling out the field because no one wanted to race him. Some of the better horses were held out but it would not have mattered based on the time he turned. When he makes that last turn and just moves away from the field, that always gives me goose bumps.
TexTushHog's Avatar
TheWanderer's Avatar
Cool picture for sure. Secretariat was amazing. He was one of a kind.
I really like the Seabiscuit story. I know everybody has probably seen the movie. He beat the 1937 Triple-Crown winner, War Admiral, by 4 lengths in a 2-horse special at Pimlico, and was voted American Horse of the Year for 1938. Definitely an underdog, but some horses seem to really get the idea that it's a race.
koseylee's Avatar
If I recall correctly, voted Athlete of Year by Sports Illustrated in 1973. Only non-human to receive that award.
TheWanderer's Avatar
Holy Controversy Batman.
Kentucky Derby 2019 results: Country House named winner after Maximum Security is disqualified.

What did I just watch?
blackmaleindallas's Avatar
Holy Controversy Batman.
Kentucky Derby 2019 results: Country House named winner after Maximum Security is disqualified.

What did I just watch? Originally Posted by TheWanderer
By the letter of the law/rule Maximum could have been disqualified but the start of most Kentucky Derby races has way more bumping/interference that the little sidestep Maximum Security caused War of Will to take. Jason Servis gets accused of cheating often and Maximum Security started in the maiden claiming ranks so the "theory" is the stewards wanted to take him down for those reasons if they had the chance and give "good guy" Bill Mott his first Derby win ever. Who knows. I would have been fine had the original result stood. Maybe they'll all settle it later on the race track later in the year..
TexTushHog's Avatar
Close call in sone respects. There was definitely a foul on War if Will. Not sure whether it cost him a placing or not. I wouldn’t criticize a ruling either way. My guess is the danger created to War of Will was what tipped the scales. Horse and rider could have easily gone down.
LuvHerMadlyEverytime's Avatar
I heard about it but haven't seen a video of it.