Who is the greatest race horse of all time??
doubledragon
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Horse racing is a fascinating sport, I've been poking around a little and it seems that most people consider Secretariat to be the best that ever did it. Is this true?
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In my never ending quest for knowledge, I have been led to the sport of horse racing today. I came across this photo that I've seen before.
I guess they'll probably run the Kentucky Derby on time this year, first Saturday in May.
Haven't checked on it one way or the other.
And this Time magazine is certainly intimidating. I must confess, Secretariat intimidates and scares me.
This is another horse that I've heard of, his name is Seabiscuit. I've always heard he is a legend.
The Bisc.
I found this racing program from what seems to be a legendary showdown.
Secretariat.
My favorite two horses to bet from the 1960's ran at my home track Santa Anita. The first was Reb's Policy. Trained by Jerry Fanning ridden by Jerry Lambert. He would come off a long layoff , set turf sprint records and pay in $15-20 range. Many bettors back then shied away from long layoff horses, so he always paid well.
My second favorite horse was every bettor's dream. Snips and Snails was claimed for ~$5,000 and every few weeks climbed the claiming ladder, winning like 6 in a row all the way up to $62,500. Fun to watch the unbelievable progression. Almost like that unknown horse winning the Derby.
Another horse that fascinates me is Man o' War. I found an interesting article about him and Secretariat as to comparison, with Citation thrown into the mix. Here is a photo of the famous Man o' War.
For more than 50 years Man o' War owned the unofficial title of Horse of the Century.
"Then Secretariat happened," says Dorothy Ours, author of "Man o' War - A Legend Like Lightning" and a former historian at the National Museum of Racing and Hall of Fame. "And the debate started, well this might be the best horse since Man o' War--maybe he's better than Man o' War."
Forty years after that spring of 1973, when Secretariat ran roughshod over the competition, the debate rages on.
Man 'o War won 20 of 21 races, including the 1920 Preakness and Belmont Stakes. He likely would've won the Triple Crown, but his owner didn’t care for the Kentucky Derby's distance or time of year, and so Man 'o War skipped the Derby. It seems odd now, but in 1920 the Triple Crown wasn't really significant, and the Derby was not yet the Crown jewel.
Reading accounts of Man o' War's one loss, in the 1919 Sanford Memorial Stakes, it seems even that race was a testament to his greatness. The defeat came in the era before the use of starting gates. Man o' War suffered a terrible start and fell back almost four lengths at the outset, but still managed to close most of the gap. The aptly named Upset won by a half-length.
"There was scarcely a witness to this race who did not believe after it was all over that Man o' War would have walked home with anything like a fair chance," according to The Times.
Secretariat won all three Triple Crown races in record times that still stand today. But his overall record is somewhat ordinary -- he won 16 of 21 races, finished second three times, third once and fourth once. Those five loses are the biggest knock against his candidacy.
"Every time Secretariat seemed immortal, he would lose," said racing historian Ed Bowen with a laugh.
Even in death, Secretariat was unparalleled, as an autopsy revealed that he had a heart two and a half times the size of a normal horse.
In trying to determine who was "The Horse of the Century," the casual racing fan might reasonably point to Secretariat's Triple Crown records as proof of his superiority. It's not, according to Bowen.
"Time is a very, very tricky way to judge a horse," said Bowen. "The final time of a race is a function of many things, including track conditions, the pace, and how fast the horse is taking off early on."
According to Bowen, a review of the time records at tracks across America would include dozens of no-name horses. Just this year, the American record at a mile and a half on grass has fallen twice with nary a notice in the mainstream press, Bowen said.
Ours notes a variety of X factors that could contribute to the differences in the times posted by Man o' War and Secretariat. Improvements in drainage technology and the practice of hosing down the dirt have made racetracks faster; Man o' War ran on shoes made of steel versus Secretariat's lightweight aluminum; and the Man o' War typically carried extra weight to give his opponents a chance of winning.
In 1999, both Blood Horse magazine and the Associated Press convened panels of experts to vote on who was the best thoroughbred of the past 100 years, and Man o' War came out on top in both polls. But the Blood Horse poll was somewhat controversial, as one voter listed Secretariat 14th on his ballot. ESPN, meanwhile, listed Secretariat as the 35th greatest athlete of the 20th century, with Man o' War sitting at 84.
So maybe it's a coin toss for Horse of the Century? Not quite. Lost in the debate of Man o' War vs. Secretariat is 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation, the sport's first million-dollar winner, and one of only three horses ever to win 16 consecutive major stakes races.
After starting his career with 28 wins in 30 races, Citation's owners set their sights on the million-dollar mark, running him well past his prime. He went 4-8-2 over his last 15 races, taking much of the shine of a brilliant career.
Citation made it to a million, but lost quite a bit of his luster among the general public. But real race fans remember him fondly -- Bowen adds that people who saw Citation said he was better than Man o' War, they "felt there never could have been a better horse."
"If I were in a situation where I had to vote in one of those polls, I would vote for Man o' War, but not with some great convection," said Bowen. "And depending on who I'm having lunch with, I might go Citation second, and other days I might go Secretariat second."
Another photo of Man o' War. Look at that pose, he's a very handsome horse!
Here is a photo I found of Citation. He looks like a mean horse, I wouldn't want to go up against him!
A book about Citation that I might have to check out called "Citation: In a Class by Himself."
Triple Crown winner Seattle Slew.
Every horse you mentioned was great for their time. They all have one thing in common as well. They were all beat by a contemporary.
mark
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
War Admiral.
Look at this great shot of War Admiral and Seabiscuit battle it out, with the fans watching.
Gallant Fox.
'Luck' on HBO was a great horse racing series.
I was there at Belmont Park the day he did it.
There's no use trying to stop me Steve, I'm on a race horse binge. I'm out of the gate, and the race is on!
A couple of nice shots of Triple Crown winner Affirmed.
Oh my goodness, apparently Affirmed had a bitter rivalry with a horse named Alydar and a book was written about it.
A photo of Alydar, Affirmed's bitter rival, and notice Alydar is in the slop!
Another Triple Crown winner, Count Fleet.
I was also at Belmont Park that day when he did it.
Heckuva horse race. I bet $200 to win on Alydar and it may have been the only time ever i lost a horse race and didn't mind, the race was that good.
I would have love to have been there, I love a good bitter rivalry, and those two hated eachothers guts!
Some great shots of Triple Crown winner, Omaha.
I only wish i would have thought to keep the tote tickets. Or just buy say $20 worth of $2 tickets on both horses, and not cash it in. I'm not sure what a Belmont Stakes uncashed Affirmed win ticket is worth, but similar tickets for Secretariat in 1973 are worth a small fortune PSA graded.
I'm trying to figure out who is 2nd greatest. Belmont 1973 made the top spot basically indisputable.
I must confess, I have been on eBay today looking at Secretariat cards. This is a very tasty sport, and my card collecting ship is heading towards horse racing waters!
The first Triple Crown winner, Sir Barton.
Some might say John Henry. He had 83 races, winning almost half of them.
John Henry's final race record stood at 83 starts, 39 wins, 15 seconds, and 9 thirds with $6,591,860 in earnings. He was twice voted the Eclipse Award for Horse of the Year in 1981 and 1984; 1981 being the first unanimous election of the winner.
Great shots of Eddie Arcaro on Triple Crown winner Whirlaway.
Duh.....Seabiscuit. Everybody knows that!
Some great shots of Triple Crown winner, Assault.
A few movie's were made about The Bisc, this one was the first I think.
The two horses that get talked about the most as being the greatest of all time are Secretariat and Man o War.
Secretariat has 3 triple crown track records that have never been broken. His time at the Belmont has never been touched
nor will it ever be in the future, unless God himself decides to birth a better horse.
Secretariat had a heart twice the size of a normal horse. He also was a cocky horse. He knew he was good.
The only reason Secretariat ever lost a race is because once he had an abscess. The other times his jockey didn't know how to ride him. His jockey always held him back. When his jockey finally let Secretariat run the race on his own at the Belmont because it was such a slim field of horses, Secretariat jumped out front, and dared the other horses to catch him.
Secretariat lost races, but no horse ever beat him. He lost because he was poorly managed, or he was ill.
In other words, based on track records in horse history, if you had a match race (horse vs horse) with any of
the great horses mentioned, Secretariat beats them all, and never loses. He was a cocky horse. He was a gifted horse. If he saw a one on one challenge, he would bolt to the front and never get caught. He never lost a one on one challenge in training. He was just to physical of a specimen.
There is a picture of his heart on the internet somewhere. It shows the size of his heart compared to a normal horses heart.
Secretariat holds the track record of the three majors in the triple crown. There really is no debate. Secretariat was the greatest horse ever.
In my opinion the best magazine cover for Secretariat.
I'm sure other horses had excuses as well when they lost.
I'm also assuming this is a US based question as if you asked outside the US the overwhelming answer would be Frankel. No one mentioned Cigar yet either.
For me I would never bet against Big Red all things being equal
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Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
Those PSA graded horse racing tote tickets are very cool collectibles.
There were a number of historical flaws in the Hollywood movie. No sense getting into that. But the scene in the movie where the owner of Sham sees Secretariat run a 109.4 for six furlongs and continues to draw away in a mile and a half race, he said "that's impossible" and i don't disagree with him on that. It should have been impossible, but Secretariat did it.
One of the best race calls ever by Chic Anderson.
Yes, and Frankel is a subject of some debate. If you haven't seen him in action, here is a little taste. There was actually a book written about how Frankel is the greatest racehorse of all time. Personally, I think Secretariat would beat Frankel. Anyway, here is a little taste of Frankel in action.
Here is the book about Frankel being the GOAT.
If you put a healthy Secretariat against any other healthy horse in history in a match race, and both jockeys start them fast out of the gate, then just go watch the Belmont again, because that’s what Secretariat does to every horse ever made. He was Gods horse. He was made to perfection. Sham was an excellent horse, and Sham couldn’t keep up with the tremendous machine. Neither would anyone else.
This is one of my favorites, American Pharaoh wins the Triple Crown, to break the 37 year drought. Larry Collmus was brilliant calling this race, I love how he gets into it at the end. One of the best moments in sports history.
He’s moving like a great machine. 31 length victory. This horse was the greatest of all time and I witnessed history.
Can you guess how many uncashed $2.00 tickets are out there? The track made a fortune on 1-10 horse because of uncashed winners
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
Sham broke a track record finishing 2nd behind Secretariat.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.
If you need a horse to steal home Mr. Ed is your Huckleberry
Fellas, leave the tight pants to the ladies. If I can count the coins in your pockets you better use them to call a tailor. Stay thirsty my friends......
It was "tremendous machine" not great machine.
Please stop incorrectly quoting Chic Anderson or i'll be forced to report you to the Chic Anderson Historical Society.
Sham finished dead last in that race.
All these historical inaccuracies are really starting to hiss me off.
And if anyone insults Penny Tweedy, that would be the final straw.
😉
Not the Belmont
Secretariat’s final time of 1:59 2/5 shattered the Kentucky Derby record and remains an unchallenged standard. Sham, in turn, clocked the distance in about 1:59 4/5, still the second-fastest Derby on record.
"I spent 50% of my money on alcohol, women, and gambling. The other half I wasted.