No. 1 Derby Run Was Secretariat's
In Voting for the Ten Best Kentucky Derbies, Big Red Is First
There was never more speed displayed in the Kentucky Derby than put on by Secretariat in 1973. His Derby ranks No. 1 among the Best Ten Derbies ever run.
Perhaps it's all been said : Secretariat's amazing Triple Crown in 1973 remains unparalleled for speed in the Kentucky Derby and in the Preakness Stakes (unofficially), and for margin of victory in the Belmont Stakes. Perhaps great things about Big Red can never all be said. His legend grows.
He was the "tremendous (running) machine" of the Belmont Stakes, bearer of the colorful chestnut coat that turned ever darker as his efforts increased, the famous lazy no-show of the 1973 Wood Memorial, his trainer's dream, his jockey's auto horse, his owner's "sexy" stallion, the two-year-old male champion and Horse of the Year, the first Triple Crown champion since Citation in 1948 and the first of three in the 1970s.
And he is The Blood-Horse's experts' pick as having run the Best of the Ten Best Kentucky Derbies.
Secretariat's fractions were recorded at :25-1/5, :24 flat, :23-4/5, :23-2/5, and :23 flat for the five fraction, 1-1/4 miles of the Kentucky Derby. Each fraction was faster. Unheard of.
Every horseman dreams of having a Kentucky Derby champion. The Derby is the most famous thoroughbred race in the nation, and in the world. Out of country trainers enter their hopefuls in it (Canoner II), unknowns become known in it (John Servis and Stewart Elliott with Smarty Jones), fillies occasionally test the metal of colts in it and win (Regret, Winning Colors, Genuine Risk).
On Derby day in 1973, everyone else could have stayed home. It was Secretariat Day.
Big Red had run a futile Wood Memorial a few weeks earlier, puzzling his connections mightily. The perfectly conformed three-year-old stocking-footed chestnut had completed an historic juvenile season in 1972, and was voted HOY even over his more touted stablemate, Riva Ridge, who had swept two of the three Triple Crown classics.
Secretariat's connections' expectations for 1973 were absolutely huge; nothing less than undefeated and the Triple Crown championship should their big red fella achieve, they said.
Then came the unspeakable Wood Memorial, Big Red losing lethargically to his stablemate, Angle Light. When the clouds of the day disappeared, and the dawn of Derby day broke, anticipation had returned. All were watching Secretariat. Would he rebound, or keep bouncing?
Secretariat literally jumped into the business of the day. All professional, he left no doubt. Setting a new track record of 1:59-2/5 for the 1-1/4 mile romp, he left his rival Sham in the dust. Our Native claimed a distant third.
Big Red's Derby fractions are his Derby story.
