Secretariat - Belmont Stakes 1973

Greatest horse ever. Past, present and future

Almost 50 yrs later and Secretariat still holds the records for all three races.

"He is moving like a tremendous machine" Gets me every time

I'm 66 years old . Greatest thing I ever watched. And I watched it live.

What made Secretariat, undoubtedly, the greatest racehorse of all time was the fact that he was constructed in a way that no horse ever has been or likely ever will be again. He was just physically capable of doing things on a racetrack that no other horse ever could before him, or has ever been able to duplicate since, or will be able to in the future. In order to understand this, you need to understand what happened on Belmont day in June 1973. Secretariat essentially sprinted an entire mile and a half race. That is not physically possible for any other horse to do. He ran the first 6 furlongs of that race in 1:09.4, which would be a track record for that distance at many tracks in North America. He then proceeded to run the last six furlongs in 1:14.1, which is only a drop off of 4.2 seconds over the last 6 furlongs. No other horse could possibly do that. It just isn't physically possible to maintain that speed over 12 furlongs on a dirt course. From the time Secretariat put his head in front of Sham at the top of the backstretch, he never lost an inch to another horse in the race, and in fact was gaining ground with every single step he took. That is mind boggling to think about. He sprinted the first six furlongs, and the other horses were presumably conserving energy running much slower. Presumably by the the time they hit the turn to come into the home stretch the other horses should have started making up ground on Secretariat as he started to slow down. That never happened. He only increased his lead with every stride. He continued to sprint, and at a faster pace than the trailing horses that were starting to run faster themselves and had conserved energy during the first half of the race. Logically none of this is possible, but that is exactly what happened. To top it off, Secretariat ran an extra furlong after the race was over, which means he actually ran 1 5/8 miles that day. That extra furlong was timed, and he actually set a world record for a 1 5/8 race.  There's been a lot of great horses, but no other horse can compare to Secretariat, because no other horse ever has been or ever will be built in such a way as to be able to do the things he did.

Arguably one of the greatest calls in the history of sports - "He is moving like a tremendous machine"

I’ve watched this many times and I still tear up when Secretariat crosses the finish line. An unbelievable amazing horse that ever lived ❤️🙏🏽🐎

I don’t know why this race brings tears to my eyes! Secretariat was truly legendary

no matter how times I watch this it never gets old

I’m 72 and I was 22 when I saw this race, live. Being born and raised in Oklahoma I was in the middle of sports and competition all my life, and 50 years later, I can say without hesitation, Secretariats performance in the Belmont was the greatest sporting event and achievement in history.

Brings tears to my eyes also. That has got to be the single best performance in sports history.

Here it is 2023, and I'm cheering him on like it's live. ❤

Hes the GOAT, even 50 years later. Still brings chills and tears to watch him race these 3 races. ❤️🐎

I am so happy to finally see a version of this historic race in its true colors and not washed out.

Greatest athlete I have ever seen. Human or animal. The fact that this was 50 years ago and no horse has beaten his records is amazing.

I watched it with my Dad...I was thirteen years old....I will never, ever forget Secretariat and this unbelievable moment

Incredible. Perhaps the greatest performance in the history of sports.

What I found that was so cute is after he finished racing he just trotted off like "Hey, I had a good run today" like leaving all the other horse in the dust by 31 lengths was all in a day training. Such a talented and beautiful horse. Hands down one of the most amazing souls to grace the planet. He is truly missed.

What a call by Chic Anderson..."a tremendous machine"...."...But Secretariat is all alone!" It's still breathtaking to watch Big Red race 48 years later. They'll never be another horse like him.

I've seen this so many times, and every time I get chills. What an athletic performance. In a class by himself. All by himself.