The Race that Forever Sealed Secretariat's Legacy: The Story of the 1973 Belmont Stakes

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See AT&T.com slash Samsung for details. And we continue with our American stories. Up next, a sports performance story for the ages. In ESPN's Who's Number One list of greatest sports performances ever, this athlete's performance on a racetrack in Elmont, New York on June 9, 1973, placed a close second behind NBA star Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point performance in 1962.

He was the only athlete on that list with one name and the only one with four legs. Secretariat. Going into the 105th Belmont Stakes, there hadn't been a triple crown winner, horse racing's ultimate prize for three-year-olds since citation in 1948.

And for good reason. The three races test very different skills. The first, the Kentucky Derby, is a one and a quarter mile long race. The second, the Preakness, is shorter at one and three sixteenths with some especially tight turns. Belmont, the last of the three, is one and a half miles, a thoroughbred marathon, and with a far turn as wide as the Suez Canal and a home stretch that never seems to end. Only seven horses had won all three races in 100 plus years, making the feat as improbable as a baseball player winning the triple crown or a tennis player winning the grand slam. Six horses had won the first two legs of the triple crown since 1948.

Tim Tam in 1958, Carryback in 1961, Northern Dancer in 1964, and Kawhi King in 1966, Forward Pass in 1968, and Conanero in 1971. Their dreams all died in the dirt at Belmont. The odds were against Secretariat winning the longest and most difficult leg of the triple crown, but Secretariat was no ordinary horse. Sports writing legend Jerry Eisenberg, a man not prone to romanticizing either athletes or animals, said this about the horse known as Big Red. You can't anticipate greatness. You can't even define it. It's something that God sticks into someone every once in a while, and because it comes from God, the gift can't be ignored and it can't be defeated.

Great athletes use it, even if they aren't human. Secretariat's godlike attributes weren't always apparent to everyone. In his debut as a two-year-old in 1972, he had trouble at the starting gate and got pushed around the track. After finishing fourth in that race, Secretariat won his next two. The second was under a new jockey, Ron Turcotte, but it wasn't until the Sanford stakes in Saratoga, New York, that Secretariat would show his real potential.

Here's Turcotte to explain why. I was sitting behind two horses, and I started to make my move because there was an opening. When those two horses came in together, they just ricocheted off them like nothing had happened. He went on to win it by himself, and that's when he began to really impress me. What track pros had witnessed that day wasn't an ordinary win. Here's Saratoga track announcer Dave Johnson. When Secretariat made his move in that race, it was unlike any move I'd ever seen any two-year-old make. It was the kind of move that took your breath away. You could hear the collective gasp in the entire Saratoga grandstand.

It was like, whoa, did you see that? Secretariat would go on to dominate racing that year and become horse of the year, a rare feat for a two-year-old. Historic quality sparked interest from thoroughbred investors early in 1973, and shares in the horse, 32 in all, were sold for a record-breaking $6.8 million. After winning his first two starts that year, Secretariat ran a disappointing third in a Kentucky Derby prep race in Aqueduct. Many insiders were asking the same question.

It was the world's newest super stud, a super dud. Secretariat arrived at Kentucky Derby with a big number of detractors. Some were happy to spread rumors that the horse was lame. Despite the rumors, Secretariat was favored to win the biggest race of his young life. A Derby record 134,000 people jammed into Churchill Downs, and Secretariat didn't disappoint, winning the first leg of the Triple Crown with ease. He was the first horse to complete the Derby in less than two minutes, and to this day, still holds the record for the fastest Derby performance of all time. Secretariat arrived in Baltimore as a 3 to 10 favorite, and once again, the horse didn't disappoint, cruising to an easy win in the Preakness Stakes, the second leg of the Triple Crown. The stage was set for the showdown at Belmont Park, and a shot at racing history. The entire track, the entire world, was pulling for Secretariat.

Here again is Jerry Eisenberg. Before the race, you could see not only what Secretariat meant to veteran hard-boiled step-over-a-guy-with-a-heart-attack-so-I-don't-get-shut-out-of-the-window gambler, but also for people who were at that track who were not gambling, people who brought their kids to see this horse. He was the people's horse.

The record crowd packed Belmont's grandstands as the world rooted for Big Red to make history. He went off at one to nine odds. It didn't take long for Secretariat to establish himself coming out of the gates smoothly. Unlike other races, where he raced near the back of the pack until the time was right to make his move, Secretariat made his move midway through the race, breezing by the only competition in the field, Sham. Here's track announcer, Chuck Anderson, with a call. They're on the turn, and Secretariat is blazing along.

The first three-quarters of a mile in 109 and four-fifths. Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine. Secretariat by 12, Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn.

Sham is dropping back. It looks like they'll catch him today, as Mike Gallant and Clice of Prince are both coming up to him now. But Secretariat is all alone. Onlookers were worried that Secretariat made his move too early.

Here's racing writer Billy Reed. He just accelerated and took the field. I was like, good Lord, what's Turcotte thinking? But Penny Chenery, Secretariat's owner, knew better. He was too early in the race to be running like he was running, but it must have been what the horse wanted to do. By the far turn, it was clear Secretariat was going to be the winner.

It was just a matter of the margin of victory. Here's Ron Turcotte. Finally, as I turned for home, my curiosity got the best of me. I just had to turn around. And when I looked back, I scared myself.

I never saw anything like it in my life. It was like the horse I was on and the others were racing on two different racetracks. Here again, track announcer Chick Anderson with the call. The lead is increasing.

Make it three, three and a half. They're on the turn, and Secretariat is blazing along. The first three-quarters of a mile in 109 and four-fifths. Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine. Secretariat by 12. Secretariat by 14 lengths on the turn.

Just moments later, here again is Chick Anderson with the call at the stretch of the Belmont Stakes in 1973. But Secretariat is all alone. He's out there almost a sixteenth of a mile away from the rest of the horses.

They're in the stretch. Secretariat has opened a 22-length lead. He is going to be the triple crown winner. Here comes Secretariat to the wire. An unbelievable, an amazing performance. He hits the finish 25 lengths in front.

Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes by an astonishing 31 lengths. Jack Whitaker, one of CBS's most seasoned broadcasters, couldn't hold back his astonishment. Everybody was just speechless, and when it set in, people were just crying. I literally saw people crying. It was such an overwhelming sight to see.

It was a performance of a lifetime. Secretariat not only set a track record, but a North American record for the one-and-a-half-mile dirt race. In the fall of 1989, Secretariat came down with laminitis, a debilitating hoof condition.

When it failed to improve after a month of treatment, he was euthanized on October 4 at the age of 19. Secretariat was given the rare honor of being buried whole. Customarily, only the head, heart, and hooves of a winning racehorse are buried. Secretariat's autopsy revealed some things that many race fans already knew. His heart was huge, literally. At 22 pounds, he was two-and-a-half times larger than the horses running behind him. Penny Chenery stated, We can't even know what Secretariat thought, but Haywood Hale Brown may have best summed up what we all thought about Secretariat's performance that day in Belmont. Every now and then, some athlete is touched for a moment with a kind of high-level greatness that he might not ever achieve again, but at that moment, they are more than life allows. It was the same thing that Babe Ruth did for baseball and was something that everyone could think about and be amazed about, and that's what he did for racing.

The story of Secretariat's greatest race, here on Our American Stories. New games released each week. You can play for free anytime, anywhere, and each day brings a new chance to collect daily bonuses. So join me in the fun. Sign up now at ChumbaCasino.com.

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