Forgive me here for focusing on stuff with one horsepower but this is one of the more interesting things I have seen lately and I thought that the BangShift readership would get a kick out of it. The Wall Street Journal took race footage from Secretariat’s historic win at the Belmont Stakes and split screened it with the footage from American Pharaoh’s win last weekend at the same race, on the same course. It does two things. Firstly it shows how exciting a freaking horse race can be and it also shows that Secretariat was otherworldly.
I know that there are lots of people who detest horse racing and think it is a horrible spectacle. I respect the fact that people have a different take on things but I am not in their camp. These animals are the F1 cars of the natural world and when they are all clomping around the track at the same time it makes for a fun couple of minutes watching. I don’t think the intent here was to show that American Pharaoh was an unworthy Triple Crown winner because that would be stupid. The horse showed up and ran the table, breaking a decades long streak and cementing himself into racing history. What I think it was meant to do is to give some context to just how incredible a runner/athlete Secretariat was. Remember, when the Sports Illustrated “Top 50 Athletes of the 20th Century” list came out, Secretariat was damned close to the top of that list. If SI has no trouble calling a horse an athlete, I don’t think we should either.
Automotive competition tends to play out like these horse races. There’s some tight running but at the end of the day, the cream rises to the top and the vast majority of the time the winner is on the mount best prepared for the day. There are people who think that a runaway victory is boring and that neck and neck charges down the stretch make events like this. In the case of Secretariat’s domination, especially with this video beside and the split times shown, the distance he puts on the field makes it all the more exciting. Those people knew they were watching something incredible happen and it is reinforced when you see it laid against today’s best.
So hey, sorry about going off the rails for some horses, but I thought you’d dig this!
Wow!
Saw the Secretariat race live on TV, was impressed then, am impressed now
Several things jumped out at me from the split video. First ,of course Secretariat was incredible .
Second how close the pack was this year to American Pharaoh.
Third how close to the pack American Pharaoh would have been in 1973 it would have been a photo for place and show.
First thing BangShift people notice – “Well, the tractors different!”
Ha! Exactly right its the first thing I noticed!
That’s impressive
Secretariat would have won by 15 lengths.
http://www.wdrb.com/story/29258075/crawford-secretariat-no-but-american-pharoah-proved-worthy-of-triple-crown-club
Secretariat was given some bad food,intentionally,and that’s how Secretariat lost at Saratoga,after the Triple Crown wins.
The horse should have never been ran,but a horse belongs to the people after such a huge accomplishment.
Looking forward to seeing American Pharoah at Saratoga this summer!
There is very little chance that American Pharoah will race again, and if he does it will probably be the Breeders cup. The horse is worth way too much money to risk racing again, and will make more money at stud.
secretariat wasn’t being challenge by any one so it wasn’t being pushed and sec destroyed the field. I wished there was a bit of comp and see what sec would have done then
Thanks Brian, that brought back a lot of memories. And if you play that again, look at how hard the Jockey on American Pharoah is holding back. That is some serious riding to rein in that baby and then turn it on on the front straight. Epic……….