SECRETARIAT - 1973 Belmont Stakes - Part 3 (CBS)

[@lynngregory393]

I saw this when I Was 20, I am now 68 and I still cry every time I see it.

[@billyjohnson1977]

That horse will never be matched. And those records are weathering time quite well. I had the true pleasure of watching him run when he set those records. As the owner would say, "Let him RUN".

[@mikeking-lc3vl]

The greatest athlete in the history of history. And the HANDSOMEST by 31 lengths.

[@lbroderick783]

Secretariat, the greatest horse ever! Back in 1973 when I watched the race on TV there are no words that describe it! I do remember getting tears because you knew you had just witnessed something special and that you would never see again! Thanks for the memories Big Red!

[@jacka123100]

You are so correct TheVagolfer, that record of 2:24 will never be beaten. If someone says it will, then they just don't know much about horse racing. It was like Secretariat had wings from God, on that day. Nothing describes it better, than, "moving like a tremendous machine". So fitting for the best horse that ever set foot on a race track.

[@janetgallo5720]

I was here on this day, and I can’t even recall the excitement because my head was so far in the air being at the Belmont. And seeing secretariat was the most magnificent moment. He is such a gorgeous horse.

[@WhiteCamry]

I was 12 at the time, living in Merrick, NY, some 10 miles from Belmont. It was June but hot as August. Our house had no a/c. My father and I were watching the telecast on a portable tv. As soon as Big Red II stepped onto the track (at about the 3:54 on the clip) .... blackout! TV brat that I was, I cursed the video fates. My father, radio child that he was (and still is), got out his Sony barrel-shaped portable AM radio and we listened to Chic Anderson count 'em off.

[@TheVagolfer]

2:24 still stands ! And always will !

[@salicemccool9268]

"Five horses. Four of them and Secretariat." You said it!! I always felt sorry for Secretariat's stable pony, Billy Silver; he was besotted with Red, who barely acknowledged his existence! (Red absolutely adored his groom Eddie Sweat, much more than he did anyone else.)

[@kwgrid]

I wonder if the booers were Sham fans. Any other year, Sham would most likely have won the Triple Crown. I feel really sorry for Sham....not just because he was a great horse that had the misfortune to be in the TC with Secretariat, a one of a kind horse, but also because he always got such a beating from Pincay. I hate that!!

[@SeptemberChild65]

I would have loved to have seen the faces of the boo'ers after the race.

[@tikizia1981]

Big Red heard the booing and though,::"" im gonna show this guys """

[@MrFrank440]

Never underestimate BIG RED

[@SteveFromNYC]

I view this I guess as a New Yorker a bit differently. I think New Yorkers are distrustful of "shoe ins" and "guarantee bets" and so they were reacting to that. I am not excusing this as I was at age 15 and still am to this very moment a great fan of the Great Secretariat. With all this said, though, notice at the end of the race, NOBODY was doing anything other than cheering wildly so that by the end of the race, the Great Secretariat turned his cynics into his fans!

[@greenwolfegreen6028]

I always thought the booing was due to Secretariat's poor showing in the Wood Memorial. Some New Yorkers never forgive or forget. :-)

[@missi625]

is that Eddie Sweat riding beside Secretariat and Ron I know they said eddie loved Bid Red so much he used to sleep in the barn with him

[@mikemadunic7960]

No. Anytime you seen Secretariat in the company of another horse that would be Charlie Davis the exercise rider on Billy Silver.

[@VampireYoshi]

Are you sure it's Secretariat they're booing? Sham was his challenger, and only one horse ahead of him; it can be hard to determine who's doing the booing, and from what angle. Granted, it might be bad sportsmanship, but so many people craved to see a Triple Crown winner (kind of like right now, actually...) that they might have booed 1A because he stood as the greatest threat to Secretariat freeing everyone from the 25 year drought. Just a thought, anyway.

[@bbmtge]

The booing is interesting and unfortunate but not unexpected. Some people are deriders of anything great. All one has to do is visit other videos of some great horses and you will see the same irrational behavior toward Secretariat. However, at the end of the day, they who boo and deride deprive themselves of the joy that Secretariat so unselfishly bestowed upon the entire world.

[@allprog]

@cf1970 yeah the anouncer after sham came out was expecting the crowd to cheer. i was waiting for it .. never happened

[@revpgesq]

@bon1042 agree wholeheartedly. they were dead wrong. Goodness and purity and a straightforward and simple love of running and freedom, incarnate in a race horse, stuck it to all those cynics and self-servers that day. i was a happy and triumphant 10 year old who had his hope affirmed that day. No one could ever tell me otherwise about dreams and faith and hope...

[@bon1042]

Listen to the booing of the cynics, unbelievable, it's age of high exposure , Vietnam, and Watergate. Watergate breakin was almost exactly one year before, June 17, 1972. Alfred Vanderbilt was stunned, shocked at the amazing dismissal of Secretariat after the Wood Memorial. You wouldn't have had this in 1948, 25 yrs earlier. It warps the ability of these cretons to realize what we had, how pathetic. And of course, announcers like Jack Whitaker had no idea of the abscess when doing his intro.

[@panamamarine]

Geezus