<p>Yes or no- does CC win Belmont?</p>
<p>Yes. Triple Crown baby!</p>
<p>Yes. :)</p>
<p>Don’t know but am sure this horse will never surpass the legend, Secretariat, the greatest racing horse ever.</p>
<p>I was at the Belmont Stakes in 1978 to see Affirmed win the triple crown. No one thought, at the time, we would go so long without a winner. Geez, I’m old…and it really doesn’t seem like that long ago…</p>
<p>Wonderful Sports Illustrated article remembering the greatest Triple Crown winner in the history of horse racing.</p>
<p><a href=“http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/belmont/index.html?eref=sihp”>http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/longform/belmont/index.html?eref=sihp</a></p>
<p>GP, that was a wonderful article - thanks so much for sharing. I remember being glued to the tv, along with everyone else, for each leg of the Triple Crown that year. What a horse. </p>
<p>I don’t know if it’s true, but I heard that Secretariat originally was a disappointment as a stud. He was the product of a distance horse and a sprinter and he was actually both. But no one knew quite what type of horse to breed him with. It took the racing industry a while to realize that he was in fact siring amazing horses, but he tended to pass on his genes to fillies rather than to colts. So he has not sired an amazing number of good stallions, but he has sired an amazing number of outstanding fillies, who then became the maternal line for some of the best stallions. </p>
<p>Go baby, go! We need another Triple Crown winner!</p>
<p>Thanks for sharing that article. I don’t think there will ever be another time period as golden for horse racing as the 1970s - Secretariat, Seattle Slew, Affirmed & Alydar. So many wonderful performances. I still get chills when I see Secretariat’s Belmont replayed. Maybe I’m biased because I was a student at the University of Kentucky during that time and spent many afternoons at Keeneland during my college career, the most beautiful track in the country:) I still cherish the day I saw Alydar win the Bluegrass, the only time his elderly owner ever saw him race.</p>
<p>I don’t know why I can’t get on board for California Chrome, but I can’t. I know it’s a great story, but I am just not drinking this particular flavor of Kool-aid.</p>
<p><a href=“HorseRaceGame.com - Play Free Virtual Horse Race Game Online”>http://www.horseracegame.com/community/content/blogs/stretchrun/02-02-2010/secretariat-didnt-reproduce-himself-sired-many-champions-and-was</a></p>
<p>There were two quotes from the article that were particularly moving.</p>
<p>When Secretariat’s handler was asked how he felt before putting him to sleep.</p>
<p>“How do you think I feel?” he said. “Ten thousand people come to this farm every year, and all they want to see is Secretariat. They don’t give a hoot about the other studs. You want to know who Secretariat is in human terms? Just imagine the greatest athlete in the world. The greatest. Now make him six-foot-three, the perfect height. Make him real intelligent and kind. And on top of that, make him the best-lookin’ guy ever to come down the pike. He was all those things as a horse. He isn’t even a horse anymore. He’s a legend. So how do you think I feel?”</p>
<p>The veterinarian who did the autopsy.</p>
<p>“We were all shocked,” Swerczek said. “I’ve seen and done thousands of autopsies on horses, and nothing I’d ever seen compared to it. The heart of the average horse weighs about nine pounds. This was almost twice the average size, and a third larger than any equine heart I’d ever seen. And it wasn’t pathologically enlarged. All the chambers and the valves were normal. It was just larger. I think it told us why he was able to do what he did.”</p>
<p>Some of the comments to the article were also moving.</p>
<p>“I know better than to say there will NEVER be another Secretariat. But, the chances are slim as he was such an awesome, certainly once in a lifetime, horse. Perhaps some future generation will get another such horse. But even if they do, it will only serve to further solidify the legacy of Secretariat. Watching an animal like that run is such a joy. I feel privileged to have been able to watch him in’ 72 and '73.”</p>
<p>“When I was 14 Secretariat meant everything to me. When he died, I too cried … deeply, as though something from my childhood was lost. In 33 years as a sports journalist he remains my only sporting hero. A giant poster of Big Red hangs over my desk at the college I now teach at. I’ve read Bill Nack’s story dozens of times and each time I tear up again. And each year I show all of his races to our grad students to help them understand. Thank you Red. Thanks Bill, again.”</p>
<p>I am not old enough but I imagine those people who lived during the time Man o’ War reigned probably experienced the same feelings. </p>
<p>Another great article by William Nack about this year’s Triple Crown. Hoping California Crown can pull it off.</p>
<p><a href=“William Nack: My years chasing the Triple Crown - ESPN”>http://espn.go.com/horse-racing/triplecrown2014/story/_/id/11032695/my-years-chasing-triple-crown</a></p>
<p>Everyone admires Man 'O War and most loved him from afar, but he didn’t have the “personal” fans that Secretariat did. In Nack’s article he describes Secretariat as playful and gentlemanly. His trainer in the post above referred to him as “intelligent and kind”. </p>
<p>On the other hand, Man O’ War was the meanest, nastiest horse that ever lived. His mission in life was to bite a chunk out of any stable hand or trainer he could reach. When a racehorse is especially mean, they say that’s the Man O’ War gene coming out. </p>
<p>“On the other hand, Man O’ War was the meanest, nastiest horse that ever lived.”</p>
<p>That might have contributed to his aura.</p>
<p>I’ve never quite forgiven myself. I was at the Kentucky Derby the spring of my freshman year in college. But had a headache from too many Mint Juleps and I was mad at my boyfriend for some stupid reason. I missed seeing Secretariat win because I was sitting on our blanket in the infield and pouting. </p>
<p>“I missed seeing Secretariat win because I was sitting on our blanket in the infield and pouting.”</p>
<p>Yikes!!! </p>
<p>I believe Man O’ War’s grave was moved to the Kentucky Horse Park when it opened, but I visited it’s original location several times prior to that when I would have friends visiting me in Lexington. The “meanest, nastiest” reputation was widely known. However, both Man O’War and Secretariat were accorded the ultimate honor of being buried whole, a very unusual practice for thoroughbreds. I’ve visited a number of horse farms in the Lexington area, but never had the opportunity to go to Claiborne. I wish I could have seen Secretariat. </p>
<p>Bred. Absolutely, Man O’ War was a tremendous horse. I was just commenting on his fan base, not taking away from his greatness. In addition to Seabiscuit (who could not love him after reading that terrific book!) my favorites are Secretariat and the great Citation. But even though I love Citation, I would be the first to say he wasn’t in the top three. The three greatest horses ever, in my opinion as a pure fan, were Secretariat, Man O’ War, and the the first true thoroughbred, whose name I can’t remember. Every modern racehorse is descended from him. Something like the Hambletonian? One of you will know. He was the first racehorse whose back end was higher than the front end, which distinguishes the modern Thoroughbred. </p>
<p>But I’m turning off the computer now, reaching for my whiskey sour, and preparing to watch what I hope will be a great race! I wish all the jockeys a safe ride!</p>
<p>The name of Steve Coburn’s next horse should be Sour Grapes.</p>
<p>Jeesh.</p>