Bill Nack tells the story of how former NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle watched the Belmont from the track's turf club. As Secretariat made the turn for home, Rozelle started jumping up and down, and then felt someone grab him by the ankle. His first thought was, someone got so excited, they had a heart attack and fell down. Then he looked around and realized someone grabbed him because he was jumping up and down on top of his table.
Nah, that's Bob Baffert, his trainer. I've seen every Triple Crown winner since Secretariat. I would still rank him #1.
Secretariat still holds the record in all 3 triple crown races, after 45 years, and I believe his Belmont time is the record for a mile and a half, anywhere. Today, by the way, is the 45th anniversary of his Belmont win.
Many vets believe Secretariat's success was due to what some call the "x-factor", an enlargement of the heart that originated with the famed Eclipse, and has been genetically passed down by any of his female descendents. Eclipse's heart functioned normally, but was roughly twice the size of a normal thoroughbred's. In the case of Secretariat, his heart was about 2.5 times normal size. His top rival that year, Sham, was also an Eclipse descendent, and many racing historians believe Sham could have been a triple crown winner in almost any other year. His Derby time was the third best in history.
Yeah I remember reading about the oversized heart as well. 'Marianna had learned that Secretariat had an unusually large heart – estimated at 22 pounds, while the average Thoroughbred heart is 8.5 pounds.'
Oh, this was about the horses. But if you want to see a serious run down the stretch, check this out.....and watch all the way to the last leg, the last 100 yards. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=1932946753404187