I live near Louisville and they had spoken about that very thing in the news Friday night. Contrary to most, they determined that there were several of the triple crown winners that could have beaten secretariat considering different course conditions, etc. it was interesting but I still think no one could beat big red. I’ve read that secretariat’s heart weight was 22 lbs with the average being 8 lbs it so
On this date in 1862 the outnumbered Mexican army scored an upset win over the French army in their war. Cinco de Mayo literary means the 5th of May in Spanish. It is a day Americans celebrate by pigging out on Tex Mex food and drinking lots of Dos Equis and margartas.
the derby is pretty big stuff around Louisville. They replayed a Thunder over Louisville air show/fireworks/music show Saturday as well... supposedly the biggest fireworks show in America, etc, etc....
Secretariat's heart was not weighed during his autopsy, but the vet who autopsied him later autopsied Sham. He weighed that heart at 14 pounds (I think), and based on that, estimated Secretariat's heart at 22. Both horses carried a gene abnormality breeders call the x-factor. It started in the early 20th century with the great thoroughbred Eclipse (as in The Eclipse Awards, horse racing's post-season honors). The abnormality is that of an enlarged, but perfectly normal functioning heart. Breeders determined that the x-factor is passed along by female descendents of Eclipse only. Males receive it, but don't pass it to their offspring. Partially explains why Secretariat only had two decent racing offspring, Risen Star and General Assembly.
From what I've heard about Secretariat's acumen in the boudoir he could have used a good supply of viagra.
Secretariat’s Heart Size: Inside the Tremendous Machine https://www.horseracingnation.com/news/The_Tremendous_Size_of_Secretariat_s_Heart_123 In Pure Heart, originally published in the June 4, 1990 issue of Sports Illustrated, Bill Nack reports the words of Dr. Thomas Swerczek, who performed the necropsy that discovered just how big Secretariat’s heart was. “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.”
On May 6, 1937, the airship Hindenburg, the largest dirigible ever built and the pride of Nazi Germany, bursts into flames upon touching its mooring mast in Lakehurst, New Jersey, killing 36 passengers and crew members. The loss of the Hindenburg led to a sharp decline in lighter-than-air passenger travel, and no rigid airships survived World War II. On May 6, 1942, U.S. Lieutenant General Jonathan Wainwright surrenders all U.S. troops in the Philippines to the Japanese. Wainwright and more than 11,000 surviving Allied troops were stockaded near Manila until the US liberated the island nation. Wainwright was present on the USS Missouri when the Japanese signed their formal surrender agreement on September 2, 1945. (highlighted figure below) On May 6, 1954, in Oxford, England, 25-year-old medical student Roger Bannister cracks track and field’s most notorious barrier: the four-minute mile. Running for the Amateur Athletic Association against his alma mater, Oxford University, Bannister won the mile race with a time of 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds. Bannister's record lasted just 2 months, and the mile would eventually be replaced by the 1,600 meters in international competition. Although its routinely broken today, the "sub four" remains one of track and field standards of excellence. On May 6, 1994, a rail tunnel under the English Channel was officially opened, connecting Britain and the European mainland for the first time since the Ice Age. The Channel Tunnel, or “Chunnel,” is the world's longest undersea tunnel, running 23 miles underwater (31 miles total), with an average depth of 150 feet below the seabed. Each day, about 30,000 people, 6,000 cars and 3,500 trucks journey through the Chunnel on passenger, shuttle and freight trains.
