The horse racing gods have spoken and the Chairman of the Board (Secratariat) still rules. Off of the "juice" and facing a bit of trouble in a race for the first time Big Brown fell flat on his face. This is a good but not graet horse who happened to be born in a year where the rest are very weak. He beat up on nothing while juiced up on steroids. Just think what Secratariat on steroids would have done. He might have lapped some of his competition in the Belmont.

I meant to say 2:24 for Secretariat's Belmont! Sorry!

Secretariat ran the first mile and a quarter of the Belmont in 1:59, a time faster than his impossibly fast, record 1:59 and 2/5 of the Kentucky Derby mile and a quarter! Are you kidding me? 2:28? This will never happen again. Penny Chenery said, "Secretariat ran his own race." No other horse could survive  the early  blistering pace. It was probably the only horse race where horse's trainer and owner were just hoping that the jockey would not fall off!

In the Derby, Big Red ran "negative splits" where each quarter mile was faster than the previous quarter!

Secretariat, at his best, was the best ever, with a personality to boot! I sure to miss him!

Many thanks for this column, and also complete agreement.  Secretariat was a once in a lifetime horse, and was rightfully ranked as one of the great athletes of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated.  His feat at the Belmont is one of the great athletic feats of our time.  

It can't be fully appreciated without listening to the call of the race, with the legendary "...  moving like a tremendous machine!" line.  And so he was, and always will.  

Big Brown is no Secretariat, I agree wholly...I had not read that Big Brown won the first two races while on steroids.  I feel that steroids give animal or man an unfair advantage.  What happened to winning because you (or horse) were simply the best.

Zito usually has a ringer at the Belmont.  A horse that has won several races on the Bemont track and is used to the mile and half course.

I would like to see Big Brown win if it is a fair race.

ConservativeChick

The horse racing industry, and it is an industry, has systematically degraded what were once beautiful animals in a fantastic sport into inferior animals in a dead sport.  They'll stop racing Big Brown because these horses aren't genetically, pharmaceutically, or physically trained to race more than a half dozen races.  Hell, if they make it six races and aren't shot it's considered a good day.  Bunch of rich @ssholes and Rick Dutrow is the leader of the pack.  Even ownership of this horse is a disgrace.  Excerpt from Bloomberg article ...

" May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Michael Iavarone's Wednesday began so well. He rang the opening bell at the New York Stock Exchange, just like the Wall Street titan he claimed to be. The co-leader of the group owning 75 percent of Big Brown was the beaming face of horseracing.

By the NYSE closing bell, Iavarone's story and standing were in shambles. My colleague David Evans had disclosed Iavarone wasn't the former ``high-profile investment banker'' of his bio but a onetime stockbroker at four now-defunct ``bucket shops.'' In 1999, he was disciplined for unauthorized trading at one of them.

``Big Brown'' has taken on a whole new meaning. It describes the stable-sized dung piles littering Iavarone's past. He's also had judgments against him for a federal tax lien and for casino debt."

I hope this horse comes in last, three horses need euthanized, and Kent Desormeaux shows up drunk as a skunk.  Maybe then these jerks will get the picture - they've ruined what was once the Sport of Kings.

Amen, brother, amen! There will never be another Secretariat. You're not the only grown man who still weeps at the sight of Big Red charging down the stretch at Belmont at full speed when there were no other horses anywhere near him. It still stands as the most awe-inspiring performance in the history of sport. That's why he still holds a special place in our hearts today.