Secretariat (1973)
Coming To A Theater In October
Three States, Three Races, Five Weeks . . . Immortality
May 24, 2010
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By: O. J. Cunningham
Secretariat won the Belmont Stakes in 1973 by 31+ lengths and set a track record that still stands today.
In case you hadn't noticed, we're right in the middle of the Triple Crown of Horse Racing.
Three races . . . In Three states (Kentucky, Maryland & New York) . . . In just five weeks beginning on the first Saturday in May.
Most sports fans ONLY get geared up for horse racing during the five weeks when horse racing really matters on the planets . . . And then, their only interested as long as there's any chance for a Triple Crown winner.
And it doesn't happen very often.
Complete List of Triple Crown Winners
In 1973 when a horse named Secretariat won the Kentucky Derby, the Preakness and the Belmont -- He won in a fashion that immortalized the 3-year-old stallion in the minds of any/every horse racing fan for all time. Oh sure, Seattle Slew ('77) and Affirmed ('78) did it a few years later. But nobody did it like Secretariat. "Big Red" set track records at Churchill Downs, Baltimore's Preakness and New York's Belmont while winning each race. And those records still stand today -- 38 years later.
In the 1960s (while at college) and later during an Air Force stint at Omaha, Nebraska, I cut a few classes or took long lunch hours and had the opportunity to spend time (perhaps too much time and money) at places like Arlington Park in Chicago and AKSARBEN in Omaha. (Yes, that's Nebraska spelled backwards.
On a spontaneous whim, I once drove all night to attend the 100th Kentucky Derby and then later had the opportunity to visit Belmont Raceway in New York. These racetracks are beloved by their individual states and are revered, much like religious basilica, by the hundreds of thousands of fans that flock through their turnstiles in the early months of every summer.
There's a movie in the works about the 1973 winner of horse racing's triple crown. Secretariat "The Movie) stars Diane Lane and John Malkovich and some wonderful footage of Secretariat's dominant year on the racing scene.
There's a line in the movie that I've heard quoted before . . ."You're about to see something that you ain't never seen before! . . . One of the greatest athletes and most dominating athletic performances ever ('73 Belmont) . . . Secretariat.
Read More About the Movie Release date is 10/8/2010.
Thanks to the magic of YouTube and other video libraries, with just one click, we can relive the thrill of 1973 -- 38 years ago. Honestly, even today . . . watching Secretariat run brings tears to my eyes and "goosebumps" on my arms.
Take a minute or two to just sit back and enjoy some of this wonderful old racing footage and then watch the 2010 Secretariat Movie Trailer.
5:04 Minutes: Secretariats' Belmont 1973 Win
O. J. Cunningham
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O. J. Cunningham is the Publisher of MyBayCity.com. Cunningham previously published Sports Page & Bay City Enterprise. He is the President/CEO of OJ Advertising, Inc.
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