Secretariat: The Greatest Horse Racing Has Ever Seen
Every generation of racing fans picks its own greatest of all time. Every generation, the conversation ends the same way: at Secretariat. Fifty-three years on, his 1973 Triple Crown sweep remains the benchmark nobody has matched, and his Belmont Stakes performance is still the single most dominant display of speed thoroughbred racing has ever produced.
At MyWinners we spend most of our time on this week's cards and next week's odds. But understanding where the sport's benchmarks come from makes every bet you place today a little sharper. Here's the full story of the horse they called Big Red.
Born to Run: Breeding, Birth and a Coin Toss
Secretariat was foaled at 12:10am on March 30, 1970, at Meadow Stud in Caroline County, Virginia, the breeding operation run by Christopher Chenery and later managed by his daughter, Penny Chenery. His sire was Bold Ruler, one of the era's dominant stallions for pure speed. His dam was Somethingroyal, a mare who brought the stamina of the Princequillo bloodline into the cross.
Secretariat's very existence came down to a coin flip. In 1969, breeder Christopher Chenery and Bold Ruler's owner Ogden Phipps had an arrangement: Phipps would stand Bold Ruler to Chenery's mares in exchange for first pick of the resulting foals. When it came time to divide the crop, Phipps won the toss and took Somethingroyal's yearling filly. Chenery kept the rest, including the unborn foal that would become Secretariat.
Even as a young horse, Secretariat did not immediately look like history in the making. His groom, Eddie Sweat, later admitted he thought the colt was clumsy and a little wild. Trainer Lucien Laurin was the one who saw it differently, and by age two, Secretariat had found the stride that would define him.
A Dominant Two-Year-Old Season
Secretariat's racing career began in July 1972 with a loss at Aqueduct, the only maiden race he ever ran and one of only five races he lost in 21 career starts. From there, he won seven of his remaining eight starts as a two-year-old, including the Sanford Stakes, Hopeful Stakes, Futurity Stakes, Laurel Futurity and Garden State Futurity. The form was strong enough that Secretariat became the first two-year-old ever named Horse of the Year, a rare honor that told the racing world something unusual was coming.
The 1973 Triple Crown: Three Races, Three Records
Calling Secretariat simply a Triple Crown winner undersells what he did. He did not just win the Kentucky Derby, Preakness Stakes and Belmont Stakes in 1973, becoming the first horse to sweep the series since Citation in 1948. He ran a record time in every single leg.
At the Kentucky Derby, Secretariat ran each quarter mile faster than the one before it, a virtually unheard-of pacing pattern, and stopped the clock at 1:59 2/5 for the 1 1/4 miles, still the fastest Derby ever run. At the Preakness, he timed 1:53 for the 1 3/16 miles, a mark that stood unofficial for nearly four decades before Maryland Jockey Club timers finally certified it as the track record in 2012.
Then came the Belmont Stakes on June 9, 1973. Secretariat had already beaten his chief rival, Sham, by two and a half lengths in both the Derby and the Preakness. In the Belmont, there was no rival left to beat. Jockey Ron Turcotte let him roll, running the fastest three-quarter-mile split in Belmont history in just under 70 seconds, and the margin at the wire grew so wide that television commentator Chic Anderson could only guess at the distance in real time. The final, official margin was 31 lengths, a record that still stands as the largest winning margin in Triple Crown history, in a time of 2:24 for the mile and a half, a dirt track record at Belmont Park that also still stands.
| Race | Distance | Winning Time | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky Derby | 1 1/4 miles | 1:59 2/5 (track record) | 2 1/2 lengths |
| Preakness Stakes | 1 3/16 miles | 1:53 (track record, confirmed 2012) | 2 1/2 lengths |
| Belmont Stakes | 1 1/2 miles | 2:24 (dirt track record) | 31 lengths (record) |
The Secret Behind the Speed
Secretariat's dominance was so far beyond his competition that people spent years trying to explain it. The answer finally came after his death. An autopsy in 1989 found that his heart weighed approximately 22 pounds, close to double the size of an average thoroughbred's heart. Combined with a 24-foot stride and a 75-inch girth, it gave Secretariat a cardiovascular and mechanical advantage that, more than fifty years later, still hasn't been matched on a racetrack.
Life After Racing and a Lasting Bloodline
Secretariat retired in 1973 with a career record of 16 wins from 21 starts and earnings of $1,316,808, and was syndicated for breeding at a then-record valuation. He stood at Claiborne Farm in Kentucky, siring more than 660 foals, including 1987 Horse of the Year Lady's Secret and 1988 Preakness and Belmont winner Risen Star. His influence on the breed is so deep that by the 2025 Kentucky Derby, every horse in the field traced back to him.
Secretariat was euthanized on October 4, 1989, at age 19 after contracting laminitis. He remains one of only a small number of horses buried whole at Claiborne's cemetery, an honor typically reserved for the breed's most significant sires.
Secretariat vs Every Other Triple Crown Winner
Thirteen horses have won the Triple Crown since Sir Barton first did it in 1919, and every one of them had to get through the same 1 1/2-mile "Test of the Champion" to do it. That makes the Belmont Stakes the fairest place to measure them against each other. Lined up by winning time, Secretariat isn't just at the top of the list, he's in a different race entirely.
| Horse (Year) | Belmont Time | Belmont Margin | Career Record | Notable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Secretariat (1973) | 2:24.0 | 31 lengths (record) | 21: 16-3-1 | Fastest Belmont and largest margin ever; also holds Derby and Preakness track records |
| American Pharoah (2015) | 2:26.65 | 5 1/2 lengths | 11: 9-1-0 | 2nd-fastest Belmont ever; only horse to add a Breeders' Cup Classic for the "Grand Slam" |
| Affirmed (1978) | 2:26.8 | Head | 29: 22-5-1 | Closest Triple Crown-clinching Belmont ever, beating rival Alydar in all 3 legs |
| Seattle Slew (1977) | 2:29.6 | 4 lengths | 17: 14-2-0 | First horse to win the Triple Crown undefeated |
| Justify (2018) | 2:28.18 | 1 3/4 lengths | 6: 6-0-0 | Undefeated in 6 starts; shortest career of any Triple Crown winner; broke the "Apollo Curse" |
| Count Fleet (1943) | 2:28.2 | 25 lengths | 21: 16-4-1 | Belmont record margin until Secretariat; never raced again after a leg injury in the race |
| Citation (1948) | 2:28.2 | 8 lengths | 45: 32-10-2 | First horse in history to earn $1 million |
| War Admiral (1937) | 2:28.6 | 3 lengths | 26: 21-3-1 | Won gashed and bleeding after a bad break; later beaten by Seabiscuit in the 1938 Match of the Century |
| Assault (1946) | 2:30.8 | 3 lengths | 42: 18-6-7 | Only Texas-bred Triple Crown winner; raced on a permanently deformed hoof, the "Club-Footed Comet" |
| Omaha (1935) | 2:30.6 | 1 1/2 lengths | 22: 9-7-2 | Only Triple Crown winner sired by another Triple Crown winner (Gallant Fox) |
| Whirlaway (1941) | 2:31.0 | 2 1/2 lengths | 60: 32-15-9 | Only horse to win the Triple Crown and the Travers in the same year; most career starts of any winner |
| Gallant Fox (1930) | 2:31.6 | 3 lengths | 17: 11-3-2 | Win coined the term "Triple Crown"; sired fellow winner Omaha |
| Sir Barton (1919) | 2:17.4* | 5 lengths | 31: 13-6-5 | First-ever Triple Crown winner, honored retroactively in 1950 |
*Sir Barton's 1919 Belmont was run at 1 3/8 miles, not today's 1 1/2 miles, so his time is not directly comparable to the other 12.
Betting on Horse Racing History at MyWinners
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