When 'Big Red' wore Triple Crown

NEW YORK (AP) -- Nearly 30 years ago, a horse nicknamed "Big Red" captured the public's imagination and became a cultural icon.

Secretariat made history with an incredible performance in the 1973 Belmont Stakes that was so dominating, it's hard to imagine a human equivalent.

The colt became a household name and a welcome distraction for a country roiled by the Vietnam War. He was beloved by the skeptical denizens of the racing world and by children who wrote him fan letters.

Secretariat made the covers of Time and Newsweek in the same week. He joined the same talent agency as Elvis Presley and Sophia Loren. He was in demand for appearances on television and in Las Vegas.

He finished fourth in voting for The Associated Press male athlete of the year.

Horse racing had gone 25 years without a Triple Crown winner until Secretariat -- too long for most Americans to have remembered Citation sweeping the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont in 1948.

Then came Big Red, whose eye-catching victories in the Derby and Preakness built anticipation for the Belmont to a feverish pitch.

"People had begun to feel it was never going to happen," said Penny Chenery, who owned the horse. "The pressure to produce a Triple Crown winner was intense."

It still is.

Another chestnut, this one a New York-bred gelding owned by a group of high school buddies, will try to win the Belmont on June 7. If Funny Cide succeeds, he would become the 12th Triple Crown winner and first since Affirmed accomplished the feat 25 years ago.

"I really think Funny Cide is going to win the Triple Crown," said Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's jockey.

Following his Derby victory, Funny Cide ran away from the field in the Preakness and won by a near-record 93/4 lengths.

"The thrilling thing about Funny Cide is how he turned on the afterburners in the stretch, and it reminded me of a big red horse I used to know," Chenery said.

Secretariat became the first horse in the Derby to break 2 minutes with a time of 1:59 2-5. In the Preakness, he made perhaps his most sensational move when he went from last to first on the first turn.

"As easily as I won the Preakness, I wasn't all out," Turcotte recalled. "I hardly rode him."

For three interminable weeks until the Belmont, speculation was rampant about what Secretariat would do in the 11/2-mile race. There was talk of a record time and a big winning margin. There also was much apprehension because it had been so long since a horse had won the Triple Crown.

"Coming up to the Belmont, he was lighter on his feet and he was training even better," Turcotte said. "I thought he was just maturing and he was going to run a better race. The pressure wasn't that great on me."

The media swarmed Secretariat's barn at Belmont Park. Chenery, then known as Penny Tweedy, was a hit because of her enthusiasm and humor. Trainer Lucien Lauren alternated work and interviews, enjoying his greatest fame at 60.

Each of Secretariat's workouts became an event. Turcotte stopped to let cameras click, and the sound always pricked Secretariat's ears as though he knew he was the star of the show.

Through it all, Secretariat kept his cool. He trained brilliantly up to the Belmont, making Lauren and Turcotte unusually confident. Lauren predicted Secretariat would win by 10 lengths.

With an estimated 30 million watching on TV and 67,605 at the track, Secretariat entered the paddock on the muggy afternoon of June 9, 1973, to applause from people lined 20-deep.

Only four other horses, including Sham, runner-up in both the Derby and Preakness, ran against Secretariat.

The red colt broke sharply from the gate, vying for the lead with Sham, ridden by Laffit Pincay Jr. Turcotte positioned Secretariat along the rail, with Sham on his right. They raced the opening quarter in a speedy 23 3-5 seconds.

Under orders to challenge for the lead, Pincay kept after Sham despite sensing the pace was too fast. Sham gained a narrow lead on the first turn. But Secretariat poked his nose in front entering the backstretch.

At that point, it looked like a two-horse race. Both jockeys refused to give an inch as their mounts raced through a half-mile in 46 1-5 seconds, fastest in Belmont Stakes history.

Onlookers wondered what Turcotte was thinking, going that fast.

"The main concern of a rider going through the Belmont is riding his own horse, not trying to ride the other people's horses and not trying to worry about other people's horses," Turcotte said.

The crowd was in an uproar as Secretariat began pulling away when the race was half over. At that point, he was 21/2 lengths ahead of Sham, but what startled many was his time of 1:09 4-5, good enough to win most sprints but believed to be much too fast for a horse running 11/2 miles.

With the sound of Sham's hoofbeats fading, Secretariat opened ever-widening margins. At the end of a mile in 1:34 1-5, he was seven lengths ahead.

Announcer Chick Anderson's voice rose above the deafening crowd: "Secretariat is blazing along! ... He is moving like a tremendous machine!"

Many of those in the crowd aware of the fractions were concerned that the machine might run out of steam, including Lauren.

But Secretariat showed no sign of weakening as he put the other horses farther behind him. His lead became 14 lengths, then 18. His only competition was the clock, and that was taking a beating, too.

Secretariat's time for 11/4 miles was 1:59, two-fifths of a second faster than his winning Derby time.

As the colt turned for home 23 lengths ahead, Turcotte looked under his arm to see where everybody was. By now, the crowd was in a frenzy, whooping and hollering, with strangers hugging each other. Secretariat charged home to win by a whopping 31 lengths in a world record 2:24.

The margin bettered Count Fleet's old record of 25 lengths in 1943. Secretariat's time remains two seconds faster than the second-best clockings of Easy Goer in 1989 and A.P. Indy in 1992.

Chenery and Turcotte are the only remaining members of the group that surrounded Secretariat, who died in 1989. Lauren died in 2000 and groom Eddie Sweat died in 1998.

Chenery will be rooting for Funny Cide to give America a long-awaited Triple Crown sweep.

"It certainly is time in my mind and in the fans' minds," she said. "Funny Cide is a great candidate. I hope he smashes the field on Belmont day."

 

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