Secretariat 1973 Belmont Stakes. Probably my favorite call of any race.

A lot of people seem to like the line..

"Secretariat is moving like a TREMENDOUS MACHINE!"

But I like the line, "Secretariat is all alone !! " the best.

An amazing performance by one of the best racehorses ever.

https://youtu.be/vfCMtaNiMDM?t=46

I really enjoyed the movie they made with Diane Lane. I thought it was pretty good. Side note, even though it isn't Secretariat I also really enjoyed the movie SeaBiscuit. I admittedly didn't know that story when I watched it and ended up looking up a lot of stuff about it but as a kid it really wasn't that far removed from Secretariats prime so we still heard about that ALL the time. In fact he didn't even die until the late 80's so he was still alive the first 13 years of my life.

I had never heard of Secretariat at all until watching Bojack Horseman in 2016

You're right, it is an A+ call.

Separately, I think the call of American Pharaoh's Triple Crown win lived up to the moment
https://youtu.be/w0I4Z8priHQ?si=UkkOfAx-0k64yEa7

Every line from the second half of that playcall is legendary. One of my favorites is "Secretariat is now in a position where he's impossible to catch!"

Antifar posted...

You're right, it is an A+ call.

Separately, I think the call of American Pharaoh's Triple Crown win lived up to the moment

It's probably helped by the fact it was closing in on damn near 40 years without won so people were STARVED for a triple crown winner.

KanWan posted...

Kinda crazy how their legs look like moving at those speeds

Seems to have taken a toll on the horse eventually though Ive never heard of laminitis . Is that usually common for race horses?

also, are you gonna get on Jackbox later? >___>
I just got hip to that new guitar hero-esque style game lol.

To see them in person at this level or racing is amazing, a TV doesn't do it justice.
Top performing horses with the right jockeys in a Grade 1 Stakes race look like they are being pulled along on a string. They just go! And I am talking only the best of the best. Not the over crowded races.

Laminitis is a heath concern for many hoofed quadrupeds.

Also, yes I intend to be joining jackbox night. Though I suck at that game unless I get the drums.
And that is because I can play instruments and those types of game can be completely counter intuitive if you do play.

archizzy posted...

I really enjoyed the movie they made with Diane Lane. I thought it was pretty good. Side note, even though it isn't Secretariat I also really enjoyed the movie SeaBiscuit. I admittedly didn't know that story when I watched it and ended up looking up a lot of stuff about it but as a kid it really wasn't that far removed from Secretariats prime so we still heard about that ALL the time. In fact he didn't even die until the late 80's so he was still alive the first 13 years of my life.

Secretariats, actually one The Hopefull here the year before. ((Big props to Sham though for really making him earn all of his races))
I haven't seen either of those but I would like to. I think some of Seabiscuit was filmed where I'm at.
There is actually and old school Seabicuit that I used to pass by not to far from me, in The Adirondacks.
I never stopped in though.
https://imgur.com/IZGhOuG

Sonic_Cannon posted...

I had never heard of Secretariat at all until watching Bojack Horseman in 2016

Cool he got a shout out!
It's pretty much up in the air as to whether he or Man 0' War was the better horse.
Certainly two of the best in the last 100 years.

Antifar posted...

You're right, it is an A+ call.

Separately, I think the call of American Pharaoh's Triple Crown win lived up to the moment
https://youtu.be/w0I4Z8priHQ?si=UkkOfAx-0k64yEa7

That was good, but it was a bit more of a straight up race. A good clean one though.
Also it is amazing that all these years later Secretariat still beat that time by over 2 seconds, and upwards of 26 lenghts.

Having said all of that, I was there when he did not win The Tavers later on that year. The Travers often being called the Fourth Jewel in The Triple Crown. Or the Mid Summer Derby. But it happen at was also called The Grave Yard of Champions.

I pretty much know they exact step where he lost that little bit of momentum. It was at the top of the stretch. One hoof got a tiny bit to close to the rail, and that was all it took. That and Keen Ice having a smart ride.

This was my ticket, which was very difficult to get. That final pass happened effectively right in front of me.
https://imgur.com/a/QYCRjcb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJPx0IJHSXw

YoBlazer posted...

Every line from the second half of that playcall is legendary. One of my favorites is "Secretariat is now in a position where he's impossible to catch!"

Ya, that is cool. Even more so because Sham really was good compotition for Secretariat.
Probably would have been horse of the year had Secretariat not be so damn good. Sham actually set the pace of the race for all three main races and all the way deep into the backstretch for this one, and then Secretariat just put on the afterburners. He's one of the few horses known for actually lowering his time as a race went on.

This is great to watch

Truly the Jim Ross of 1970s horse racing commentary

archizzy posted...

It's probably helped by the fact it was closing in on damn near 40 years without won so people were STARVED for a triple crown winner.

Ya, all of this topic aside, I am not even a huge fan on the notion of The Triple Crown, but with a few other reason, I think The Kentucky Derby is very over rated. And I don't like The Company Church Hill Downs.
The Twin Spires are nice, but it falls off real quick after that.

Also, I talked with Tom Durkin who is the track announcer I grew up with and he agreed with me, which was hugely vindicating.