1973 Kentucky Derby

1973 Kentucky Derby
Kentucky Derby

Secretariat crossing the finish line
Location Churchill Downs,
Louisville, Kentucky
Date May 5, 1973
Winning horse Secretariat
Jockey Ron Turcotte
Conditions Fast
Surface Dirt
← 1972
1974 →

The 1973 Kentucky Derby was the 99th running of the Kentucky Derby.[1] It saw Secretariat win the race at a new record of 1:59 2⁄5,[2] which still stands to this day. Due to high expectations for Secretariat, the crowd swelled to what was then a record of 134,476.[3]

Churchill Downs bettors made the entry of Secretariat and Angle Light the 3–2 favorite in the 1973 Kentucky Derby. Sham was next at 5–2. Secretariat broke last, but gradually moved up on the field in the backstretch, then overtook Sham at the top of the stretch, pulling away to win the Derby by 21⁄2 lengths. Our Native finished eight lengths further back in third.[4]

On his way to a still-standing track record (1:592⁄5), Secretariat ran each quarter-mile segment faster than the one before it. The successive quarter-mile times were 251⁄5, 24, 234⁄5, 232⁄5, and 23. This means he was still accelerating as of the final quarter-mile of the race. No other horse had won the Derby in less than 2 minutes before, and it would not be accomplished again until Monarchos in 2001.

Sportswriter Mike Sullivan said, in admiration:

I was at Secretariat's Derby, in '73. . . That was...just beauty, you know? He started in last place, which he tended to do. I was covering the second-place horse, which wound up being Sham. It looked like Sham's race going into the last turn, I think. The thing you have to understand is that Sham was fast, a beautiful horse. He would have had the Triple Crown in another year. And it just didn't seem like there could be anything faster than that. Everybody was watching him. It was over, more or less. And all of a sudden there was this, like, just a disruption in the corner of your eye, in your peripheral vision. And then before you could make out what it was, here Secretariat came. And then Secretariat had passed him. No one had ever seen anything run like that – a lot of the old guys said the same thing. It was like he was some other animal out there.[5]

Results

The results were as follows:[6]

Finish Post Position Horse Jockey Final Odds (to 1)
1 10 Secretariat Ron Turcotte $1.50[note 1]
2 4 Sham Laffit Pincay, Jr. $2.50
3 7 Our Native Donald Brumfield $10.60
4 9 Forego Pete Anderson $28.60
5 1 Restless Jet Michael Hole $28.50
6 11 Shecky Greene Larry Adams $5.70[note 1]
7 5 Navajo Weston Soirez $52.30
8 8 Royal and Regal Walter Blum $28.30
9 12 My Gallant Braulio Baeza $5.70[note 1]
10 2 Angle Light John LeBlanc $1.50[note 1]
11 13 Gold Bag Earlie Fires $68.30
12 6 Twice a Prince Angel Santiago $62.50
13 3 Warbucks Bill Hartack $7.20

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Coupled

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Stable seeking repeat in 99th Derby feature". Spokane Daily Chronicle. May 4, 1973. p. 18.
  2. ↑ "Secretariat runs off with Kentucky Derby". Eugene Register-Guard (Eugene, Oregon). Associated Press. May 6, 1973. p. 1C.
  3. ↑ "Kentucky Derby - Secretariat.com". Secretariat.com. 2012. Retrieved 2012-05-03.
  4. ↑ "Secretariat charges past Sham in Kentucky Derby win". Herald-Journal. May 6, 1973. Retrieved 2012-06-20.
  5. ↑ Sullivan, John Jeremiah. Blood Horses: Notes of a Sportswriter's Son. Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2004, pp. 19-20.
  6. ↑ "Official 1973 Kentucky Derby Chart" (PDF). Daily Racing Form. LXXIX (109): 4. May 7, 1973. Retrieved 2012-05-05.

External links