Secretariat the machine

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Some athletic performances are so magnificent they assume an otherworldly feel. They are dream-like in quality — and yet wonderfully real.

That was Secretariat when he stormed home by 31 lengths in the 1973 Belmont Stakes to ensure his place at, or near, the top of the list of the greatest Thoroughbreds to step onto the track. Announcer Chic Anderson perfectly captured the breathtaking romp to the first Triple Crown in 25 years when he exclaimed, “Secretariat is widening now. He is moving like a tremendous machine!”

“Big Red” — all flesh and bones and fury — tore around Belmont Park for a mile-and-a-half as no Thoroughbred has before or since. He stopped the clock in 2:24 flat, shattering the stakes record by more than two seconds for jockey Ron Turcotte, an incredulous passenger who glanced behind for competition nowhere to be seen. No horse has ever broken 2:25 for that distance on dirt.

While Secretariat’s Belmont is the moment frozen in time, his resounding Kentucky Derby and Preakness triumphs also testified to his ethereal qualities. Doubts surrounded the 2-year-old champion entering the Run for the Roses because he had been no better than third in his prep race, the Wood Memorial, a defeat later attributed to a large abscess discovered in his mouth.

He broke last in the Derby, almost as if to give the others a sporting chance. Remarkably, on his way to a track record of …

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