2023 galloping Triple Crown thread

The greatest athletic performance by a mammal in recorded history.

Roughly comparable to Usain Bolt following up his 9.58 100m and 19.19 200 by running the mile in 2:45.

 

Better chills. Diane Lane as Penny Chenery (Tweedy).

 

Fooey. Lane (who I usually love) was blah in the role of Penny -- her first foray into frumpy old lady roles.
The whole movie was a real dud IMO. It should have been pretty much a blow proof movie and they pretty much blew it. The racing scenes from Seabiscuit, its near contemporary, blow it out of the water.
Disney did an awesome job on Miracle, if only they could have done the same on Secretariat.

If they were gonna flub up the big Belmont scenes, they should have just taken the original race video and scrubbed it up real good with CGI. The original race video is pretty awesome in its own right.

 

It’s more than the size of his heart. I don’t know there are even studies that confirm heart size improves speed or endurance or if it just feels right to everyone since his heart was so huge. The link shows the length of his stride compared to other top horses, showing how much more ground he covered in a stride. I think he also has a faster stride turnover than most horses. This article also says he had a double suspension gallop, unlike most horse who have a single suspension gait - that is, like my whippets, when he ran he had two moments where all four feet are off the ground. I have no idea if that’s true.
Let’s talk about Secretariat!

Footing is an art for any horse sport surface. It has to provide cushioning but it has to be solid enough to provide a non-slippery surface for the hoof to push off against, without holding too much. And at a racetrack it has to do this under multiple weather conditions. Bad footing can result in hoof and leg injuries. Closing Churchill Downs now makes no sense to me since a number of the deaths had nothing to do with leg injuries. Different than the situation at Santa Anita a few years ago where all the injuries resulting in euthanasia appeared to be directly related to the surface.

 

Embarrassing broadcast by fox. Race audio was terrible.
Oh and Archangelo won

 

William Nack's stories on Secretariat are the best I've ever read.

Most people associate him with Kentucky but he was born in Doswell, Va., in Hanover County just up I-95 from Richmond. He should have a statue on Monument Avenue.

The guy singing NY NY was awful. Play the Sinatra recording. It's still the best version of that song.

 

Arcangelo: 2:29.23
Secretariat: 2:24.00

1 second = 6 lengths, so Secretariat > Arcangelo by ... 31 lengths.

But for that matter, the second fastest Belmont ever was Easy Goer in 1989, in 2:26.0 ... a mere 12 lengths behind Secretariat.

 

The 30 for 30, especially the part about the Belmont, gives me chills every time

 

Churchill Downs on Monday extended its suspension of the trainer Bob Baffert from the Kentucky Derby through 2024, asserting his continued unwillingness to accept responsibility for the failed post-race drug test of Medina Spirit, the 2021 Derby winner, demonstrates that Baffert “cannot be trusted to avoid future misconduct.”

Churchill Downs Extends the Suspension of Bob Baffert Through 2024

 

That’s some you must bend the knee stuff for a track with dirty hands.