Legends of the Track: Spectacular Bid - The Greatest Ever? Secretariat's 1973 Preakness, The Late, Great, Sir Henry Cecil.

Thursday Edition - February 29th, 2024 (Edition 16)

USASteeplechase

Feb 29, 2024

IN TODAY’S EMAIL

Horse of the Day: Spectacular Bid (USA)
Classic Races: Secretariat's 1973 Preakness (USA)
Legends of the Sport: Henry Cecil (GB)

HORSE OF THE DAY

Spectacular Bid (USA)

Spectacular Bid's Brilliance Remembered

He was the last horse to be named a champion at 2, 3 and 4.

The gray son of Bold Bidder, bred in Kentucky by Mrs. William Jason and Mrs. William Gilmore, won 26 of 30 starts in a magnificent career that spanned 1978-80.

Major Wins

Champagne Stakes (1978)

Laurel Futurity (1978)

Young America Stakes (1978)

Hutcheson Stakes (1979)

Fountain of Youth Stakes (1979)

Flamingo Stakes (1979)

Florida Derby (1979)

Blue Grass Stakes (1979)

Marlboro Cup (1979)

Strub Series (1980)

San Fernando Stakes (1980)

Santa Anita Handicap (1980)

Mervyn Leroy Handicap (1980)

Californian Stakes (1980)

Washington Park Handicap (1980)

Amory L. Haskell Handicap (1980)

Woodward Stakes (1980)

American Classic Race wins:

Kentucky Derby (1979)

Preakness Stakes (1979)

Horse of the Year at 4 during an undefeated 1980 campaign, his dominance was best reflected in that year's Woodward Stakes, when no one would face him and he cantered around Belmont Park in the sport's last walkover in a grade I stakes. Eight times he matched or set a track record. He retired with then-record earnings of $2,781,608. One of his four defeats came at the hands of a Triple Crown winner. He was the last horse to be named a champion at 2, 3 and 4. And yet for all that he accomplished in his career, it was the 1979 Belmont Stakes, when he finished a shocking third, that remains his most discussed moment. One seemingly simple win shy of becoming the sport's third straight Triple Crown champion, he tired in the stretch and suffered a loss that had no shortage of alibis, including, of all things, a safety pin.

Read the Full Article

*The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced from the BloodHorse.com. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.

Watch Bid win the 79’ Derby - Spectacular Bid accordingly went off as the 3-5 favorite in the Kentucky Derby, and his superiority was on full display as he swept from off the pace to win by 2 3/4 lengths. Video presented courtesy of Vintage North American Horse Racing

Want to read more about Bid? Dive into The Fast Ride: Spectacular Bid and the Undoing of a Sure Thing, In The Fast Ride, Jack Gilden tells the story of what really happened that day the Bid lost the biggest race of his life, now available at Amazon

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Secretariat's 1973 Preakness.

A Natural Lefty

"It’s that move he made around the first turn", said Farley. "It was just shocking to see this horse go from last at about the 7/8ths pole to be on the lead a couple strides into the backstretch. It was a once-in-a-lifetime thing."

After settling into last in the early going as he had in the Kentucky Derby Secretariat suddenly canceled that come-from-behind plan and leaped forward in stride. He blazed around the entire field in a sudden rush around the first turn, with most of the long Preakness race still be run.

CBS announcer Chick Anderson calmly placed the field as they passed under the wire the first time.

"... and Secretariat is last again as they move into the first turn," said Anderson . "They're into the turn. Ecole Etage has it by two lengths. Torsion is second by a length, and then Sham third. Sham under an easy hold."

"But here comes Secretariat! " Anderson suddenly sizzled. "He's moving fast. He’s going to the outside. He’s going for the lead and it's RIGHT NOW he's looking for it!"

Secretariat's sudden surge didn't surprise jockey Ron Turcotte.

Secretariat was always the kind of horse who loved to run around turns, "Turcotte explained. "He was a lefty. That means he led with his left foot all the time, and flew around turns".

"Passing under the wire the first time around, I started to draw behind them horses", Turcotte continued. "As I looked ahead I seen they were all folded up on their horses and were backing it down. I eased him out a little bit so I wouldn’t get trapped on the inside. But he just breezed by them. Went by everybody on the first turn, took the lead around the three-quarter pole and the rest was history."

Secretariat’s bold Preakness move became a signature moment in horse’s legacy. He had demonstrated he wasn't just a stretch runner who could mow down tired horses, but a multi-talented athlete who could whip them just as easily when they were fresh.

Read the full article on Secretariat.com. *The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced from the Secretariat.com. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.

Watch the full race on You Tube courtesy of Truly Epic.

Want to read more about Secretariat? Dive into The Horse God Built: The Untold Story of Secretariat, the World's Greatest Racehorse,
"For anybody who loves horses, and for all of those who are thrilled by horse racing and the behind-the-scenes drama of the track, The Horse That God Built is must reading."
--Michael Korda, author of Horse Peoplenow available at Amazon

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LEGENDS OF THE SPORT

Henry Cecil (GB)

Sir Henry Cecil remembered: 'The public have always been fantastic to me and I really don't know why'

Newmarket legend Sir Henry Cecil: by popular acclaim the racing public's favourite trainerCredit: Edward Whitaker

This interview by Alastair Down with Sir Henry Cecil was first published in the Racing Post on June 17, 2012 and has been made free to read on the anniversary of the legendary trainer's death.

Newmarket doesn't do hills, just the one really – Warren by name. And at the top of it stands a single training establishment, Warren Place, home and place of work for Sir Henry Cecil, by popular acclaim the racing public's favourite trainer.

And when things are going well and the Group-race winners are rattling home along railway lines, being on top of the hill is the right and proper place to be and time was when Cecil was lord of all he surveyed. Warren Place was indeed a bed of roses, in more ways than one.

And then out of a seemingly cloudless sky, aided and abetted by illness and personal tragedy, it all went horribly askew. Cecil's wasn't a fall from grace but it was a vertiginous plummet from pre-eminence. Suddenly a racing superpower shrank to a tinpot third-world state and between July 2000 and October 2006 a yard that used to hammer home big-race wins like rivets could not muster a single Group 1.

Cecil says: "Life is about highs and lows and my lows lasted six or seven years. I went from 200 horses to little over 30 and none of them was ever going to take me to Ascot.

Read the Full Article in The RacingPost.com

*The content and images featured in this article were originally produced and sourced from the Racing Post.com. We acknowledge and credit the original creators for their work.

Many a legendary thoroughbred passed through his hands, and in this video we chart six of the greatest horses he trained. From legendary miler Frankel, to wonder-mare Midday, to middle-distance beast Reference Point, Cecil was a master of his craft and we celebrate some of the finest talent to have run under his name.

Video courtesy of At The Races.