| The 1970s represents one of the last decades when | | | | Secretariat |
| high-stakes Thoroughbred races dominated the public | | | | Thoroughbred racing doesn't always get all the |
| mind as they had done during the 1920s, '30s and '40s, | | | | headlines. Basketball players, quarterbacks, even |
| when great horses like Man O'War, Seabiscuit, and | | | | soccer players and Olympians get most of the glory, |
| Citation went from being sports-page celebrities to | | | | the TV biopics, the Sports Illustrated covers. But twice |
| bona fide culture heroes.The 1970s represents one of | | | | during the twentieth century, a horse became not |
| the last decades when high-stakes Thoroughbred | | | | merely a media star, but a universal symbol - a |
| races dominated the public mind as they had done | | | | galvanizing, galloping metaphor on legs. |
| during the 1920s, '30s and '40s, when great horses like | | | | The first time, it was Seabiscuit. And in the early '70s, |
| Man O'War, Seabiscuit, and Citation went from being | | | | as the country seemed poised for a second |
| sports-page celebrities to bona fide culture heroes. | | | | depression, as civil rights bit the dust and Watergate |
| Take a look at two great stories of '70s horseracing: | | | | began its slow unraveling, there was Secretariat |
| the rivalry between Affirmed and Alydar, and the life | | | | (1970-89). |
| of a horse who had no rival - Secretariat. | | | | From his earliest days, when he refused to cling to his |
| The Rivals: Affirmed Vs. Alydar | | | | mother in the way most grazing newborns do, he was |
| Though there's a natural link between aristocratic | | | | recognized as a special horse. The names submitted |
| lifestyles and equestrian pursuits, the most famous | | | | by his owner Penny Tweedy to the Jockey Club |
| horse-racing stories (at least in the United States) tend, | | | | reflect this early sense of his uniqueness: "Something |
| ironically, to be rags-to-riches tales. Affirmed | | | | Special," "Deo Volente," "Sceptre." All these names |
| (1975-2001) is as good an example of this trend as | | | | were in use, and it was a secretary at Meadow |
| anyone. The foal of Exclusive Native and Won't Tell | | | | Stables who finally suggested "Secretariat." |
| You, this Florida-born racehorse looked to be a | | | | In his two-year-old season he took eight first place |
| middle-of-the-packer in his early races - a horse with | | | | finishes in a row, after an embarrassing debut in which |
| some potential, but not a world-conqueror. | | | | he suffered from starting-gate jostling at the hands |
| Even after his emergence as a serious competitor, | | | | (hoofs) of the other horses. This mostly-brilliant start |
| many track buffs put their highest hopes on Alydar - | | | | marked him in the eyes of fans and speculators. |
| the tough, impressive Calumet colt with whom | | | | Secretariat's owners syndicated him in a record-setting |
| Affirmed developed a fruitful, Rogers-and-Shorter | | | | $6,080,000 deal, one of the conditions of which was |
| relationship during the late '70s, beating him in the | | | | that the colt's racing career ended, and his breeding |
| Youthful Stakes but losing to him in the Great | | | | career, began after the following season. So |
| American Stakes (among their earliest encounters). | | | | Secretariat entered his three-year-old season with |
| What Affirmed lacked in muscle (ceding five pounds | | | | special stakes, having one year in which to make his |
| to his rival) and advantages he often made up for in | | | | mark. |
| heart, with late-1977-season wins at the Hopeful and | | | | The circumstances were special and they called forth |
| Futurity stakes. Even as the rainy winter of 1978 | | | | special performances. He conquered the pre-Triple |
| hindered his training, Affirmed put on pounds of muscle, | | | | Stakes races, with one strange exception, at the |
| emerging in early March as a mature, impressive | | | | Wood Memorial, which served only (according to his |
| racehorse. | | | | owner) to anger him and increase his resolve. At the |
| All eyes were on Alydar and Affirmed as the 1978 | | | | Kentucky Derby he won a come-from-behind victory, |
| Kentucky Derby loomed into view. The bigger of the | | | | while at Preakness the surging horse took a |
| two horses was the 6-5 favorite, but Affirmed got off | | | | two-and-a-half length victory over his closest rival. |
| to a strong start that propelled him to victory. Though | | | | Now anticipation mounted. Would Secretariat provide |
| he continued to be perceived as a bit of an underdog | | | | America with the first Triple Crown victory of the |
| even in light of this success, with Eastern sportswriters | | | | television generation? Or would he fall victim to injury, |
| calling his impressive performances a fluke, or perhaps | | | | illness, or the kind of inexplicable weakness that had |
| the luck of a good start, he notched another victory - | | | | hurt him at Wood, but this time with the stakes |
| albeit a much closer one, in which Affirmed placed | | | | heartbreakingly higher? |
| himself within firing range of Alydar's famous (but, | | | | In the event, Secretariat fulfilled onlookers' |
| luckily, absent) finishing kick - at Preakness. | | | | expectations. But what no one could have predicted |
| But there are three races in the Triple Crown - the last | | | | was an almost-embarrassing margin of victory that |
| being the 12-furlong Belmont Stakes. Alydar, a horse | | | | established him as not only a great horse, but possibly |
| who seemed strongest at long distances, posed a | | | | the greatest in history. At Belmont Stakes he swung |
| greater threat here, and the race did indeed unfold just | | | | into the final stretch with 20 lengths'-worth of daylight |
| as Alydar's trainers hoped - a blazing mano-e-mano | | | | between himself and his nearest competitor. Then - in |
| duel in the sun. But Affirmed responded to this | | | | the utter absence of competition - he raced only |
| unprecedented pressure with a grace under fire that | | | | himself, widening that margin to 31 lengths while setting |
| might make Hemingway blush: penned to the rail in the | | | | a world record of 2:24. |
| final stretch, he blazed around his rival in a final burst of | | | | Perhaps celebrated writer George Plimpton put it best, |
| power and, by a nose, won Belmont - and the Triple | | | | in an interview with ESPN's Classic SportsCentury |
| Crown. | | | | series: "He was the only honest thing in this country at |
| Years later, the two horses met again at Calumet | | | | the time. This huge magnificent animal who "just ran |
| Farms, where they were both put to stud. | | | | because he loved running". |