Ladies & gentlemen.... American Pharaoh

[Angus12]

It is. If American Pharaoh had raced Secretariat today, Secretariat would have beaten American Pharaoh by 15 lengths, as has been mentioned. Secretariat, Man-0-War, Citation, they are in another class. Having said this, congratulations to American Pharaoh. Just because you aren't as good as Secretariat does not mean you are not great. Only 12 horses in the history of Horse Racing have ever won the Triple Crown. Well done!

Yep. But unfortunately, by agreeing with what I said you will now be told to calm down.

 

[Joe Realist]

It was great to see and soon will be buried under other news..

 

[Risen Star]

I think it's great that the horse won and we finally have a triple crown winner after all these years but I wish it wasn't a Baffert horse and he isn't the best horse since the last TC winner. Hardly.

 

[Risen Star]

AP is the horse of the year.

Secretariat is THE HORSE of ALL TIME.

He was a true freak of nature....

"Certainly, after performing autopsies on several thousand thoroughbred horses, including mares and stallions, no other horse came close to Secretariat’s heart size. The second largest heart I found was the heart of Sham, who actually broke the Kentucky derby record, but still lost to Secretariat. Sham’s heart weighed 19 pounds. The third largest heart I found was stallion Key to the Mint, which was 16 pounds. The majority of all others were smaller, in the range of 10 to 12 pounds. Bold Ruler, the sire of Secretariat had an average size heart. The heart size seemingly is inherited from the female side of the pedigree. When I performed the autopsy on Secretariat, which was necessary because of insurance and we needed to determine the cause of the laminitis, the cause of destruction, I did a cosmetic autopsy. The reason being I did not want to dismantle such a remarkable specimen and the farm personnel and handlers were present to immediately collect all organs in large plastic bags which were immediately returned to the farm to be buried with the body. Normally, with other horses we can keep all organs and the body for further study, or to preserve large specimens, like the heart, but I was not allowed to do this with Secretariat. For this reason, all specimens were immediately collected and returned to the farm, and I did not get a chance to weigh the heart. However, by comparing it to numerous other hearts I got actual weights on, I am certain the weight was between 21 to 22 pounds. So I considered the heart weight officially as 21 pounds. The heart was in perfect shape, not diseased in any way, but just considerably larger than any other horses I autopsied."

A normal heart size for a thoroughbred is 8½ pounds.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Secretariat

 

[Risen Star]

It is difficult for many handicappers, myself included, to heap lavish praise on horses who win with perfect trips like this one. After a horse captures a race with an unchallenged early lead, we’re looking to bet against him the next time he runs, not anoint him a superhorse.

And American Pharoah’s performance in the Belmont was not of superhorse quality, no matter what millions of viewers might have thought as they watched him drawing away to win by 51/2 lengths. He ran 11/2 miles in 2:26.65 on the same card that a fair-to-middling group of older stakes horses covered the distance only 0.48 seconds slower. It was certainly a good effort: His Beyer Speed Figure of 105 was the best in the Belmont since 2007 but still a bit below the historical norm for the race.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...760af8-0d26-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html

 

[burmafrd]

It is difficult for many handicappers, myself included, to heap lavish praise on horses who win with perfect trips like this one. After a horse captures a race with an unchallenged early lead, we’re looking to bet against him the next time he runs, not anoint him a superhorse.

And American Pharoah’s performance in the Belmont was not of superhorse quality, no matter what millions of viewers might have thought as they watched him drawing away to win by 51/2 lengths. He ran 11/2 miles in 2:26.65 on the same card that a fair-to-middling group of older stakes horses covered the distance only 0.48 seconds slower. It was certainly a good effort: His Beyer Speed Figure of 105 was the best in the Belmont since 2007 but still a bit below the historical norm for the race.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sport...760af8-0d26-11e5-9726-49d6fa26a8c6_story.html

William Nack wrote such a great book about Secretariat. His later addition "All Heart" made me tear up.

 

[Risen Star]

BTW, the Beyer Speed Figure for Secretariat's Belmont, which wasn't done then, is estimated to be 139. Which would be the highest ever given by a lot. This would be like a football player running a 3.9 40. It's ridiculous.

 

[Jammer]

I just watched a video where they showed Secretariat's race along side American Pharaoh's. AP did close the gap somewhat toward the end but it was still obvious Secretariat was on another level. About mid race Secretariat had a 4 second lead on AP. Secretariat coasted in the final leg. No telling how much better he would have done if he was actually pushed at the end. I remember watching that race and we were all excited watching it, but I thought there were more horses running against Secretariat than there were.

 

[yimyammer]

I just watched a video where they showed Secretariat's race along side American Pharaoh's. AP did close the gap somewhat toward the end but it was still obvious Secretariat was on another level. About mid race Secretariat had a 4 second lead on AP. Secretariat coasted in the final leg. No telling how much better he would have done if he was actually pushed at the end. I remember watching that race and we were all excited watching it, but I thought there were more horses running against Secretariat than there were.

http://********.com/this-is-what-it-would-look-like-if-american-pharoah-rac-1709988755

 

[RonSpringsdaman20]

http://********.com/this-is-what-it-would-look-like-if-american-pharoah-rac-1709988755

whats ********.com

 

[burmafrd]

I just watched a video where they showed Secretariat's race along side American Pharaoh's. AP did close the gap somewhat toward the end but it was still obvious Secretariat was on another level. About mid race Secretariat had a 4 second lead on AP. Secretariat coasted in the final leg. No telling how much better he would have done if he was actually pushed at the end. I remember watching that race and we were all excited watching it, but I thought there were more horses running against Secretariat than there were.

Turcot hand road him the last bit as he saw the chance for a record. He just sat on him the entire race otherwise. Never asked for anything. That was what amazed me as I looked at it years later. You will never find a Belmont Stakes winner that was not at least asked- AP was not pushed but he was asked. Secretariat just calmly destroyed the field without even really trying. Even easing up AFTER the finish he broke Nashua's mile and 5/8's record.

 

[yimyammer]

whats ********.com

Pffft..... the censor around here are ridiculous at time.......its two words put together dead and spin

 

[Longboysfan]

Great race by horse, Jockey and trainer.
They had a plan and executed it.
I do wish that the race was closed to only those horses who ran in the Derby or Preakness. So you did not get a fresh horse in there.
Barring that or make the time between Preakness and Belmont 3 weeks not the current 2.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Great race by horse, Jockey and trainer.
They had a plan and executed it.
I do wish that the race was closed to only those horses who ran in the Derby or Preakness. So you did not get a fresh horse in there.
Barring that or make the time between Preakness and Belmont 3 weeks not the current 2.

Pretty cool video.

It would even cooler to super impose video on top of each other. REALLY race Secretariat vs American Pharoah.

 

[Longboysfan]

Pretty cool video.

It would even cooler to super impose video on top of each other. REALLY race Secretariat vs American Pharoah.

Hmmmm..... You should pitch that to the major TV networks. But Genius thought.
I wonder who owns the rights to the broadcasts for the older races.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Hmmmm..... You should pitch that to the major TV networks. But Genius thought.
I wonder who owns the rights to the broadcasts for the older races.

whoahhh check this out

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/american-pharoahs-a-superhorse-but-hes-no-secretariat/

 

[Longboysfan]

Nice chart - shows how good Secretariat stands in front.
I wonder if they had file / tapes of the old races and through the magic of computers take out other horses and adjust the rides for all of them into one race.

 

[Jammer]

whoahhh check this out

http://fivethirtyeight.com/datalab/american-pharoahs-a-superhorse-but-hes-no-secretariat/

This is good graph. It actually shows American Pharaoh is a fine horse in his own right. Probably a lot better than most will give him credit for.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

Nice chart - shows how good Secretariat stands in front.
I wonder if they had file / tapes of the old races and through the magic of computers take out other horses and adjust the rides for all of them into one race.

Secretariat was a super freak. Heart was 22lbs. (Normal size was 8lbs)

Interesting idea but the gap in between horses and lengths would need a real wide screen view.... Lol... The really won't be bunched together.

This is good graph. It actually shows American Pharaoh is a fine horse in his own right. Probably a lot better than most will give him credit for.

Yes. Again. Sec was an anomaly here... Pharoah and affirmed were only close ones...

 

[Phoenix]

Congratulations to horse, jockey, trainer, owner. Been toooooooo long since a triple crown!

I was at bar watching and the entire crowd went just bonkers crazy. It was a great moment in sports history, one of those "Where were you when" moments...