1973 Preakness Stakes
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The 1973 Preakness Stakes was the 98th running of the
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
at
Pimlico Race Course Pimlico Race Course is a thoroughbred horse racetrack in Baltimore, Maryland, most famous for hosting the Preakness Stakes. Its name is derived from the 1660s when English settlers named the area where the facility currently stands in honor of Ol ...
in
Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
held on May 19, 1973. Six horses entered, and
Secretariat Secretariat may refer to: * Secretariat (administrative office) * Secretariat (horse) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the Ame ...
won by
lengths Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...
ahead of Sham in front of a record crowd of 61,657 spectators. The race was viewed on television and broadcast over the radio. In the period leading up to the Preakness, Kentucky Derby winner Secretariat was pegged as the favorite to win the race. Aside from Secretariat, Sham was named as the only other horse that could win the race or even challenge Secretariat. Initially seven horses officially enrolled to race in the event, but the field reduced to six after an owner scratched his horse. The entrants in the Preakness featured three horses that did not compete in the Derby. At the start, Secretariat broke last, but then made a huge, last-to-first move on the first turn. After reaching the lead with
furlong A furlong is a measure of distance in imperial units and United States customary units equal to one eighth of a mile, equivalent to 660 feet, 220 yards, 40 rods, 10 chains or approximately 201 metres. It is now mostly confined to use in hor ...
s to go, he was never challenged, and won by lengths, Sham finishing second and Our Native third. The victory led to the stallion being featured on several magazine covers. Secretariat would go on to win the Belmont Stakes in the succeeding weeks, becoming the ninth horse to complete the
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...
and the first in 25 years. The timing of the race was questioned, as the official clock malfunctioned and the official timer recorded a result slower than that recorded by clockers for the ''
Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...
'', who maintained that Secretariat had set a record. The dispute was not resolved until 2012, when newer technology allowed for a forensic review of the videotapes and an accurate calculation of the actual time, which was formally recorded as 1:53, a record time for the race still standing .


Pre-race activity

Between the Kentucky Derby and the Preakness, Mr. Prospector, Cup Bearer, Ecole Etage, Champagne Charlie, and Step Nicely, none of whom had run in the Derby, were all named as possible entrants. Three horses, Secretariat, Sham, and Our Native, all raced in the Kentucky Derby two weeks prior. On May 15, seven owners confirmed their intentions to enter their horses by paying a
US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
1,000 deposit. The horses officially registered that day were Our Native, Secretariat, and Sham, along with new runners Deadly Dream, Ecole Etage, The Lark Twist, and Torsion. A day later, Deadly Dream's trainer stated that he was unsure about racing his
colt Colt(s) or COLT may refer to: *Colt (horse), an intact (uncastrated) male horse under four years of age People * Colt (given name) *Colt (surname) Places *Colt, Arkansas, United States *Colt, Louisiana, an unincorporated community, United States ...
because he felt the horse could not match Secretariat, Sham, or Our Native. In addition, The Lark Twist's owner Larry Boyce scratched his horse from the race because he received word that Our Native registered, dropping the total number of horses competing to six. However, on the 17th, Boyce attempted to re-enter The Lark Twist, but was denied under the Rules of Racing of Maryland which stated that the scratching of a horse was irreversible. An
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article commented that the credentials of Secretariat and Sham could lead to the running being one of the smallest since 1964. Following his record-breaking victory at the Kentucky Derby, Secretariat was the favorite. In the days between the Derby and the Preakness, groom
Eddie Sweat Edward Sweat (August 29, 1939 – April 17, 1998) was an American groom in Thoroughbred horse racing who was the subject of the 2006 book by Lawrence Scanlan titled ''The Horse God Built: Secretariat, His Groom, Their Legacy''. Career Born in Hol ...
noted that it was strange not having any rumors circulating about Secretariat's health. Sham and Secretariat were ridden by the same jockeys as in the Derby, Laffit Pincay, Jr. and
Ron Turcotte Ronald Joseph Morel "Ronnie" Turcotte, (born July 22, 1941) is a retired Canadian thoroughbred race horse jockey best known as the rider of Secretariat, winner of the U.S. Triple Crown in 1973. Career Turcotte began his career in Toronto as a ...
, respectively. Sham was believed to have the best chance of beating Secretariat. Aside from Sham and Secretariat, Our Native was selected by Joe Nichols, a writer for ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', as an outside contender for victory. In pre-race interviews, Deadly Dream's trainer
Bud Delp Grover Greer "Bud" Delp (September 7, 1932 – December 29, 2006) was an American Hall of Fame Thoroughbred racehorse trainer best remembered for his conditioning of Hall of Fame colt, Spectacular Bid, who according to Delp was "The greatest hor ...
believed he could challenge for third place as he had no "illusions about beating Secretariat and Sham." Of the remaining contenders, Deadly Dream had won the fourth race of his three-year-old campaign at Penn National, previously winning the Allegheny Stakes and the Militia Handicap. In total, he won seven races out of the 25 he had started. Ecole Etage had won two races in the 1973 season, prior to the Preakness, the General George Stakes and the Preakness Prep. Torsion entered the race with a most recent finish of fifth place in the Preakness Prep and two wins in twelve career starts, one as a two-year-old and one as a three-year-old.


Event details

Post time for the race was 5:40 PM EDT. It was broadcast over television and radio through
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
. The television coverage lasted approximately an hour, while radio coverage ran twenty minutes. The horses entering the race all carried 126 pounds. The total purse for the Preakness was $182,400, with the first through fourth-place finishers to receive $129,900, $30,000, $15,000, and $7,500, respectively. The weather during the race was clear and the course conditions were fast. The day at the Preakness was dubbed " Johnny Unitas Day" in honor of the
quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...
's seventeen seasons with the Baltimore Colts, following being traded to
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
by owner Joe Thomas before the start of the 1973 season. Members of the Johnny Unitas fan club gathered in the infield of Pimilico, the Unitas Corral. Race officials expected a record turnout in the days leading up to the Preakness, estimating over 50,000 people. They hoped that the possibility of Secretariat completing the Triple Crown and Sham attempting to foil Secretariat's run would lead to an increase in attendance. The official attendance for the event was reported at 61,657, which surpassed the previous record of 48,721 people set in
1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using mean solar tim ...
. The new record lasted until
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
when 75,216 spectators were present at Pimlico.


Race summary

Out of the
starting gate A starting gate also called a starting barrier or starting stalls is a machine used to ensure a fair start to in horse racing and dog racing. History Throughout the history of horse racing, there have been proposals as to how better to start ...
, Ecole Etage took the lead, ahead of Torsion, while race favorite Secretariat exited last. Sham and Deadly Dream made contact exiting the gate. While Sham was able to successfully gain stride, Deadly Dream began to run towards the railing and collided with it when entering the first turn. Going into the course's first turn, Secretariat passed two horses on the outside and passed the remainder as the horses entered the backstretch. Sham was the only horse that was able to stay with Secretariat's acceleration. Secretariat held the lead for the remainder of the race and crossed the finish line in first position, lengths ahead of Sham. Our Native placed third, eight lengths behind Sham. This was the first time in the history of the Kentucky Derby and the
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
that the top three horses in the Derby finished in the same positions at the Preakness.


Result


Payout schedule

* $3
Exacta Parimutuel betting or pool betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool; taxes and the "house-take" or "vigorish" are deducted, and payoff odds are calculated by sharing the pool among all winnin ...
: (3-1) $4.50


Timing controversy

Upon the finish of the race there was a dispute over the winning time of Secretariat. The electronic Visumatic timer on the field read 1:55, while ''
Daily Racing Form The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of raceh ...
'' clockers Gene Schwartz and Frank Robinson timed Secretariat at 1:, which would have broken the track record. The official fractional times were 25, , 1:12, and 1:, while the ''Daily Racing Forum'' timed the fractions at , 47, 1:, and 1:. The next day, Secretariat's trainer
Lucien Laurin Lucien Laurin (March 18, 1912 – June 26, 2000) was a French-Canadian jockey and Hall of Fame Thoroughbred horse trainer. He was best known for training Secretariat (horse), Secretariat, who won the Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing (United Sta ...
asked for the videotape to be reviewed because he felt that if Secretariat did run that fast, then "he deserves the record." On May 21, race officials adjusted Secretariat's winning time to 1:, becoming the then second fastest time in race history. The time was changed to the time obtained by the official Pimilico timekeeper E.T. McLean per Rule 383 of the Maryland Rules of Racing, which stated the "official timer's time is official." McLean's stopwatch was faster than the Visumatic by three-fifths of a second at each fractional." That same day, a Visumatic official checked the timer and stated that the timer should have actually read 1:, rather than 1:55. It was determined that the chart for the Preakness would display McLean's time as the winning time, with the ''Daily Racing Forum'' time written next to it, in parenthesis. Secretariat's owner Penny Chenery and
Maryland Jockey Club The Maryland Jockey Club is a sporting organization dedicated to horse racing, founded in Annapolis in 1743. The Jockey Club was founded more than 30 years before the start of the Revolutionary War and is chartered as the oldest sporting organizat ...
president Thomas Chuckas asked the Maryland Racing Commission to review the 1973 Preakness. On June 19, 2012, the commission announced their findings. During a three-hour meeting, the tapes of Secretariat's run and the three new record-holding runs were overlaid by three separate companies from which a total of five analysts reviewed the footage. Following all five analysts obtaining the time of 1:53, the commission unanimously voted to change Secretariat's time from 1:54 to 1:53, which broke the then-course record of 1:53. Altering Secretariat's time allowed him to actively hold the course record for all three legs of the Triple Crown. The overlaying method used by the committee was reported to be accurate to 0.03 of a second. A representative of Chenery stated that they were "very pleased" with the decision.


Analysis

By winning the Preakness, Secretariat earned his fourth victory in five races as a three-year-old. This was the first victory for Lucien Laurin in his four attempts to win the Preakness. Jockey Ron Turcotte secured his second Preakness victory, having previously won with
Tom Rolfe Tom Rolfe (April 14, 1962 – June 12, 1989) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. He was the leading colt of his generation in the United States, winning the Preakness Stakes and being voted American Champion Three-Year-Old Male Ho ...
in 1965. It was Meadow Stables' second win at the Stakes as they were previously victorious with
Hill Prince Hill Prince (1947–1970) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse. He was one of the leading American two-year-olds of 1949, alongside Oil Capitol and Middleground. In 1950, he ran fifteen times, winning races including the Preakness Stakes, ...
in
1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 crashes in a snowstorm. All 19 ...
. Following the race, Laurin stated that "Now, we're going to try and win the Belmont." Torsion's jockey Ben Feliciano said, in regards to Secretariat, "He's the best." Betting on the races held that day at Pimlico Stakes totaled to $3,792,076, which set the Maryland record for amount of money wagered for the day. Off-track betting on the Preakness Stakes reached $922,989, which was included in the previous record total. Three weeks after the Preakness, the Belmont Stakes featured a five-horse field. Secretariat won by 31 lengths with a time of 2:24 for the mile and a half, both course records in their own right. Through his combined victories at the Belmont Stakes, Preakness Stakes, and Kentucky Derby, Secretariat became the ninth horse to complete the
Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing The Triple Crown of Thoroughbred Racing, often shortened to Triple Crown, is a series of horse races for Thoroughbreds, often restricted to three-year-olds. Winning all three of these Thoroughbred horse races is considered the greatest accomplis ...
, and the first horse since Citation in 1948, ending a 25-year period without a Triple Crown winner. After his time in the Preakness was reviewed and found to be a record, Secretariat's times in all three Triple Crown races were stakes records and stand to this day.


References


Endnotes


Citations

{{Thoroughbred Racing on CBS Preakness Stakes races
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
Preakness Stakes The Preakness Stakes is an American thoroughbred horse race held on Armed Forces Day which is also the third Saturday in May each year at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, Maryland. It is a Grade I race run over a distance of 9.5 furlongs () o ...
Horse races in Maryland