Posted on 06/20/2012 3:31:38 PM PDT by DogByte6RER
Secretariat awarded Preakness record at 1:53 after review
The Maryland Racing Commission on Tuesday voted unanimously to change the official time of the 1973 Preakness Stakes won by Secretariat from 1:54 2/5 to 1:53, a time that will give the two-time Horse of the Year the record in all three of the Triple Crown races.
The commission approved the change after two hours of testimony at a meeting at Laurel Park, the sister track of Pimlico Race Course, where the Preakness is held. Penny Chenery, the late horse’s owner, requested the hearing on the basis of analyses conducted by companies she had hired to review the videotapes of the race.
The vote resolves a controversy that has dogged the race since Secretariat crossed the Preakness finish line more than 39 years ago. The official electronic teletimer clocked the race in 1:55, one second slower than Canonero II’s record for the race at the time, but that time was revised after a review of the film determined that the timer had malfunctioned. Two timers employed by Daily Racing Form had hand-timed the race in 1:53 2/5, three-fifths of a second faster than Canonero II.
DRF , which had officially recognized the 1:53 2/5 mark for the race since it was run, will now recognize the 1:53 mark established by the commission. In addition, Mike Gathagan, a spokesman for Pimlico’s operator, said that the track would adopt the new time as the official mark for the 1973 Preakness.
Since Secretariat won the 1973 Preakness, three horses – Tank’s Prospect in 1985, Louis Quatorze in 1996, and Curlin in 2007 – have run the race in the 1:53 2/5 mark previously recognized by the DRF . Secretariat will now be the sole Preakness record holder, although the record for the 1 3/16-mile distance at Pimlico will remain in the sole hands of Farma Way, who won the 1991 Pimlico Special in time of 1:52 2/5.
Prior to the hearing, representatives of Chenery had said that they had hired three separate companies to perform “forensic analyses” of the videotape of the race. According to the representatives, the companies had established a time for the race within an accuracy of 0.03 of a second, but the representatives at that time declined to provide a specific time they would seek to establish during the review.
Leonard Lusky, one of Chenery’s representatives, said after the hearing that they were “very pleased” with the ruling.
“We had five analysts look at the video, and all five said that it was 1:53 flat,” Lusky said. “We are cautiously optimistic [the new mark will be recognized]. We definitely felt fortunate that everyone was saying the same thing.”
Nobody will ever touch Big Red.
Ever!!
True enough. He was the greatest athlete of our time...all sports.
I was there in the infield. I believe Secretariat paid 2.10 to win on 2.00 bet.
Without a doubt the greatest ever.
No doubt!
I thought ESPN naming Big Red one of the great athletes was just another idiotic thing from ESPN when they did it. Never gave it much thought after that. Then a few weeks ago I was going to DVR the movie, and decided prior to that to watch his races. Jumped on YouTube and was blown away by what he did in the Belmont. I wouldn’t go so far as to say Greatest of all sports, but he is top 5 easily.
This is good news correcting the record.
Yeah, no plop. [euphemism]
In the third race of his Triple Crown win, he ran each successive quarter faster, still accelerating at the finish. Magnificent.
Thanks DogByte6RER!
I saw that race.
And got a chance to see the horse.
Wow.
The races on Youtube are much better than the movie.
So much has been written about the Belmont that even his victory in the Kentucky Derby is almost looked on as an afterthought. A full field of 13 horses to work through...from behind as Secretariat almost always started slow and steady, getting his feet under him and his stride set. He finished with an unimaginable and unmatchable burst of speed and power - 1:59.4 - of course still the record today and left the crowd awestruck that this horse could come from behind and finish the 1 1/4 in under two minutes.
“True enough. He was the greatest athlete of our time...all sports.”
You didn’t see my 10K time last week.
Wow!
Both Secretariat and Seabiscuit had an extra gear called “heart”.
That’s one of the things I love about FR. Name any newsworthy event in the past 60 years and at least one Freeper was there to see it firsthand.
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