Two and a half lengths behind greatness
May. 6th, 2019 01:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
which_chickMost people are more or less aware that Secretariat was a racehorse. They may be aware that he won the Triple Crown (Kentucky Derby, Preakness, Belmont Stakes) in 1973 and if they know that much, they may also know that he was a very good racehorse indeed. And he was. Secretariat was a force of nature, head and shoulders above the other colts in 1973. But this post is not about him. This post is about Sham.
Sham finished two and a half lengths behind Secretariat in the Kentucky Derby and in the Preakness. He was dead last to the field in the Belmont.
The Kentucky Derby is held the first Saturday in May and it's called the most exciting two minutes in sports because it takes two minutes and a few seconds to run the Kentucky Derby. The average time to win the Kentucky Derby is 122 seconds, or 00:2:02. Secretariat was the first horse to run the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes. The SECOND horse to run the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes was Sham. Exactly three horses in the entire history of the Kentucky Derby have run the mile and a quarter length in under two minutes and they are listed below, fastest first.
1. Secretariat
2. Sham
3. Monarchos, in 2001.
So yeah. Sham did not win the Derby in 1973, but since it was changed to a mile and a quarter in 1896, Sham's performance would have won him the roses every single year but one. Unfortunately, that year was 1973.
Then there's the Preakness, second leg of the Triple Crown. In this race, Sham again finished two and a half lengths behind Secretariat. In so doing, he logged the fifth fastest Preakness in the race's history. Every year but five, Sham's time would have won the race... but his year was 1973 and he did not win because Secretariat, who ran in 1:53, the fastest Preakness ever. Sham, again, was two and a half lengths behind Secretariat but ahead of almost every other horse that won the Preakness.
I respectfully submit that Sham's effort in the Belmont Stakes is not a fair measure of him as a racehorse. Before the Belmont Stakes, Sham's owners quite justifiably felt that they had a Very Good Colt who'd been giving Secretariat a run for his money and turning in very, very good performances at near-record-setting speeds. At the Belmont, they apparently gave Jockey Pincay orders to stay with Secretariat, whom they felt lacked class and might burn out and fade in the grueling mile and a half of the Belmont. The Belmont Stakes, over the years, has buried some very, very good colts (23 of them at last count -- Burgoo King, Bold Venture, Pensive, Tim Tam, Carry Back, Northern Dancer, Kauai King, Forward Pass, Majestic Prince, Cañonero II, Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, I'll Have Another, California Chrome) who won the Derby and the Preakness but couldn't, as it were, go the distance at Belmont. Not for nothing is the Belmont Stakes called the test of champions.
Before the Belmont Stakes, Sham had finished two and a half lengths (a length is about .20 seconds) behind Secretariat in two races. He was LESS THAN ONE SECOND BACK, both times. And he'd done both the Derby and the Preakness at blazing speeds. Before the Belmont, it was not unreasonable to think Sham could duke it out again with Secretariat and, if not win, at least make him work for it.
For slightly less than three quarters of a mile, Sham kept pace with Secretariat, trading the lead at the Belmont. But as they entered the backstretch, Secretariat hit another gear and that was that. Sham faded badly and finished dead last while Secretariat rolled down the home stretch and into the history books, nobody close enough to even be on the TV screen with him let alone challenge him for the lead. If you have two and a half minutes to spare, you can watch it on youtube, it really is something to see.
Know ye that Sham was not a crappy colt. He was a very good colt, a colt who in any other year besides 1973 would have had a decent shot at the Triple Crown and who certainly would have been the odds-on favorite for the first two legs of the thing. But he was born the same year as Secretariat.
Sham finished two and a half lengths behind Secretariat in the Kentucky Derby and in the Preakness. He was dead last to the field in the Belmont.
The Kentucky Derby is held the first Saturday in May and it's called the most exciting two minutes in sports because it takes two minutes and a few seconds to run the Kentucky Derby. The average time to win the Kentucky Derby is 122 seconds, or 00:2:02. Secretariat was the first horse to run the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes. The SECOND horse to run the mile and a quarter of the Kentucky Derby in under two minutes was Sham. Exactly three horses in the entire history of the Kentucky Derby have run the mile and a quarter length in under two minutes and they are listed below, fastest first.
1. Secretariat
2. Sham
3. Monarchos, in 2001.
So yeah. Sham did not win the Derby in 1973, but since it was changed to a mile and a quarter in 1896, Sham's performance would have won him the roses every single year but one. Unfortunately, that year was 1973.
Then there's the Preakness, second leg of the Triple Crown. In this race, Sham again finished two and a half lengths behind Secretariat. In so doing, he logged the fifth fastest Preakness in the race's history. Every year but five, Sham's time would have won the race... but his year was 1973 and he did not win because Secretariat, who ran in 1:53, the fastest Preakness ever. Sham, again, was two and a half lengths behind Secretariat but ahead of almost every other horse that won the Preakness.
I respectfully submit that Sham's effort in the Belmont Stakes is not a fair measure of him as a racehorse. Before the Belmont Stakes, Sham's owners quite justifiably felt that they had a Very Good Colt who'd been giving Secretariat a run for his money and turning in very, very good performances at near-record-setting speeds. At the Belmont, they apparently gave Jockey Pincay orders to stay with Secretariat, whom they felt lacked class and might burn out and fade in the grueling mile and a half of the Belmont. The Belmont Stakes, over the years, has buried some very, very good colts (23 of them at last count -- Burgoo King, Bold Venture, Pensive, Tim Tam, Carry Back, Northern Dancer, Kauai King, Forward Pass, Majestic Prince, Cañonero II, Spectacular Bid, Pleasant Colony, Alysheba, Sunday Silence, Silver Charm, Real Quiet, Charismatic, War Emblem, Funny Cide, Smarty Jones, Big Brown, I'll Have Another, California Chrome) who won the Derby and the Preakness but couldn't, as it were, go the distance at Belmont. Not for nothing is the Belmont Stakes called the test of champions.
Before the Belmont Stakes, Sham had finished two and a half lengths (a length is about .20 seconds) behind Secretariat in two races. He was LESS THAN ONE SECOND BACK, both times. And he'd done both the Derby and the Preakness at blazing speeds. Before the Belmont, it was not unreasonable to think Sham could duke it out again with Secretariat and, if not win, at least make him work for it.
For slightly less than three quarters of a mile, Sham kept pace with Secretariat, trading the lead at the Belmont. But as they entered the backstretch, Secretariat hit another gear and that was that. Sham faded badly and finished dead last while Secretariat rolled down the home stretch and into the history books, nobody close enough to even be on the TV screen with him let alone challenge him for the lead. If you have two and a half minutes to spare, you can watch it on youtube, it really is something to see.
Know ye that Sham was not a crappy colt. He was a very good colt, a colt who in any other year besides 1973 would have had a decent shot at the Triple Crown and who certainly would have been the odds-on favorite for the first two legs of the thing. But he was born the same year as Secretariat.
