He's Running Like a Tremendous Machine

In light of Big Brown's epic FAIL yesterday at the Belmont Stakes, I felt I should share footage of the 35th Greatest Athlete of the 20th Century. This is the 1973 Belmont Stakes and here are some things to keep in mind while watching:

• Secretariat had won the first two legs of the Triple Crown by 2 1/2 lengths over Sham, the horse that runs close to him over the first minute of this race.
  
• After the first minute of the race, Secretariat really takes off. As this was a 1 1/2 mile race, about as long as a racehorse would ever run, it was not clear whether he could keep up that pace.
  
• It's normal for horses to have slower times for each subsequent quarter mile they run, yet Secretariat's times actually improved as the race went on.
  
• On the final stretch, his jockey Ron Turcotte turns back to see the rest of the field. This is his view.
  
• This is still the fastest any horse has run 1 1/2 miles on dirt.

Basically, if you've never really thought about horse racing in your life, but you feel you should at least have some general idea of why people are interested in it (beyond the gambling aspect) this is it. It's the equivalent of seeing one Orson Welles movie and choosing Citizen Kane. It's really all you need.