something many of you have never heard

[Inner Dirt]

Thanks for sharing but I think Chic Anderson's call is unmatched, he left us way too soon. Secretariat got me following horse racing, I was 12 when he won the triple crown.

[outofthebox]

Originally Posted by dilanesp

He was tired enough that he didn't get off a 13 second furlong right after the end of the race. I don't mind characterizing it as less than "dead tired" (if you want to say "visibly very tired" that's fine), but it's obvious, despite Spalding's protestations, that the urban legend is false.

I hear ya about the urban legends. But for kicks watch Secreteriats Derby and Preakness and enjoy Sham out galloping Secreteriat in both races. I firmly believe this is how Turcotte handled him in all his races.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by outofthebox

I hear ya about the urban legends. But for kicks watch Secreteriats Derby and Preakness and enjoy Sham out galloping Secreteriat in both races. I firmly believe this is how Turcotte handled him in all his races.

Yeah, as he should have! Secretariat's running gargantuan speed figures in those races; he's expending a ton of energy. The way he ran them- with midrace moves- also expended energy. There's no reason you'd ever want to push him going past the line to get a gallop out time.

Secretariat was a very well managed racehorse (Laurin and Turcotte both deserve a lot of credit) and that's a big reason he was able to run so many big races.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by Inner Dirt

Thanks for sharing but I think Chic Anderson's call is unmatched, he left us way too soon. Secretariat got me following horse racing, I was 12 when he won the triple crown.

In 1973, this actually shows you the difference between a track announcer and being a TV announcer at that time. Back then, track announcers were expected to play it VERY straight; they didn't want to have some guy bellowing out drama over the track's PA system. So Dave Johnson- who we all know from later years was capable of delivering a television-style call- kept it pretty restrained as that was what NYRA wanted.

Anderson, at the time, was the PA announcer at Churchill. And if you listen to his Derby calls, they were much more restrained than his 1973 Belmont call was, because they were going out over the PA system at the track.

Denman and Durkin were the big factors in why this changed.