Horse racing is a weird sport because we spend half our time arguing about athletes who died fifty years before we were born. You’ve probably seen the grainy footage of Secretariat at the Belmont. He looks like a machine, not a horse, just widening the gap until the rest of the field is basically in a different zip code. It’s the ultimate highlight reel. But honestly, if you sit down with a group of "railbirds" or serious pedigree nerds, the conversation about the most famous race horses gets complicated fast. It isn't just about who won the most; it's about who became a cultural icon and why.
Take Secretariat. People call him "Big Red," but he wasn't even the first horse to own that nickname. That was Man o' War, back in the 1920s. We’re obsessed with these animals because they represent a kind of perfection that humans can’t really touch.
The Triple Crown King and the "Original" Big Red
Secretariat is the gold standard for American racing. Period. In 1973, he didn’t just win the Triple Crown; he obliterated it. He still holds the track records for the Kentucky Derby ($1:59 2/5$), the Preakness Stakes ($1:53$), and that ridiculous 31-length victory in the Belmont Stakes ($2:24$).
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Think about that for a second. In over 50 years, despite better nutrition, faster tracks, and scientific breeding, no horse has run those distances faster.
Most people don't realize he actually lost five times in his career. He wasn't invincible. But on his best days, his heart—which was literally twice the size of a normal horse's heart—pumped a level of performance that felt supernatural. He ended his career with 16 wins from 21 starts and earnings of $1,316,808. In 2026 money, that's a drop in the bucket compared to modern purses, but his value was in his legacy.
Then you have Man o' War.
He raced right after WWI.
He won 20 out of 21 races.
His only loss was to a horse named—wait for it—Upset. That's actually where the term supposedly entered the sports lexicon, though some word-nerds argue about that. Man o' War was so dominant that his owner, Samuel Riddle, refused to let him run in the Kentucky Derby because he thought 1.25 miles was too far for a three-year-old so early in the year. Imagine a horse so good you just skip the biggest race in the world because you don't feel like it.
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The International Icons: Phar Lap and Winx
If you go to Australia, the conversation shifts. Mentioning Secretariat is fine, but Phar Lap is a deity. During the Great Depression, he was basically the only thing people had to cheer for. He was a massive New Zealand-bred gelding who won 37 of his 51 races.
What really cemented his "most famous" status was the mystery. After winning the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico in 1932, he died suddenly in California. For nearly a century, people thought he was poisoned by American mobsters who were scared of his odds. Recent synchrotron X-ray analysis of his hair actually found massive levels of arsenic, though some vets still argue it was a bacterial infection called duodenitis-proximal jejunitis. Either way, the "Red Terror" remains a symbol of national pride.
Then there's Winx.
She’s the modern miracle.
Between 2015 and 2019, she won 33 races in a row.
Not against easy competition either—she won 25 Group 1 races, which is a world record. By the time she retired, she had banked over A$26.4 million. Watching her was almost boring because you knew exactly what would happen. She’d sit at the back, look like she was in trouble, then find a gear that didn't seem to exist and cruise past everyone.
Different Kinds of Greatness
We can't talk about fame without mentioning the specialists. The horses that did one thing better than anyone else ever.
- Red Rum: The King of Aintree. He won the Grand National three times (1973, 1974, and 1977). He also came in second twice. In a race where half the field usually falls or disappears, his consistency was statistically impossible.
- Frankel: If you like raw stats, Frankel is your guy. He retired 14-0. Undefeated. He has the highest Timeform rating ever recorded at 147. He’s now the most successful active sire in the Northern Hemisphere, with his stud fee sitting at £350,000 in 2026.
- Black Caviar: Another undefeated wonder from Australia. 25-0. She was a sprinter, meaning she just outran everyone over short distances until they gave up.
Why Do We Still Care?
It’s easy to look at these names and think it’s just nostalgia. But there’s a reason these most famous race horses stay in the news.
The sport has changed. Today, horses are often retired to the breeding shed after just a few big wins because they’re worth more as "daddies" than as athletes. We don't see many 100-race careers like Red Rum's anymore. When a horse like Flightline comes along and wins the Breeders' Cup Classic by eight lengths, we immediately start comparing him to Secretariat. We’re looking for that connection to the past.
There’s also the tragedy.
Horses like Ruffian or Barbaro are famous for the wrong reasons.
Ruffian was an undefeated filly who went head-to-head against the Kentucky Derby winner, Foolish Pleasure, in a "Great Match" in 1975. When she broke down mid-race, it broke the heart of the sport. That tragedy is part of the fame too—the reminder of how fragile these 1,200-pound athletes really are.
What to Look for When Judging a Legend
If you're trying to figure out who actually deserves the "greatest" title, don't just look at the win count. You have to look at the context.
- Weight Carried: Back in the day, champions like Dr. Fager or Kelso carried huge weights—sometimes 130+ pounds—and still beat younger, lighter horses. Modern horses rarely face that kind of handicap.
- Surface Versatility: Secretariat won on dirt and turf. Most modern stars are one-trick ponies (pardon the pun).
- The "Eye Test": Go watch the 1973 Belmont Stakes on YouTube. Even if you know nothing about horses, you’ll see the difference.
For anyone wanting to dive deeper into the history, the best next step is to look up the Blood-Horse Top 100 list. It was compiled by experts to rank the best of the 20th century. While it's a bit dated now, it provides a fascinating look at how experts value consistency versus "peak brilliance." You should also check out the Hall of Fame archives at Saratoga; they have the actual artifacts from Man o' War's career that put the size and scale of these animals into perspective.