He wasn’t just a horse. On June 9, 1973, the Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes performance transcended sports and basically entered the realm of physics-defying anomalies. You’ve likely seen the grainy footage of the big chestnut colt widening the gap, his lead growing like a glitch in a video game. But the numbers tell a story that's honestly scarier than the visuals. He didn't just win the Triple Crown; he set a world record for 1.5 miles on dirt that, even today in 2026, looks like a typo.
$2:24$.
Most elite thoroughbreds are lucky to break 2:26 or 2:27 at that distance. To understand why this matters, you have to look at the context of the 70s. The world was messy, the Nixon administration was crumbling under Watergate, and people desperately needed something that felt perfect. Then came "Big Red."
The Heart That Shouldn't Have Been Possible
When Secretariat died in 1989, Dr. Thomas Swerczek, a pathologist at the University of Kentucky, performed the necropsy. He found something that basically explains the Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes freak show. Most horse hearts weigh about nine pounds. Secretariat’s heart was estimated at nearly 22 pounds. It wasn't diseased; it was just a massive, perfectly functioning engine.
Think about that for a second.
His internal cooling system and oxygen delivery were essentially twice as efficient as his competitors. While Sham—the horse who pushed him through the first half of the Belmont—was gasping for air and literally crumbling under the pace, Secretariat was accelerating.
It's kinda wild to think about.
Most people assume he just had more "heart" in the metaphorical sense. No, he literally had a biological advantage that made him a super-athlete. Ron Turcotte, his jockey, famously said he never even whipped the horse. He just let out the reins. He was a passenger on a rocket ship.
Why the 31-Length Margin Still Baffles Experts
If you watch the race, the announcer Chick Anderson starts to lose his mind around the final turn. "He is moving like a tremendous machine!" is the quote everyone knows. But look at the distance. The Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes victory was by 31 lengths.
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In horse racing, a "length" is roughly eight feet.
That means he finished nearly 250 feet ahead of the second-place horse, Twice a Prince. If you were standing at the finish line, Secretariat would have already been heading back to the winner's circle by the time the rest of the field even finished their lunch. It wasn't a race. It was a solo exhibition.
Sham, the rival who had stayed within two lengths of him at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, finished last. He tried to stay with Secretariat for the first mile of the Belmont, and it literally broke him. That's the part people forget—the pace was so blistering that it destroyed every other elite animal in the gate.
The Myth of the "Slow" Start
There’s this weird misconception that Secretariat was a slow starter. He wasn't. He was just tactical. In the Derby, he ran every quarter-mile faster than the one before it. That’s biologically improbable. Imagine running a marathon where your last mile is a full-out sprint.
By the time he got to the Belmont, the strategy changed.
Trainer Penny Chenery and the team knew the horse was peaking. They didn't hold him back. The fractions for the Belmont were 23 3/5, 46 1/5, 1:09 4/5, 1:34 4/5, and 1:59 for the mile. To put that 1:59 in perspective, that's faster than the track record for most mile-long races on their own. And he still had another half-mile to go.
Breaking Down the Record
- Kentucky Derby: 1:59 2/5 (Record)
- Preakness Stakes: 1:53 (Record)
- Belmont Stakes: 2:24 (Record)
Even in 2026, these times stand. We have better shoes, better tracks, better vitamins, and better surgical techniques now. We have genetic mapping. And yet, no horse has touched the Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes time. It’s the longest-standing record in major American sports for a reason.
The Cultural Weight of Big Red
It wasn't just about the betting slips. Secretariat was on the cover of Time, Newsweek, and Sports Illustrated in the same week. That doesn't happen. Not for a horse. Not even for most humans.
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He was a celebrity.
People sent him fan mail. Honestly, thousands of letters arrived at the Meadow Stable. He had a personality—he’d pose for cameras, stop what he was doing when he heard a shutter click, and he loved the attention. He was the first truly "viral" athlete before the internet existed.
There's a reason his owner, Penny Chenery, became a feminist icon in the process. She took over her father's failing farm and managed a syndicate that was worth $6 million in 1973—that’s about $40 million today. She had to navigate a world of old-school tobacco-spitting men who didn't think a "housewife" could handle a Triple Crown winner. She proved them wrong while her horse was busy rewriting the physics of the dirt track.
The Secret to the Stride
Most horses have a stride length of about 20 to 22 feet. Secretariat’s stride was measured at 24 feet, 11 inches.
He was covering more ground with less effort.
When you combine that massive stride with the oversized heart, you get a horse that could maintain a "sprint" pace for distances that usually require endurance. It’s like putting a Ferrari engine inside a long-haul truck. The mechanics are just different.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Triple Crown
You’ll hear people say the Triple Crown is harder now. Some say it was harder then. Honestly? It's always a nightmare.
The Belmont is 1.5 miles—the "Test of the Champion." Most American horses are bred for speed, not distance. They hit a "wall" at 1.25 miles. Secretariat didn't have a wall. He had a sixth gear.
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The Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes run is often compared to modern winners like American Pharoah (2015) or Justify (2018). While Pharoah was incredible and ended a 37-year drought, his Belmont time was 2:26.65. That’s more than two seconds slower than Secretariat. In racing terms, that’s about 10-12 lengths.
If American Pharoah had run in 1973, Secretariat would have beaten him by a city block.
How to Appreciate the Legacy Today
If you want to truly understand the scale of this, you have to look at the track itself. Go to Belmont Park (currently being renovated, but still the cathedral of the sport). Look at the pole where the finish line sits. Imagine a horse crossing that line, and then look back 250 feet.
That empty space is the most impressive thing in sports history.
It represents the gap between "great" and "immortal." Secretariat wasn't just the best horse of his year; he was a biological outlier that we may never see again. The Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes performance is preserved in amber as the perfect athletic moment.
Actionable Insights for Racing Fans
- Study the Fractions: If you're betting or analyzing modern races, look at the "internal fractions." A horse that runs a fast opening half-mile usually fades. Secretariat is the only horse in history to run a fast opening, a faster middle, and a blazing finish at 1.5 miles.
- Watch the Replay in High Definition: Most modern uploads of the 1973 Belmont have been digitally cleaned. Look specifically at the "tremendous machine" segment. Notice how his head stays perfectly level. There is no wasted vertical movement. Every ounce of energy is going forward.
- Visit the National Museum of Racing: Located in Saratoga Springs, NY, they have his Triple Crown trophies and detailed exhibits on his anatomy. Seeing the scale of his shoes and equipment helps humanize (or "equinize") the legend.
- Understand the Pedigree: Secretariat was a son of Bold Ruler. If you’re looking at modern horses with "closing speed," check for Bold Ruler or Northern Dancer lines. They often carry that same explosive burst, though rarely in the same 22-pound-heart package.
- Analyze the Surface: The Belmont dirt in '73 was notoriously deep. To run 2:24 on a "heavy" track is significantly harder than running it on a modern, "fast" baked-clay surface. This makes the record even more untouchable.
The story of the Secretariat horse Belmont Stakes isn't just a sports story. It’s a reminder that every once in a while, nature produces something that simply ignores the rules. You can't train a horse to have a 22-pound heart. You can't teach a 25-foot stride. You just have to be lucky enough to be watching when it happens.
Next time you see a horse win "comfortably" by two or three lengths, remember Big Red. Remember the 31 lengths. Remember the clock that stopped at 2:24 and has stayed there for half a century. We aren't waiting for the next Secretariat; we are just waiting to see if anyone can even get within shouting distance of his ghost.
Expert Insight: If you're researching this further, look for the 2013 study on the "X-Factor" gene. While controversial in some veterinary circles, it suggests that the large-heart trait is passed down through the X chromosome (the dam's side). Secretariat's mother, Somethingroyal, is arguably as important to this story as the stallion Bold Ruler. This genetic link is why many breeders still value "Blue Hen" mares—females that consistently produce high-performance offspring—over flashy stallions.