The “Freak” Show: The Triple Crown

In Thoroughbred racing, for a horse to be a “freak” is a GOOD thing.  The term is generally used to describe a horse that is outstanding in a surprising way.  A “freak” is one of the most respectful terms that can be used to describe a horse. 

Let’s reminisce about some of racing’s better known “freaks.”  First of all, newsmagazine coverboy, Secretariat.  “No Bold Ruler is going to want to go much beyond a mile.”  That was the common wisdom of the time.  Bold Ruler sired quite a few 2-year-old champions, but “they’d all fade in the stretch” as the distances got longer.  Then along came Secretariat – a brilliant 2-year-old champion (like so many others), with a “freakishly” long stride, officially stated to between 27.5 and 28 feet, as compared to an average for Thoroughbreds of approximately 21 feet (note, that is the length of stride of a racing Thoroughbred in full stride – the average for all breeds of horse is closer to 17 feet).  In 1973, the big red horse became the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years by winning the mile-and-a-half Belmont Stakes in what was then world-record time, by 31 unbelievable lengths.

That’s “freakish” enough.  But how about the Kentucky Derby?  In the first leg of the Triple Crown, Secretariat ran each quarter mile of the mile-and-a-quarter FASTER than the preceding quarter.  Put more simply, he accelerated for 1 ¼ miles.  One analyst described this feat by saying “If you feed Secretariat’s Derby calls into a computer programmed to analyze racehorse performance, smoke starts pouring out the back.  Horses just don’t DO that.”  In general, the fastest quarter of any race is the first or second; closers don’t actually accelerate to pass front runners – they merely slow down less as the race progresses.  Except Secretariat.

To add to the freak show, when Secretariat’s stride was given a biomechanical analysis, his stride was described as being “as close to a wheel in motion” as it’s possible for an animal to be – extraordinarily efficient (and a trait he shared in common with another “freak,” John Henry, a horse physically very different in appearance).  And finally, when Secretariat died and was necropsied, it was discovered that his heart was substantially larger than that of most horses, while still being perfectly healthy.  As a “racing machine,” he seemed to have been equipped with upgrades.

For those of us who are a bit snobbish about pedigrees when we breed our SIM horses, or predict who’ll be the top sires, take a close look at the pedigree of another “freak,” Seattle Slew.  Oh, there’s nothing WRONG with his pedigree – it has a rather nice balance of speed vs. stamina influences, and both his sire and damsire were moderately successful stallions.  That, however, is the key word:  “Moderately.”  He certainly didn’t have the spectacular pedigree that would “guarantee” success at stud, as compared to the very blue-blooded Secretariat, for example.  Yet as a sire, Secretariat was a very good sire – Seattle Slew was a great one.  These days, Seattle Slew is very, very fashionable in a pedigree; and he did it “on his own.”  If you saw a pedigree that crossed Bold Reasoning x Poker, it wouldn’t be very appealing…unless the result happened to be Seattle Slew, the “freak.”