Was SeaBiscuit faster than Secretariat? (2023) (2023)

FAQs

Who is faster Seabiscuit or Secretariat? ›

Could Seabiscuit have beaten Secretariat? Although Seabiscuit was a great racehorse with amazing heart and stamina, it's doubtful he could beat Secretariat in a race at any length. Secretariat could come off the pace or run from the front, traits that make Secretariat great. Horses And More!

Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred racehorse who is the ninth winner of the American Triple Crown, setting and still holding the fastest time record in all three races. He is considered by many to be the greatest racehorse of all time.

American Pharoah's speeds at the Kentucky Derby and Preakness were average compared to other Triple Crown winners, but he was the second fastest horse to finish the Belmont and win the Crown – trailing only behind Secretariat.

For all the attention writers and filmmakers heap on Seabiscuit today, the horse was not considered the fastest Thoroughbred for most of his racing career. That distinction went to War Admiral, the son born to the regal mare Brushup and sired by the horse many consider the greatest Thoroughbred of all time, Man o'War.

Secretariat holds the fastest finishing time at 2:24.00. In 1973, the Triple Crown-winning horse set a world record that still stands for a race on a mile-and-a-half dirt track. The horse reached a top speed of 49 mph.

Man O' War's record was 20 wins, 1 place. Secretariat had 16 wins, 3 place and 1 show.

Secretariat was more than 2.6 seconds faster than Pharoah. To put that number in perspective, that's roughly the difference between Pharoah and the fifth-place finisher on Saturday, Frammento, who finished nearly 14 lengths out, according to Trakus, a system that charts horses' speed and distance using GPS technology.

The closest horse to Secretariat's Triple Crown-clinching performance is the 2:26 flat of Easy Goer in 1989. But for a horse nearly 50 years later to still hold two seconds on the entire field shows the dominance of Big Red in the history of horse racing.

“It's still 3rd fastest time in history of the Belmont, so he did a sire proud when he won that race.” Just two of Secretariat first-generation offspring are known to be alive today.

Triple Crown winner Secretariat may have taken the 1973 Belmont by a record 31 lengths and in a record time of 2:24, but American Pharoah was faster to the finish over the final 440 yards. Big Red took 25 seconds; American Pharoah was .

Which horse was better Man O War or Secretariat? ›

In 1999, both Blood Horse magazine and the Associated Press convened panels of experts to vote on who was the best thoroughbred of the past 100 years, and Man o' War came out on top in both polls.

UKIAH, Calif., May 18 — Seabiscuit, one-time leading winner of the American turf, died of a heart attack last midnight, owner Charles S. Howard announced today.

War Admiral, challenged more than in any other race in his life, ran his fastest time ever for the 1 3/16-mile distance. Yet Seabiscuit won by four lengths.

Their results showed that Seabiscuit had gene variants often found in good distance runners, as well as underlying variants that were often found in sprinting horses. “We found that Seabiscuit's genotype was very suggestive of what his actual race record was,” Tammariello says.

He never raced in the Kentucky Derby: Though it is the most famous race in the United States, not all great horses run in the Derby.

Secretariat set speed records at multiple distances and on different racing surfaces. But the Guinness World Record recognizes Winning Brew as the fastest horse ever. Secretariat is the greatest racehorse of all time; he annihilated his opponents and shattered course records.

“He was a beautiful horse to be around, like an overgrown kid – very kind, gentle,” said Turcotte. “He'd do anything you asked him to do. He was very, very smart.

Swerczek had been difficult to reach the day Secretariat was euthanized due to being with his son, Michael, who had been critically injured in an automobile accident.

1. Man o' War. Foaled in 1917 at Nursery Stud, in Kentucky, and bred by financier August Belmont Jr., Man o' War has received wide acclaim as the best racehorse of all time.

Like Secretariat, American Pharoah won all three races without much difficulty. American Pharoah won the 1.5 mile (12 furlong) Belmont Stakes in a time unmatched by any other Triple Crown winner (save Secretariat) in history. American Pharoah also led wire-to-wire, and won by an impressive five and a half lengths.

Does Secretariat still hold the Triple Crown records? ›

Secretariat still holds all three Triple Crown time records. “It's quite amazing,” Zimmerman said. “If you calculated all the number of horses that have run in the Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont combined in 50 years, and not one of them has run faster in any of those races.”

Secretariat gave the finest performance of his career in the Belmont Stakes, completing the 1.5-mile race in a record 2 minutes and 24 seconds, knocking nearly three seconds off the track record set by Gallant Man in 1957. He also won by a record 31 lengths.

His stud fee for 2019 was $150,000. Top Answer. He broke poorly, but then rushed past the field on the turn to win by six lengths. Secretariat not only won the Triple Crown at the age of three, but he also established speed records in all three races.

Secretariat set the Belmont Stakes track record at 2:24 and the record for largest margin of victory. Secretariat also broke the American record for a mile-and-a-half on a dirt track, breaking the previous record of 2: 261⁄5, set by Going Abroad in 1964.

$1,316,808 – The total purse earnings amassed by Secretariat during his racing career.

Speed record:

Secretariat also holds the fastest 1⁄2-, 3⁄4-, 1- and 11⁄4-mile fractions in Belmont history. 2:14.20 – Man o' War (1920; 13⁄8 miles) 2:56 flat – Harry Bassett (1871; 15⁄8 miles) 1:46.53 – Tiz the Law (2020; 11⁄8 miles)

Just a few weeks after winning the 1973 Triple Crown, Secretariat lost the Whitney Stakes to a little-known horse named Onion at the Saratoga Race Course.

Penny Chenery passed away September 18th at the age of 95. Following Secretariat's retirement from racing, Chenery became an ambassador for Thoroughbred racing and remained so, even after the champion's death in 1989.

Groundshaker (foreground) is Secretariat's great-great-granddaughter and now lives at Meadow Event Park in Caroline.

Seattle Slew was foaled on February 15, 1974, at the White Horse Acres breeding farm in Lexington, Kentucky. He had an impressive family tree: his sire, Bold Reasoning, was the grandson of Bold Ruler, the father of the great Secretariat.

Is American Pharoah a descendant of Secretariat? ›

American Pharoah, who broke the 37-year-old Triple Crown hex in 2015, is a great-great-great grandson of the horse.

The highest race speed recorded over two furlongs (402 meters) is 70.76 km/h (43.97 mph) on the 14th May 2008. This is a Guinness World Record was achieved by a horse called Winning Brew. She was trained by Francis Vitale in the United States.

Secretariat won 16 of 21 starts, finishing second three times, third once and fourth once. Seattle Slew won 14 of 17 with a pair of seconds and a fourth. But Cruguet and Ron Turcotte, Secretariat's jockey, have fussed about this many times.

Believe it or not, the second-fastest mark in Kentucky Derby history actually belongs to Sham, who finished with a time of 1:59.90. The second-best run in the race's history wasn't enough to win because of how dominant Secretariat was.

Man O' War is commonly known as the greatest racehorse in history. What horse has never lost a race? Australia based “Black Caviar” retired with a 25-0 racing record.

Seabiscuit was a West Coast-based horse and didn't find his best stride until after his 3-year-old season, so he didn't run the Triple Crown. This feature was originally published in 2016 and has been updated.

Seabiscuit was born to an illustrious stable. But he was treated with neither consideration nor understanding and was forced to race an unconscionable 35 times as a two-year-old. He developed a “bad attitude” and his owners tried to sell him for whatever price they could get.

Worse still, as a young horse, he had shown little interest in running at full speed. “He was lazy,” asserted James Fitzsimmons, Seabiscuit's first trainer, “dead lazy.” In retrospect, it appears the horse's poor performance and attitude had more to do with the way he was treated than with his ability or character.

No sooner was he back in the saddle than an inexperienced horse spooked during a workout and crashed into a barn, nearly shearing off Pollard's leg below the knee. The broken leg wouldn't heal properly and would keep him from riding Seabiscuit in the famous one-on-one match-up against War Admiral on November 1, 1938.

Did Red Pollard ride Seabiscuit again? ›

It was Seabiscuit's last race. Pollard rode Seabiscuit 30 times with 18 wins - all of them stakes or handicaps. Following the 1940 season, Pollard bought a house in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Pollard continued to ride into the 1950s, mostly in New England.

Plagued by injuries throughout his career (he was blind in his right eye), he injured the leg just before the race and was forced to give up the ride to his friend, George Woolf. Pollard returned to Howard's farm in California to recover from his injuries, which horsemen believed would end his career.

Seabiscuit did not race again in 1938, but his victory over War Admiral earned him Horse of the Year honours. He returned to the West Coast to rest before running once in 1939, where he was injured and was subsequently retired to stud.

Could Seabiscuit have beaten Secretariat? Although Seabiscuit was a great racehorse with amazing heart and stamina, it's doubtful he could beat Secretariat in a race at any length. Secretariat could come off the pace or run from the front, traits that make Secretariat great. Horses And More!

Some of the most famous Thoroughbreds of the last century include unlikely champion Seabiscuit, esteemed filly Zenyatta, and Secretariat, who set speed records in all three of his Triple Crown victories, averaging 37.7 mph in each race.

Secretariat holds the fastest finishing time at 2:24.00. In 1973, the Triple Crown-winning horse set a world record that still stands for a race on a mile-and-a-half dirt track. The horse reached a top speed of 49 mph.

Seabiscuit A Racing Legend. Seabiscuit was one of the grandest athletes the sporting world has ever known. Here he competes with seven others for the title Greatest Racehorse In History. In the annals of horse-racing, certain names still inspire the sort of reverence reserved only for royalty.

Seabiscuit, who was 2-1 on the board at post time, while War Admiral was 1-to-4 on the board shocked War Admiral by getting off to a stunningly fast start and wound up winning the race by four lengths, posting a time of 1:56 3/5, breaking the track record. Thousands of fans descended on the track.

It was affectionately called SS Seabiscuit. In reality, it was a 12 ft by 20 ft rolling platform with a steering wheel in the rear and front. It simulated the rolling action of a running horse and yet it ran on rails around the track. It was powered by a 454 Chevy engine and could go at a speed of 40-50 mph.

Seabiscuit was a West Coast-based horse and didn't find his best stride until after his 3-year-old season, so he didn't run the Triple Crown. This feature was originally published in 2016 and has been updated.

How fast did Seabiscuit run a mile? ›

Seabiscuit had run the mile three-sixteenths in 1:56 3/5. No horse in Pimlico's history, through thousands of had tried stretching back nearly to the Civil War, had ever run the distance as fast.

The record for 1.5 miles (2,414 m) stands at 37.82 mph (60.86 km/h) by 3-year-old Hawkster with a time of 2 min and 22.8 seconds. However, this occurred on West Coast at Santa Anita Park in Arcadia, CA on October 14, 1989.

The record for 1½ miles (2,414 m) is 60.86 km/h (37.82 mph) by 3-year-old Hawkster at Santa Anita Park, Arcadia, California, USA on 14 October 1989 with a time of 2min 22.8sec.

1. Man o' War. Foaled in 1917 at Nursery Stud, in Kentucky, and bred by financier August Belmont Jr., Man o' War has received wide acclaim as the best racehorse of all time.

Secretariat gave the finest performance of his career in the Belmont Stakes, completing the 1.5-mile race in a record 2 minutes and 24 seconds, knocking nearly three seconds off the track record set by Gallant Man in 1957. He also won by a record 31 lengths.

Seabiscuit was injured during a race. Woolf, who was riding him, said that he felt the horse stumble. The injury was not life-threatening, although many predicted Seabiscuit would never race again. The diagnosis was a ruptured suspensory ligament in the front left leg.