peak of the crown

I remember watching Seattle Slew and Affirmed winning back-to-back Triple Crowns in 1977 and 1978. Way back then I was quite a racing fan and spent many afternoons and evenings in the “kid” corral at the track in Omaha. I was only 8 when Secretariat won the Crown in 1973 and don’t remember whether or not I was watching races on TV that early summer. Looking back, it’s the Affirmed/Alydar battle over the three races in 1978, along with a horse named Ruffian (considered by some as the greatest filly of all time), that remain from my years so closely following racing like other kids followed baseball. Nearing 30 years since the Crown has been won, and on the eve of the middle race, I did some digging and bring you (courtesy of youtube.com) the most amazing run of all-time, and still the fastest run over 1.5 miles in all of history: Secretariat winning the Belmont Stakes in 2:24. Enjoy.

You probably want to turn off my music over on the left before you start the clip.



T.