Meta Description: Horse racing has had hundreds of iconic moments over the years. Today, we’ll look at four of the best moments that fans still remember.
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While American team sports are the most popular in the United States, few sports are as prestigious as horse racing. One of the oldest sports in the world, horse racing has produced some of the greatest moments in history. From Triple Crown winners to massive upsets and great rivalries, even the most casual fans can name many great racehorses. It is a cultural staple, and even though team sports are more popular today, horse racing remains a prestigious competition worldwide. Today, let’s look at a few moments that have shaped the world of horse racing.
Arcangues | Breeders Cup, 1993
Goaled in 1988, this French Thoroughbred racehorse was the son of Daniel Wildenstein’s stallion Sagace. Arcangues’ father most famously won the Prix de L’Arc de Triomphe, France’s most prestigious horse race. Despite his lineage, Arcangues wasn’t an especially accomplished horse. He had a fine career, winning the Prix d’ Ispahan and Prix du Prince d’ Orange. However, he had only raced on grass before he came to California to race at Santa Anita Park in the 1993 Breeders’ Cup Classic.
Arcangues entered the race with 133–1 odds, with the Californian Bertrando as the heavy favorite. Bertrando led early and was leading down the stretch before Arcangues’ jockey Jerry Bailey executed a flawless run, chasing down Bertrando to beat him narrowly. Bailey had never ridden the horse before and even said that he couldn’t understand the instructions from the trainer. Arcangues’ win remains one of the greatest upsets in horse racing history and is still a defining moment.
Secretariat | Belmont Stakes, 1973
Many people who have never watched a horse race know who Secretariat is, mainly due to the 2010 film about the great stallion. But Secretariat was more than a cultural icon: he is arguably the greatest racehorse ever to live, landing second behind only Man o’ War in Blood-
Horse Magazine’s top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century. At age two, Secretariat won the 1972 Horse of the Year — a rare feat for such a young horse.
He then went on to win the Triple Crown in 1973, setting speed records in all three races. However, no race captured the hearts of horse racing fans quite like the 1973 Belmont Stakes. Secretariat, also known as Big Red, won by a whopping 31 lengths, finishing in just 2:24 — a record that still stands today. While he still holds the track record at Churchill Downs, his performance at Belmont Stakes secured his Triple Crown and was arguably the greatest race of the fastest horses ever to live.
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Affirmed and Alydar | Belmont Stakes, 1978
Horse Racing has been known for great rivalries, including that of Secretariat and Sham. However, arguably the greatest rivalry ever was Affirmed v. Alydar, which came to a head at the 1978 Belmont Stakes. The two horses faced each other ten times over their careers, with six coming as two-year-olds.
In 1978, Affirmed had won the first two Triple Crown races that season and needed a win at Belmont to earn the 11th-ever Triple Crown. The 110th running of the race was a narrow one, with the two horses running head to head for the final third of the race. Ultimately, Affirmed came out ahead by a nose to secure the triple crown with a 2:26 time — the third fastest in history at the time. He did this despite his slow, early pace. By the end of the race, Affirmed and Alydar were 13 lengths ahead of the next closest horse in Darby Creek Road. While Alydar is undoubtedly one of the greatest racing horses of all time, he may go down as one of the most underrated, overshadowed by his rival. He is the only horse to finish second in every Triple Crown race.
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Mine That Bird | Kentucky Derby, 2009
Sports fans love an underdog story, especially at the highest level of competition. And while pure fans may consider other races as the peak of horseracing, the Kentucky Derby is without question the most recognizable race in the world. In 2009, the three-year-old Mine That Bird walked into Churchill Downs with a 50–1 odds to win the race.
After an overnight rain that made the dirt track sloppy for the race, Mine That Bird struggled out of the gate and was nearly 10 lengths behind the rest of the field. Headed down the backstretch, Mine That Bird was so far behind that he was hardly visible on the broadcast. However, jockey Calvin Borel used a rail-skimming technique to charge down the backstretch and put them in contention down the homestretch. NBC broadcaster Tom Durkin was so focused on the two horses in front of Mine That Bird that he didn’t even notice him in the lead until he was three lengths ahead, going on to win by nearly seven lengths. The win was arguably the greatest comeback in horse racing history and the fourth-biggest upset in Kentucky Derby history.
What Great Moments Did We Miss?
We only got to discuss four significant moments in horse racing history, leaving several iconic wins off the list. These include Upset’s iconic win over Man o’ War in 1919 and American Pharoah ending the Triple Crown drought at the 2015 Belmont Stakes after 37 years. Undoubtedly, more iconic moments will be added to this list as the years pass.
