Onion
Aug 4, 2013 22:33:51 GMT -5
Post by Evelyn on Aug 4, 2013 22:33:51 GMT -5
It was 30 yrs ago today that Onion upset Secretariat in the Whitney. The video shows the race. Allen Jerkens is just great!
NYRA Photo
Another Fine Day: Saratoga, Secretariat, and the Whitney
By Lesley Lathrop
From Outside of A Horse
Although the Whitney Handicap has sometimes suffered in the shadow of Saratoga’s other big race, the Travers Stakes—also known as the “Midsummer Derby”—since its initial running in 1928, the Whitney has nevertheless attracted some of horse racing’s finest. The great War Admiral won the Whitney in 1938, Dr. Fager came in first in 1968, Alydar in 1978, and the 1980s saw the likes of Lady’s Secret, Personal Ensign, and Easy Goer all make their way to the winner’s circle.
But perhaps no Whitney was so momentous as the one that took place in the summer of 1973. That year Secretariat had crushed his Belmont competition with a stunning 31-length victory and a stakes record of 2:24 for the mile and a half. Fresh off his Triple Crown win, Secretariat’s run in the Whitney was set to be a prep race for the all-important Travers. But when all was said and done, many would wonder if he was really so fresh after all.
The Whitney would be Secretariat’s first time facing older horses, but trainer Lucien Laurin was happy with the colt’s relaxed performance in a specially staged post-Belmont race at Arlington Park in Chicago, and his subsequent workouts seemed to be going well. But jockey Ron Turcotte privately had some doubts. It seemed to him that there was something a little off about Secretariat, that the fire that urged him through furlong after furlong in 12 seconds flat perhaps no longer burned so bright. And yet a little over a week before the race, Secretariat broke the track record for the mile when he ran it in 1:34 in the slop.
The day of the Whitney the temperature was hot and the air humid. Secretariat was set to face four other horses, all of them older, on a track listed as fast but still moist and deep from a downpour the day before. The record crowd of 30,119 at Saratoga that day had made him the 1-10 favorite.
Trouble started, however, even before the race began when Secretariat hit his head on the starting gate. He broke slowly and Onion, who had himself set a track record a few days earlier, burst ahead for the early lead. Secretariat tucked in at fourth around the first turn and then slowly began to pick off horses one by one along the backstretch. He met up with Onion on the far turn coming in for home, and for a while, the two horses matched stride for stride. But then Onion pulled away at the eighth pole and, despite urging from Turcotte, Secretariat never fired and Onion won the race.
The crowd at Saratoga and those watching at home were stunned by the upset. Onion’s trainer, Allen Jerkens, was so overwhelmed he sobbed when he accepted the trophy in the winner’s circle. It was later speculated that Secretariat had fallen victim to a virus. On the day after the Whitney he showed a spike in his temperature and he had signs of diarrhea. For several days, despite eating well, he appeared listless, according to Laurin, and had to be treated with antibiotics.
Secretariat didn’t run in the Travers. He went on to win the Marlboro Cup, the Man o’ War, and the Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine, which was his last race before he retired. He would lose the prestigious Woodward Stakes that September, however, to another Allen Jerkens trainee named Prove Out.
But it was Whitney Day that truly marked the end of Big Red’s reign of inevitability. For on that day he joined the likes of Man o’ War, who suffered his only loss in 21 starts at Saratoga, and of Gallant Fox, who lost the 1930 Travers to the 100-1 longshot named Jim Dandy. On Whitney Day in 1973 Secretariat would learn for himself why they call Saratoga the “graveyard of champions.”
NYRA Photo
Another Fine Day: Saratoga, Secretariat, and the Whitney
By Lesley Lathrop
From Outside of A Horse
Although the Whitney Handicap has sometimes suffered in the shadow of Saratoga’s other big race, the Travers Stakes—also known as the “Midsummer Derby”—since its initial running in 1928, the Whitney has nevertheless attracted some of horse racing’s finest. The great War Admiral won the Whitney in 1938, Dr. Fager came in first in 1968, Alydar in 1978, and the 1980s saw the likes of Lady’s Secret, Personal Ensign, and Easy Goer all make their way to the winner’s circle.
But perhaps no Whitney was so momentous as the one that took place in the summer of 1973. That year Secretariat had crushed his Belmont competition with a stunning 31-length victory and a stakes record of 2:24 for the mile and a half. Fresh off his Triple Crown win, Secretariat’s run in the Whitney was set to be a prep race for the all-important Travers. But when all was said and done, many would wonder if he was really so fresh after all.
The Whitney would be Secretariat’s first time facing older horses, but trainer Lucien Laurin was happy with the colt’s relaxed performance in a specially staged post-Belmont race at Arlington Park in Chicago, and his subsequent workouts seemed to be going well. But jockey Ron Turcotte privately had some doubts. It seemed to him that there was something a little off about Secretariat, that the fire that urged him through furlong after furlong in 12 seconds flat perhaps no longer burned so bright. And yet a little over a week before the race, Secretariat broke the track record for the mile when he ran it in 1:34 in the slop.
The day of the Whitney the temperature was hot and the air humid. Secretariat was set to face four other horses, all of them older, on a track listed as fast but still moist and deep from a downpour the day before. The record crowd of 30,119 at Saratoga that day had made him the 1-10 favorite.
Trouble started, however, even before the race began when Secretariat hit his head on the starting gate. He broke slowly and Onion, who had himself set a track record a few days earlier, burst ahead for the early lead. Secretariat tucked in at fourth around the first turn and then slowly began to pick off horses one by one along the backstretch. He met up with Onion on the far turn coming in for home, and for a while, the two horses matched stride for stride. But then Onion pulled away at the eighth pole and, despite urging from Turcotte, Secretariat never fired and Onion won the race.
The crowd at Saratoga and those watching at home were stunned by the upset. Onion’s trainer, Allen Jerkens, was so overwhelmed he sobbed when he accepted the trophy in the winner’s circle. It was later speculated that Secretariat had fallen victim to a virus. On the day after the Whitney he showed a spike in his temperature and he had signs of diarrhea. For several days, despite eating well, he appeared listless, according to Laurin, and had to be treated with antibiotics.
Secretariat didn’t run in the Travers. He went on to win the Marlboro Cup, the Man o’ War, and the Canadian International Stakes at Woodbine, which was his last race before he retired. He would lose the prestigious Woodward Stakes that September, however, to another Allen Jerkens trainee named Prove Out.
But it was Whitney Day that truly marked the end of Big Red’s reign of inevitability. For on that day he joined the likes of Man o’ War, who suffered his only loss in 21 starts at Saratoga, and of Gallant Fox, who lost the 1930 Travers to the 100-1 longshot named Jim Dandy. On Whitney Day in 1973 Secretariat would learn for himself why they call Saratoga the “graveyard of champions.”